When people talk about sleepers, they expect a turbine festival under the hood with hundreds and hundreds of horsepower, but today we are here to talk about the everyday sleepers, those cars that are not so extreme, but can still pull amusing dynamic tricks.
For this purpose, we’ll be traveling to France, where an ECU remap specialist called Digiservices likes to play with the mind of just about any vehicle its gets its OBD port on. This includes stuff you’d ever imagine on a dyno, such as vans and pickup trucks.
The examples shown here may not have V8 swaps, but the ECU remaps they receive are on the extreme side. Thus, the moves result in serious gains, which on the road could surprise many drivers, potentially damaging their egos.
We’ve brought a few examples to illustrate the story and we’ll start with the vans. The first is a Renault Traffic powered by a modest two-liter diesel. This was taken from 90 hp and 219 Nm to 149 hp and 334 Nm. While the final number itself may not be all that impressive, the over 50 percent gain in power is worth mentioning.
Those looking for some serious oomph will be pleased to hear about a 3-liter diesel Mercedes Viano, whose V6 was bumped from 236.5 hp and 477 Nm to 264 hp and 614 Nm. That’s more torque than a BMW M4...
Moving into the pickup truck zone, we’ll talk about an Isuzu D-Max. The three-liter unit under the hood delivered 157 hp and 345.5 Nm in stock form, but it now offers a diesel hot hatch-rivalling 215 hp and 469 Nm.
We’ll also mention a Mitsubishi L200, the sporty-styled pickup truck from Japan. The example we’re talking about features a 2.5-liter diesel that has been taken from 159.5 hp and 376 Nm 199 hp and 416 Nm.
We’re not sure about the health and safety of the turbines on these workhorses, but you can see their dyno adventures in the clips below.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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