Alive Tuning

04/10/2026

Now this is a first for us... A Defender chassis, in for a Hybrid turbo tune on the dyno!

An impressive rebuild for sure, but the engine and fuel system had some flaws that meant this was never going to perform as well as a factory built vehicle. For a start, the original injectors had been sent off to be reconditioned (Doh!). They were nasty and so we swapped them out for a known good set, and that instantly cured the misfire and the engine started to respond.

Suspecting a fuel starvation issue, holding the power back, we swapped out the fuel pump for a new, genuine Land Rover part, but still it would not make any more power. Besides the fuel filter housing, which was plumbed in correctly, the aftermarket fuel lines were suspected as being restrictive. However, they had non-standard fastenings and that meant we couldn't measure pressure at the pressure regulator, as we should.

Given the time constraints we had, the customer was still delighted with the new found performance, as it was pretty much exactly what he wanted. The dyno graphs aren't pretty, but its running a lot better than it was when it came in, and will be a lot of fun to drive, once its fully rebuilt of course!

I suspect we'll be seeing this Defender back on the dyno in future, so stay tuned for further updates.

Now this is a first for us... A Defender chassis, in for a Hybrid t...

27/09/2026

We take our tomcat to the Stone Enduro!

This time we joined Staffs & Shrops Off Road Club at Aston Lodge, Stone, Staffordshire on the 19th and 20th of September 2026.

This weekend we had a stand in co-driver as Chris was away so we started out steady learning the course and increasing the pace as we went, as the day went on our laps got faster and faster preparing us for the night stages!

As the sun set we lined up for one of three night laps, all three laps went smoothly considering we’d never raced in the dark and incredibly we still lowered our times 😊

Sunday morning we decided we needed to get into the high 5 minute mark, given we had already at this point taken nearly a minute out of our first lap time we were confident we could do it. Our first few laps seemed ok but the truck felt flat and less responsive. Back at the paddock we realised we had a fuel starvation issue so replaced the fuel filter with the hopes we could bring the power back.

Unfortunately this didn’t work and we had to ride out the final laps in only 1st and 2nd gears as 3rd was nearly unusable. With all the fuel issues we managed to get frustratingly close to our goal with a 6:02 min lap.

Overall we had a great weekend and with a bit of attention to the tomcat we will be back out again soon.

https://youtu.be/cM7MJqMJnOM?si=bzFaLwHyoZTvhar0

We take our tomcat to the Stone Enduro! This time we joined Staff...

18/09/2026

We bought a Discovery 4 SDV6 as we do a lot of towing, and the Disco 4 (LR4) is arguably one of the best all rounders that Land Rover have ever made.

Unfortunately the 3.0 SDV6 engine in these, has somewhat of a reputation for crank shaft failure, but we think there is a relationship between this and long service intervals. Between the Alive team, we've owned many of these engines in many different models, at many different power levels, and not one of us has ever had any real issues as we've always given them an oil change every 6000 miles. Coincidence, or maybe just good luck, but we think this is what these engines need to live a long and healthy life.

This particular engine comes in many power levels from the manufacturer, up to the 306ps version in later model JLR vehicles (all be it, thats a leter generation of the SDV6 engine), and this produced an impressive 700Nm from stock! Given the Discovery 4 is rated to 255ps and 600Nm, that gives us quite a bit of potential to rinse some safe, addiitonal power from the engine.

We've previously tuned these Euro 5 engines up to around 295hp, but for our D4, we wanted to hold back a little, since it's going to be working hard most of the time, and it's already had a life of course with it currently having 125,000 miles on it!

The Results:
Stock Power: 231hp
Stock Toruqe: 536Nm

Tuned Power: 270hp
Tuned Torque: 600Nm

We also tuned the ZF8HP Automatic gearbox on our Discovery 4, to help it deal with the extra torque and to make it more responsive on gear shifts, adding to the smoothness and refinement you see on the final test drive.

Land Rover tuning, done properly, by Alive Tuning.

We bought a Discovery 4 SDV6 as we do a lot of towing, and the Disc...

02/09/2026

It’s that time of year again! Come find us at the 2026 LRO show for all things Alive tuning 😊

30/08/2026

We went into this race weekend a little bit cautious after our rollover at our last event and also fitting the truck with a new L*D rear diff we didn’t really know how differently it would handle.

Day one was problem free and the car performed fantastically, unfortunately the day was cut down to only 3 laps due to time constraints on the course.

Day two and it was time to push! We started off confident in the car but found it to be lacking power and no matter what we did or checked we couldn’t seem to improve our lap times. We found out once back at the workshop one of our exhaust baffles had fallen apart and partially blocked our exhaust 🤦🏻‍♂️

Overall it was a frustrating weekend as we felt comfortable in the car, but couldn’t really make the most of it.

Onwards and upwards!

https://youtu.be/L5nrlc1vj9U?si=ZMzyeqF8LujVymdM

Norc round 5 - Gisburn We went into this race weekend a little bi...

23/08/2026

These two Discovery's have come to Alive HQ for tuning, having driven all the way from Belgium! The 300 Tdi is pretty much stock, but with a (pooly) modified air filter box, where as the Td5 has a VNT Turbo supplied by another tuning company.

Both have their problems, but can we turn them around? Of course we can, with significant transformations on each, as you'll see!

Join Martyn and Will as they take you through the process of bringing these Land Rovers to Life.

These two Discovery's have come to Alive HQ for tuning, having driv...

13/08/2026

It is with regret; we have to announce that our 2026 open day has had to be cancelled. Sincere apologies to anyone who had made plans to come and see us, but due to a series of events beyond our control, there was no way we could make it happen. We have every intention of running this event at Alive HQ in the spring of 2027, so stay tuned for updates on this.

We are of course only a matter of weeks away from the LRO show at Belvoir Castle in September and it’s our intention to hit this hard, bringing some awesome new Alive goodies for visitors to register their interest in. We’ll also be doing remaps for most makes and models of cars, vans and of course Land Rovers, at the show, so if you’d like some Alive goodness bringing to your engine, come and see us as soon as you can as allocations get snapped up fast!

02/08/2026

Its a question you ask a lot... Which is best in a Defender? The Td5 or the BMW M57 engine?

Having lived with a Td5 and ZF 8HP combination for six months, Will had an itch to scratch, that could not wait, so he pulled the trigger and here we are! Using the aluminium block engine from a 2007, 231ps 730d, we removed the EWS from the BMW engine management, and wired it in, alongside the Td5 ECU, so that all ABS / TC functions would still work.

With the engine installed and a proper shakedown done, we're ready for tuning, with aspirations of BIG power from the stock engine configuration. We run the Defender on the dyno and the M57 makes strong results, with data logs confirming all is healthy. Now we can SEND IT and throw everything we have at the stock turbo, and hope the fuel system can hold up! It does and the results are impressive, of course.

Join Martyn and Will as they take you from the initial dyno run in stock form, to a BIG POWER Alive engine tune, pushing the standard components close to their limits.

BMW M57 Tuning by Alive Tuning, using CANTCU for perfect integration to the ZF8HP Auto transmission.

https://youtu.be/rue8AD85oic?si=9CaC8Hk3HRsAtUiK

Its a question you ask a lot... Which is best in a Defender? The Td...

27/07/2026

🏆 TOMCAT OF THE MONTH 🏆- Martyn Clarke

This month we're featuring this brilliant Tomcat 88" from the team at Alive Tuning! 🔥

Built around a Discovery 1 and P38 donor, this Tomcat features a powerful 4.2 V8 paired with a 4-speed automatic gearbox and Compushift, making it a seriously capable competition machine.

🏁 This is their first year racing the Tomcat in the NORC Comp Safari Championship, and although they’re only three events into their journey, the team has already been putting the car through its paces and learning more with every race.

One of the highlights of their Tomcat journey has been rebuilding the vehicle from the ground up — gaining valuable mechanical knowledge and creating countless memories along the way.

"We have rebuilt our Tomcat from the ground up, so it's been great fun learning the mechanical side of the Tomcat."

A huge part of the Tomcat experience is the community, and it’s great to hear how much support they’ve received along the way:

"Tomcat Motorsport have been fantastic, not only supplying parts but also dealing with my endless phone calls asking for advice!"

The project doesn’t stop there… 👀

Next year, they’re planning to take things even further with a 300bhp TD5 engine and 8HP gearbox conversion. We can’t wait to see how this next chapter develops!

Make sure you follow along with their build over on YouTube:


https://www.youtube.com/

Thanks for sharing your Tomcat journey with us — and good luck for the rest of the season! 🏁

27/07/2026

Here's a Defender Td5 we tuned a very long time ago. Owned by a local businessman, and used daily as a workhorse, having now clocked up an incredible 356 thousand miles, on its still very healthy, engine and injectors! We'd fitted one of our early hybrid turbos, along with our full 2 1/2" stainless steel exhaust system and an Allisport intercooler, and of course dialled it all in to make around 200hp back then.

Having heard so many positive reviews about our GTB450 turbo, the owner wanted to upgrade and so the Td5 was booked in, and here we are. On the dyno, as presented, the Defender still made very respectable power, even though the Intercooler had, predictably, split at both ends.

We swapped out the old intercooler with one of our, virtually indestructable and super efficient, Ultimate Intercoolers, whilst installing the GTB450 turbo kit, then it was back onto the dyno.

Peak power was never the goal with this project, as this tows heavy loads all over the UK, so low end punch and clean tailpipe emissions were priority. Even with such prerequisites, we still managed to achieve close to 200hp!

Join Martyn, Will and Jack as they take you through the installation, and later demonstrate its awesome drivability on the road.

Twenty years of Td5 Tuning Excellence, brought to you exclusively by Alive Tuning.

https://youtu.be/cqIIThCdHV4?si=KIzpKONWtHbOv0CP

Here's a Defender Td5 we tuned a very long time ago. Owned by a loc...