Chipping info needed

M

McAudi

Member
Hi, coming to end of first year with me Tdi 90, previously had a MK4 golf 1.6 104 bhp and am well pleased with everything about my car... although the missus drives it to work in the week and I only drive it at weekends! It's like a go cart and the handling makes the Golf feel like a Lada with two fifty gallon filled water tanks on the roof... And the new road tax bill is even better! Ha! Anyway, it looks like the right place to answer some of me questions...
I need some advice on chipping. I've got a years manufacturers warranty left and need to know whether it invalidates it or not (you've probably heard this one before!) I'm pretty happy with my A2's current performance but have heard that I could get 118bhp out of it if I had it chipped. Is it worth it?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers!
 
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My 75 is chipped and it's great, it will invalidate your warranty if the failed part is directly attributable to the chip, if not your fine.
I cannot believe how quick mine is now and would reccommend a custom chip to anyone, I got mine at www.jabbasport.com they remap to each individual car based on it's rolling road peformance so the chip is spot on for your car, not an average of a few they have tested.
My powerplot is here; AudiPlotweb.jpg
I think the RRP is £425 but ask for Nick and tell him Naythan recommended them and you may get the same deal I did!
 
chipping invalidates warranty AND INSURANCE so make sure you tell them if you have anything done. warranty is fine though if you goto somewhere like http://www.amdtechnik.com/ as they can take it off replace FOC when its serviced etc.

personally i would leave it for a year as the increase from a 1.4 is not a great deal and i would prefer my warranty untouched!

good luck and happy searching. but remember one thing there is no CHEAP WAY to do this they are all very bad for the car. goto a reputable remapper or be afraid.. very afraid ;)
 
Hi McAudi
I agree with Aikon regarding the warranty. If the increased horsepower results in failure of the transmission for example, it would not be covered but if the climate control goes wrong it would be. It would do no harm to discuss this with your Dealer to ensure there are no surprises in the unlikely event of something going wrong.
Not sure if really necessary but Revo and AMD both offer reprogrammed ECU's where you can plug in an optional 'memory stick' and change between standard and the performance map.
If the warranty issue still worries you, go for the Audi approved ABt (of German Touring Car fame) remap which is available from selected dealers

Cheers Spike
 
putting the matter straight !!

I read so many posts on here about chipping being bad for the car and if this goes wrong blah blah etc.. so lets set the record straight.

My car was chipped with about 200ish mile on the clock.. Had it now for three years, so basically from the week it was delivered until it is now out of warranty..

Mine was the first to be done by Impossible Performance in Kent.. Cost £300 ish.

Now what the chip has done is this –
  • Improved the torque by about 35%
  • Improved the BHP by 50%
  • Reduced my need to over rev it as it pulls from around 1500rmp in 4th very well, it will even drive along in 5th at 900rpm without breaking a sweat
  • Reduced my need to keep changing gears
  • Reduced my overall fuel consumption [65mph [2600rpm] seems to give me a steady 60mpg] this is with climate always on and an extra 110kg in the trunk
  • Increase my top end speed by about 7-8mph,, though I have seen a GPS speed of 124mph.. [wind and hill assisted]
So can someone explain where this worry about damaging the car comes from..
Before it was chipped it would still rev to red line, so nothing has changed there..

Personally the fear you all talk about is so unfounded as I have seen no evidence that those worries are justified..

Yes the car is faster but not because you need to race it.. When driving along in 4th gear at just under 2000rpm,, the accelerating is amazing,, yes if you want to race a Golf 2.0L Gti you are not going to lose him in a 0-60 sprint but at 90mph he is going to have to move over because he can not match your pace, neither can an A4 2.0T but the point is, where you have the power advantage is when the car is already pulling and this is in a rev range that is least likely to do any harm to the car.

Now just for fun, and now the car is out of warranty, I tried a temp weekend setup with my car with some NO2. This was just a track experiment provided from a friend.. I was curious.. we took the car over to France for a few days and this is what the A2 can really do.. we had no access to a rolling road but –
  • Using crude timing gear we saw 0-60 in the 6’s, consistently getting under 7secs, even with my crap driving skills
  • 0-100mph in around 16secs – [seriously AMAZING]
  • Top end was more or less the same – max 115mph
  • Every 20mph increment was delivered in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear on full boost with a perfomance that put my mates 2yr old BMW M3 to SHAME and in an out and out 4th gear sprint between 40mph - 100mph, the M3 was not really doing the business. If the A2 had a 6th gear I reckon we could have seen 140mph easily, though even with good suspension and aerodynamics, this car is not at its best at speeds over 120mph
  • We used about 3x32ibs of NO2
My conclusion,, seriously good fun but totally irresponsible and there is no way I could afford this much fun,, the temptation to upset other car drivers would be too tempting even though the childish grin factor was producing a nice warm vibe in my pants.. [sorry we won’t go there] but it was fun.. I still love my car to bits, I would guess that we had about 160bhp available and there must have been at least 350Nm at full boost,, not bad from a 1.4tdi..

So if you are worried about what chipping your car can do to it,, please read the above from someone who has done it, been there and still having loads of safe fun outside of his hardly used 3 year warranty..
 
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Hi EF MAX
I'm no expert on the A2 diesel engine but may be able to explain the perceived risk if rechipping.
First the bad news -
To increase power by 50% means the engine needs lots more fuel and combustion air. This results in a dramatic increase in the cylinder pressures, turbo speed and boost pressure, turbo air inlet temperatures and heat rejection to the cooling and charge air systems. Every single one of these parameters has a negative effect on engine durability.
Increasing max torque by 35% puts a big strain on the driveline and could result in damage to the clutch, gearbox, final drive and driveshafts.
Although it would pass a MOT test with flying colours, the engine is unlikely to comply with the emissions level it was certified to (Euro 3 or Euro 4)
Audi could rightly refuse to repair any of the related systems in warranty if they knew the engine had been chipped.

Now the good news -
Unless you go touring in the alps with a 20 foot caravan or cruise flat out all day on the autobahns, you will only use this extra power and torque during acceleration which occurs for probably less than 30 seconds at a time.
Most modern Euro 3 & 4 emissions compliant engines run retarded timing to lower combustion temperatures which reduces Nox (oxides of nitrogen) The remap is likely to advance the timing which improves efficiency and mpg.
The A2 diesel gearbox is safe to 250Nm which is close to the max torque of the re mapped engine.
Audi cooling systems are among the best designed of any car manufacturer.
All cars have built-in safety margins so engine and transmission components are unlikely to break but may wear out a bit quicker.

I'm not so sure about your experiments with the nitrous. Even with a light car like the A2 I think you would need around 200bhp to get a 16sec 0 - 100mph time. That sort of power could do serious damage to the engine and transmission. I think you were lucky to get away without a big repair bill

Cheers Spike
 
hi max i think that was a greart post and some useful info so thanks, however i didnt think anyone was doubting the benefits of remapping or running scared and after re-reading the OP and replies i don't see anyone putting the remapping down un-neccassarily?
 
SPIKE, I hear you.. I think my response was a response to threads from the past as well,, the A2 has an amzing little engine but most people on this board have far more common sense than myself and I guess I can get a little excited and reckless in the process..
 
Hi EF Max
It was good to read your long term experience of a tuned A2. It just goes to show that if you use a reputable tuner and drive fairly sensibly (most of the time) then you are unlikely to have any problems.
To illustrate the point of how far you can uprate a good diesel engine, take a look at the attached links. The engine of this Cummins powered pick-up truck normally tops out at 275bhp. The modified version is still street legal but has 735 bhp - plus a few world records under its belt.
http://www.bankspower.com/Sidewinder-news.cfm
http://www.bankspower.com/Sidewinder-vs-Enzo.cfm


Cheers Spike
 
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hi lads,

my first post.....right....i just bought a 1.4 tdi (75bhp).....and have read about the remapping on here, so...me being a bit of a p.c. techi type....i bought a remapping kit and software from ebay......(laugh, my mates did!)

right, i understand that what im doing is basically reflashing the eeprom in the ecu, but.....my main concern is operating the software as i still havnt seen it.

so...im asking....is there anywhere i can learn about using the software or speak to someone that regularly does this procedure.....

cheers lads.....

(p.s. this is for personal use only as wouldnt risk ferkin up someone elses ecu!!)

best regards

Gordy!:confused:
 
Gordy, I'd stop before you begin, unless you happen to have a spare £700 or so knocking around! (For an new ECU)

Flashing the ECU is not a straightforward job and no piece of Ebay-bought software will be up to the job. Even if you do successfully re-program the eeprom, do you know exactly what you have re-flashed it with?

Seriously, if you want to get a re-map done, go to the professionals - Simon Coe at www.ccctech.co.uk springs to mind. He did my TDi 90 18 months ago and it has performed like a dream ever since.

It's your choice at the end of the day, but I know what I'd do!
 
cheers lads......

i will have a look at it and see what it looks like.....

but...i think it will get fired back on ebay as soon as it arrives....lol....



regards

gordy!:eek:
 
tell me this then lads...can i expect the box (piggy back number i presume) to give the same gains as the remap....if so...for £39.99 i may as well get that......

cheers again...

gordy!:rolleyes:
 
chipping info

My advice to anyone who is considering having their car remapped is ......
go and get it done . I had my tdi 90 remapped a couple of weeks ago and i still can't stop playing with the extra power, its great for pulling away and you really feel all the extra torque especially on the motorway, when you can overtake with ease in any gear.
I only wish i had got it done when i bought the car, it definitely makes driving the car even more fun.
I was told it should increase the mpg slightly, but i have yet to see any increase but this is probably to my heavy right foot!.
I had my car remapped by simon coe www.ccctech.co.uk who uses the upsolute upgrade and it costs £295, it should increase bhp to approximately 118 bhp.
Definitely well worth the money !!!!

Dale
04 tdi se 118bhp, front fogs, cd, climate,dis,rear cup holders, bench seat , removeable boot floor
 
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