advice on chipping my car

[positiveions]

Marwan, i think 30 to 40 sounds ....ehhhhh fishy. Maybe 20??? Turbo enginees can make that much 30 to 40

[James T. Kirk]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

Let's not go there. 40hp is possible, I'll agree. It is, however, NOT "no problem". This has been debated ad nauseum on this forum. The point of this thread is that the OPs shop told him they could chip tune his car to the tune of 40hp and 9000 rpm, which is total and utter BS.

So you agree that it is reachable with the laundry list of NA upgrades I mentioned, but you take issue that it's not "no problem."

What are you debating here?

I listed a laundry list of upgrades that would be required beyond the "chip" which could get him that 40HP. Certainly, a chip upgrade alone is not going to get him there. To this point, his mechanic is over-reaching. BUT with an upgrade with a high performance filter, cold air intake, pulleys, exhaust upgrade and then a tuned software upgrade (chip), it is ABSOLUTELY attainable.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by having Active Autowerke as a local resource. Those guys do phenomenal work every day of the week and can tune out another 40HP... NO PROBLEM, MON!

[MonteCarloM3]

buy it, just make sure the dealer does a dyno before AND after to prove the claims so when you don't make the advertised power you can get your money back.

[DBH]

A reflash should take about one hour. With no other mods it will probably net up to 12hp and maybe 10 torque. 9k limit is way too high, maybe 8.6k. Any more than this on a stock motor and you'll have pistons going through the hood!! I'd be VERY sceptical if someone told me otherwise.

[Legion5]

My guess is that the tune adds 20 hp and raises the redline to 8750. Then the dealer rounds that to 9k.

$2000 for 20 hp is a pretty bad deal though, normal aftermarket prices are half that at least.

I just dont think it's a good deal.

[bruce.augenstein@comcast.]

Originally Posted by erhanh

I remember reading about this reflashing stuff. It sounded like a slippery slope to me. My understanding was that to get more hp/tq, eventually certain safety margins were reduced which could cause long term reliability issues, or if margins are reduced to very low levels, even an engine damage is possible.

There is little question that safety margins are reduced, but one has to take this in a certain context. Manufacturers have to build in very significant safety margins, because their products are purchased by thousands of folks, some of whom are bound to be idiots in terms of how they treat their steeds.

Reprogrammers assume their products are purchased primarily by folks who know and care.

So-o-o, a typical reprogramming is pretty safe if the driver always uses 93, warms the oil fully before playtime, keeps clean oil in the crankcase, etc.

I've been doing this to my own cars since the '70s, and in fact began chipping Volkswagens and Audis after I became bored after retiring way early.

Never had a problem over hundreds of cars, except for one guy who was so thrilled with his Golf TDI that he roasted the clutch on the way home from my place. After that, I cautioned every TDI owner, since the power went from 90 to 120 HP, but torque went to approximately a jillion.

In any event, you're correct about reducing margins, but a reasonable owner/driver needn't worry. Not vouching for every aftermarket supplier on the planet, but just making the point about how margins can be reduced without a problem, except for the idiot quotient.

Bruce