Any information you can give to help me decide between T.A.P. and Wett would be appreciated. I like the idea of the 1 bar Wett chip but concerned about straining the turbo.

i've studied the articles and the sites...<p>sure EC said that WETT and TAP were the best in a recent article, but there's more to it.<p>i know that the WETT goes to 1 bar (14.7 psi) for their hp gains (around 50hp). TAP only has to go 12psi for the same 50hp. to me, that says less strain on the turbo.<p>plus, the TAP is a bit cheaper.<p>i can hardly wait to get the custom made exhaust on and chip the car now that i have over 1000 miles on it.

I've had the Wetterauer chip installed since May of 98 with no evidence of turbo deterioration.<br>I now have 40,000 miles on my A4.<p>There appears to be a misconception that installing a performance chip overstresses the 'mechanicals' all the time - wrong!<p>The chip provides increased performance, but only when demanded, which would be a relatively small percentage of daily driving time for most people.<p>Like most pieces of mechanical/electrical equipment there will be a reduction in life expectancy based on time operated at elevated temps. Unless you plan to drive in low gears at high rpm for 100% of the time I wouldn't be too concerned.<p>The best thing the chip did for my vehicle was to provide improved acceleration during my 80 mile round trip commute on I-95 during morning and evening rush hour.<p>

The Spring 1999 issue of Street Power magazine(I read it at Barnes& Noble) compares chips from TAP, Wett, AMS and Hoppen. It has good technical info for your decision. They do not however choose a clear winner. They seem to say the TAP chip is best but the Hoppen has the widest torque curve and the Wett is the best at 0-60. They also do not list the prices. <br>Good Luck.<br>Dave A4 1.8T Avant QMS

I have this article and the Tap chip had the best 50-70 times. The AMS chip had the best 0-60 times. However, clearly their was no winner and the article left me with the impression that any of these chips would be a good choice. <br>If I had to choose between Tap and Wett. is would be Tap, for several reasons: established here a lot longer, better price and upgrades are much better (they work).

This is the same lame article that appeared 8 or 9 months ago in Ero. car mag, and these articles usually take three months to get to press the first time. I say lame because the 0-60 times they got were about the same as most car mags got on none chipped cars, also the chips they tested have all been updated and changed since then so use it as a base line only, and consider that at least 4 more companies are offering chips since that article was written.The only good thing that article showed was that chipping really does give 30 to 50 hp and big torque improvement.

I plan on purchasing a chip come spring and am considering all three, but I think I'm leaning more towards TAP and Hoppen. Why have you ruled out the Hoppen chip?<p>JT 99' 1.8Tqms

On the 97 alone, Audi had three Software versions on the ECU in order to fix problems, and that does not include the version changes for automatics, which had lots of problems.If you put back in you stock chip in a Wett setup and go to the dealer with a running problem, and they decide you need a new ECU with updated software, you will loose your socketed unit. The old ECU's are all held by the dealer, then sent to Audi AG, they then look at EVERY ECU returned. If they find the unit was modified (and they will) they will turn down the dealers warranty claim, and you will get a phone call. Now this will only happen if they replace your ECU for some reason, but this is common. The idea that a socket will save you is false. If you do not have a problem that makes them want to change your ECU, then you do not need a socket anyway! I have been in this mess and also worked for dealers for 11 years, the only really safe way is a second stock ECU.

<br>i guess LEO knows nothign about chipping

I realize my efforts to help people may be offensive to you, but you are not being very Specific in your post. My knowledge of chipping goes back to the mid 80's when I worked for Porsche. At that time Denon started to do chips for BMW and several companies started doing Porsche, as these cars started using Engine control moduals. All parts that are warranted by the dealer must be held by the dealer for Audi's approval, this is fact not opinion. If the manufacture gets an ECU in under warranty that has been chipped they will not cover it, that is one of the few times that they can claim that modifacation may haved dirrectly caused falure, even though the perameters that the chip changes, i.e. Timing, fuel mixture, Turbo boost, speed limiter, rev limiter, and cold operation program, and limp mode settings, are unlikely to cause failure, they will turn down the warranty claim. My friend Joe Padula the service manager at Pray Audi Greenwich CT ( the largest Audi dealer in the US and I think the world) has told me that he does not care if my car is chipped , but when I bring him the car with problems like the one I had with a bad coolant temp sensor, he wants it with the stock ECU, then he will cover anything. I have a stock ECU, and a Wett ECU, and a TAP stage II, and have also had A Tap stage three, and Stage I. My car has had one chip or another for almost two years. I have had chips in 9 other cars Including a (84 911) and one 94 Dodge Ram pickup (Mopar ECU), so I think I have plenty of experience. I feel a little funny having to justify my efforts to help people avoid the problems I have allready been through several times with several cars. I have met some of the people who post on this board, some who wanted to drive my car to see if they liked the mods I have, so they know me. You on the other hand seem very young, and should learn some manners!

I agree Phil with you, but if I had to choose between another (spare) stock ECU and Wett chip that I can replace at any time... I would go for the Wett chip... What is the percentage of ECU related problems on Audi vehicles? I think not very high, just MHO. I swapped my 1.0 bar chip with the stock one few times when I was leaving my car in the dealership for a service... To me it was a piece of mind. Other than for this feature, i think that there is no clear winner between different chips. <p>Oggie

Turned my defective ECU (tranny hesitation) back in to Audi WITH my TAP chip still in it. This was over 6 months ago. I haven't heard from them (knock knock). I was willing to send my ECU back to Ivor for the swap but he said to just peel the sticker off and turn it in with the chip still in it. I also opened the ECU and took a yellow sticker off the TAP chip itself. Ivor told me that Audi had litterally hundreds of defective ECU's and they were no longer opening them up to check. I hope he is right!

I do have a Wett chip with socket among others as I wrote in my post. People often mix up confidence with conciededness, as you have. I think you have other problems not related to me, as there is really no good reason for your attitude. Do you even have an A4? How old are you and does your Mommy know you are on the internet?

As if the traffic wasn't bad enough... I don't know if you've noticed the radar "boxes" that they have set up between exits 3 and 13. I assume they are there to monitor traffic patterns but they keep my radar detector blastings continuously!<p>Interesting that there are four CT A4 owners on this post alone!<p>Chris

Don't the boost numbers make you suspicious? Let's face it, most of the additional horsepower from the 1.8T chips is a direct result of increased boost. IMHO, other than boost, there aren't many ways to significantly increase horsepower via a chip (if there were, the 2.8 chips would provide more power). The horsepower claims need to be taken with a grain of salt.<p>Personally, I was suspicious of TAP's claims as they were the only tuner claiming anywhere near 200hp with only 12 psi boost, so I went with the Wett chip. In the end, I bet more horsepower only comes with more boost!