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Hi all,
Long time stalker of this site but thought I would try and add something positive.
Since purchasing my Prado (2012 model GXL) in early 2015 I have been interested in researching power increase opportunities. There has been a lot of information posted on the site regarding exhaust power increases and chips like Steinbauer etc but having previously had a chip on a Pathfinder I was keen to try and avoid this path. A mate of mine with a Triton ute suggested I look at a ECU re-map through Bayside Performance Services. When I initially contacted BPS in mid 2015 I was disappointed to learn that they could not do Toyota. Fast forward to late 2015 and keeping tabs on the BPS Facebook page revealed they had cracked the Toyota ECU and were now doing ECU remaps for Toyota Prado's, Hilux's etc.
Now I am a bit of a stickler for detail and I had read a number of posts offering advice on power gains achieved from exhaust pipes etc. While I was thankful for all the information there was a lot of ambiguity. To be fair I mean no disrespect but I was hard pressed thinking I would fork out my hard earned without having some more detail. I contacted John from BPS and spoke to him about a stock Prado they had done and what kind of results I could expect to achieve. We also discussed the pros/cons of an exhaust increase. John's advice around the Prado was that the stock exhaust was more than suitable and that increasing to a 3" pipe would really provide no substantial gain to his tuning.
Of course I was not convinced and in order to supply as accurate information to PP users as possible, I came to an agreement with John that we would do three dyno reports. One stock, one with exhaust and one with exhaust and tune all done within the same period. Please keep in mind that I am running Mickey Thompson 265/70-17 atz's. For the benefit of all I have also included the stock tune that BPS did for another of their clients who I understand was running standard tyres.
For clarity John didn't max out the motor as I tow a boat and trailer regularly and I wanted some margin for that purpose. You could push this harder if you really wanted to..
The pipe I chose to go with was a Scott's Rods 3" aluminised exhaust. They came well recomended and provided a good product at a reasonable price.
So down to the tin tacks.. Three dyno runs with three different configurations all on the same dyno report. I have included the three versions I was provided to paint as clear a picture as possible.
As you can see the exhaust added little to know gain whatsoever. To be fair John did tell me from the outset but of course I wasn't convinced and wanted to be 100% sure. Whilst there is always conjecture amongst these things I would personally not have gone down this route had I known the result. I would have saved the $900 odd dollars and put it into some other modifications. Anyway for the benefit of the rest of the PP community please use this information as you see fit.
Further to the above I have included below the original Prado re-map (for his other client) that John did before I took my car in. This was done with a completely stock Prado.
It is now that I want to make it really clear with everyone that I am not even slightly mechanical so please do not shoot me any hard questions. I have waited to do this post as I took the family over to Moreton Island with our camper trailer on the weekend and I wanted to see how the Prado performed. Needless to say it went extremely well. My overall conclusion to the remap is that without doubt it is the best money I have ever spent on the vehicle. If anyone has any further questions or interest then I would direct you to John from BPS to discuss. I am in no way affiliated with BPS however, from the outset, John was aware that I would likely publish the results as detailed information on exhaust and tuning outcomes was hard to find for the Prado.
I hope this provides some of the PP community with some tangible evidence with regards to performance enhancements. Happy to field any questions.
Cheers
Howso
Long time stalker of this site but thought I would try and add something positive.
Since purchasing my Prado (2012 model GXL) in early 2015 I have been interested in researching power increase opportunities. There has been a lot of information posted on the site regarding exhaust power increases and chips like Steinbauer etc but having previously had a chip on a Pathfinder I was keen to try and avoid this path. A mate of mine with a Triton ute suggested I look at a ECU re-map through Bayside Performance Services. When I initially contacted BPS in mid 2015 I was disappointed to learn that they could not do Toyota. Fast forward to late 2015 and keeping tabs on the BPS Facebook page revealed they had cracked the Toyota ECU and were now doing ECU remaps for Toyota Prado's, Hilux's etc.
Now I am a bit of a stickler for detail and I had read a number of posts offering advice on power gains achieved from exhaust pipes etc. While I was thankful for all the information there was a lot of ambiguity. To be fair I mean no disrespect but I was hard pressed thinking I would fork out my hard earned without having some more detail. I contacted John from BPS and spoke to him about a stock Prado they had done and what kind of results I could expect to achieve. We also discussed the pros/cons of an exhaust increase. John's advice around the Prado was that the stock exhaust was more than suitable and that increasing to a 3" pipe would really provide no substantial gain to his tuning.
Of course I was not convinced and in order to supply as accurate information to PP users as possible, I came to an agreement with John that we would do three dyno reports. One stock, one with exhaust and one with exhaust and tune all done within the same period. Please keep in mind that I am running Mickey Thompson 265/70-17 atz's. For the benefit of all I have also included the stock tune that BPS did for another of their clients who I understand was running standard tyres.
For clarity John didn't max out the motor as I tow a boat and trailer regularly and I wanted some margin for that purpose. You could push this harder if you really wanted to..
The pipe I chose to go with was a Scott's Rods 3" aluminised exhaust. They came well recomended and provided a good product at a reasonable price.
So down to the tin tacks.. Three dyno runs with three different configurations all on the same dyno report. I have included the three versions I was provided to paint as clear a picture as possible.
As you can see the exhaust added little to know gain whatsoever. To be fair John did tell me from the outset but of course I wasn't convinced and wanted to be 100% sure. Whilst there is always conjecture amongst these things I would personally not have gone down this route had I known the result. I would have saved the $900 odd dollars and put it into some other modifications. Anyway for the benefit of the rest of the PP community please use this information as you see fit.
Further to the above I have included below the original Prado re-map (for his other client) that John did before I took my car in. This was done with a completely stock Prado.
It is now that I want to make it really clear with everyone that I am not even slightly mechanical so please do not shoot me any hard questions. I have waited to do this post as I took the family over to Moreton Island with our camper trailer on the weekend and I wanted to see how the Prado performed. Needless to say it went extremely well. My overall conclusion to the remap is that without doubt it is the best money I have ever spent on the vehicle. If anyone has any further questions or interest then I would direct you to John from BPS to discuss. I am in no way affiliated with BPS however, from the outset, John was aware that I would likely publish the results as detailed information on exhaust and tuning outcomes was hard to find for the Prado.
I hope this provides some of the PP community with some tangible evidence with regards to performance enhancements. Happy to field any questions.
Cheers
Howso
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