Inigo Montoya

Probably not an earth-shattering post here, but maybe of use to anyone searching on the subject of chips in the future.

At about 12,000 miles I got the GIAC X chip, and had a TurboXS BPV installed as well. After 20,000 miles with the chip I've had absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. It drives factory-smooth and the difference in power and especially torque is very noticeable. Add my voice to the chorus of people who say their only regret is they didn't chip sooner. If I had to do it all over again I would chip it the first month of ownership. Visits to the dealership for routine maintenance have produced no hassles or mentioning of the chip. In short I've been very happy with the GIAC chip. That said, there are some other options on the market these days, such as the 034 EFI and Revo systems that allow you to reprogram as you add new hardware, and if I had a stock ECU at this point I would look seriously at one of these systems that allows you to grow.

Other thoughts...

After being chipped for about 5,000 miles I upgraded the suspension from factory sport springs and shocks to Koni shocks and H&R sport springs. My feelings now are that I should either have not gotten the factor sport suspension in the first place if I was going to upgrade, or else kept the factory set-up and put that money into something else, like a FMIC or a big brake kit.

Another 5,000 miles after the suspension upgrade I added a Neuspeed cat-back system. The difference in power was not huge but it does help clear the way for a future big turbo upgrade. It is loud in my opinion, but does not drone on the highway.

chiwrong

You year is your A4? 1.8T?

qfrog Ti20

probably 01 if he has an AWM which I think is the b5 1.8T X-chip engine.

kenny (dremel)

yeppers.

OHQuattros(tehblur)

Why was the suspension a let down in your opinion? No pun intended.

Inigo Montoya

If the Audi sport suspension is a 7, then my new set up is an 8. So it is an improvement, but I think the net performance gain of adding a FMIC to the existing sport suspension would have been greater than upgrading the sport suspension. I paid several hundred dollars to improve something that was already pretty good, and now as I'm planning a turbo upgrade (GT28RS preferably) I still need a FMIC.

OHQuattros(tehblur)

So do you think I should keep my sport springs and upgrade shocks to get it lower?

Inigo Montoya

I just meant in terms of improving overall performance on a limited budget, I'd stick with the original sport suspension (since I already paid for it) and put that money into something else. It's just a matter of getting the most bang for the buck in terms of performance vs cost.

As far as suspension upgrades go, I'm happy with it. If you have a factory non-sport suspension, for example, it would be a huge difference. It is worth noting that cosmetically speaking, the Koni shocks and H&R springs didn't lower the car all that much from the factory sport suspension. I didn't mind that as I just wanted the car flat in the curves.

OHQuattros(tehblur)

I think I am going to go aftermarket with mine and put my sport suspension on hers. That way I'm still using them and saving money too. I'm nore worried about my control arms at the time. Fixing those should help the feel quite a bit. And then do my suspension at the same time. I think I want a dramatic drop and rather stiff compared to the factory sport though. Maybe I should look at coilovers.