Many modern turbo diesel engines are primarily controlled by an ECU. Since the introduction of electronic diesel injection systems some time ago, the way has been opened for electronic performance upgrades. The ECU is a small computer. Many modern vehicles now have more processing power than Apollo 11 - the craft used in the first moon landing. The ECU can contain information on all aspects of the vehicle, from simple data such as model, year and engine type to more complex data relating to the exact time in the engine cycle that injection is to begin and the quantity of fuel to be injected. Changing information is received from engine management sensors such as throttle position, air flow and engine speed, and the ECU uses this information to determine optimum values for how much fuel to inject. To do this the ECU compares the received information to large areas of pre-determined reference data stored within a chip on the circuit board. These areas of data are known as memory maps. As the inputs are constantly changing during driving, so are the values returned from these memory maps, meaning that the settings for fuel injection and timing will remain appropriate to any particular driving situation.

The van Aaken SmartBox™
is a performance-enhancing additional control unit for electronically regulated Diesel engines. The van Aaken SmartBox™ intercepts the signals that go between the ECU and the engine, altering the values as they are transmitted. It is these alterations which give the significant increases in performance that the van Aaken SmartBox™ provides. The apparatus can be easily installed in almost any electronically regulated Turbo Diesel vehicles. For the majority of applications the installation can be performed by anyone and only takes a short time. Furthermore the van Aaken SmartBox™ can be removed if the vehicle needs to be returned to standard at anytime.

Why haven't the manufacturers done it?
When an engine in a mass produced vehicle is tuned, many compromises have to be made. The manufacturer has to allow for the engine being looked after in the worst possible way. Even if the car has not been serviced for months and poor quality fuel is used, the manufacturer has to make sure that there will not be any reliability or emission problems. Fueling is often decreased to the point of destroying part-throttle driving in an attempt to improve fuel economy figures measured in accordance with Government testing procedures. Vehicle Manufacturers have some of the best Technicians and Engineers around - but they are working to goals that are different from ours and so the discerning driver loses out.

What will a van Aaken SmartBox™ do for my Turbo Diesel car?
Modern Turbo Diesel engines respond well to the techniques van Aaken have developed over many years for modifying all types of Diesel engine. Impressive power and torque increases can be achieved by installing the van Aaken SmartBox™ into electronically controlled Diesel cars - up to 25% on some models! To increase the power and torque of mechanically controlled Turbo Diesel engines, we at van Aaken Developments have developed our own Performance Optimisation.

Other Features
Power and Torque increases are achieved without black exhausts and without prejudicing engine reliability. By using the extra torque provided by the van Aaken SmartBox™, fuel consumption may improve, however this is dependent upon individual driving styles. The use of a microprocessor guarantees precision, reliability and smooth engine response by enabling detailed mapping and complex calculation algorithms which achieve optimum fueling and timing values. Exhaust emission values will remain within the prescribed norms.