Dicor - With Diesel Digital Tuning Box- 85 Bhp. Review on Tata Safari DiCOR

I own a Dicor 1.4 l, 70 Bhp . 14.3 Kgm powered TATA. I am happy and proud of owning it because of the astonishing experience with it. From the specifications, I found out that TATA's have not properly advertised about their product. The Dicor Power plant which is available in Indigo(Normal and CS version), Indica and Marina variants of TATA posses an excellent profile of itself.

1. 16 Valved Engine.

   
   




2. DOHC Engine.

   
   




3. Delphi's common rail system with high pressure of 1600 Bars

   
   

(Even the so called Swift Vdi, with most sophisticated engine runs only in 1400 bar pressure).

1. Variable Geomentry Turbo ( The most advanced technology in Turbocharger).

   
   




2. High pressure solenoid injectors for accurate fuel injection.

   
   




3. 32 Bit ECM for super fast operations.

   
   

When a Swift DDis, or Hyundai's Crdi boast of their technologies in their engines, TATA's have

not given much exhibition of their stuff. Here, I take the previleage of boasting these futures.

I have done around 3000 Kms and I am very much satisfied with the performance of the car.

Fuel Efficiency;

City : 17.5 --- 19 Kmpl

HighWay: 23.19 --- 26 Kmpl.(With & Without AC).

Since I also have a Swift Vdi, (11, 500Kms) with me , I had a chance of adding a 'Digital Tuning Box' for my Swift, which was purchased in USA. It added 20% more power/torque to the engine. After this, i thought if Swift Diesel can have a 'Power Upgrade' option by means of a tuning box, then , why not Dicor, which too runs with a CRDi engine.I tried with many manufacturers , including Pete's .. But none of them had tuning box for Dicor.

Getting frustrated hence, I decided to do some research further on Dicor Engine. Dicor possess a common rail system manufactured by Delphi - Lucas colloboration , having a plant near chennai. I had a chat with those guys, and read some articles describing the system in dicor. I found out that Delphi had not started its indigenous preparation in india exclusively for TATA Cars. It had only imported the system currently running over the cars worldwide.

Finally , I settled after finding one for TATA's Dicor. It was a 'Dragon Performance UK' product which sells the box suited for Dicor. Since Dicor is much an Indian car they have not specified it for Dicor. **It costed me only Rs. 14, 800 'Viola', it worked out excellently. Fitting the box was easy task as I have already fitted one in my Swift Vdi.

*We must know some startling facts about Dicor Engines.

1. presence of VGT

   
   




2. Low speed torque and almost nil - turbo-lag.

   
   




3. Capable of high tuning. - 1.4 l Dicor yields 70bhp whereas the 2.2 L one in Safari yields 140 bhp. It majorly depends on the tuning factor which decides the power with VGT.

   
   

Now, its the time to test the performance of the car with Tuning Box.

I took out the car for a road-test, late in the night after 11.00 PM, in chennai, to avoid traffic. As I started the car from home I felt some difference in the engine response. The was groaning a bit more powerful, engine noise was also smooth, compared to earlier. I went slowly initially to heat up the engine. Took the car to highway and started the road tests.

Following are Results:

1. Low speed response is excellent when compared to stock Dicor.

   
   




2. At peak rpm's say, above 3500 to 4500 , engine still had enough power to propel the car.

   
   

The car accelerated in 3rd gear , even better than my Swift .

3rd Gear 4th Gear 5th gear, 40-- 100kmph 11.2 s 15.5 sec 25 sec

Even while doing 5th gear and at 60 Kmph the car felt very powerful and lightfooted. It accelerated with great enthusiasm upto its redline. The rough noise which was in stock engine at 3000 + rpms got reduced now. I am able to make 150kmph easily and it feels like, it still has some power in reserve. If I can upgrade to higher profile tires, I could do this speed in confidence.*

e above performance shows it has gained 20% increase in performance . The car should have 85 bhp in its hood. I have not taken the 'Dyno Test' Though.

I have taken the car for a long trip just to enjoy the fun in it. It was a wonderful experience to startle all other cars like Innova , Scorpio 2.6 CRde etc., with a much smaller Dicor. The impressive 'Roll on ' acceleration easily surpasses all these cars without much effort.

The important factor is that this box is suited for all Tata's Dicor models , such as Indica , Indigo, Indigo CS, Marina & Safari as well.