I'm curious to hear stories of people getting chips to upgrade horsepower. I've seen products that increaste the 1.8's HP to 200 with a chip. I am thinking of getting a 1.8, but will getting a chip void the warranty?

search for "chips and salsa" "apr" "wett" "autothority" "nuespeed"(sp) "mtm" and a few others.

if you fear warranty issues then your best option is buy a chip which can be swapped. apr and wett both have 'swappable' chips/ecus. apr will ship you a modified ecu(xtra $200, worth it imho) leaving you with your stock ecu whereas wett will solder on a socket which will allow you to swap between their modified chip and stock chip. mtm may also offer something similar but i'm not sure.

unfortunately you will have ~2 days of downtime due to shipping etc with wett. downtime was unacceptable imo so i opted for the apr chip. not to say one is better than the other. i'm _completely_ satisfied with the apr chip .. the only downside is i'm even MORE power hungry now than before. :)

oh. you if you get the apr stage1 or 2 kit you also get $500 off when you upgrade to the apr stage3 300hp kit. i'm waiting.


99.5 1.8tqms apr
-jasyn

I would guess that probably half of the 1.8t owners who post here have chipped (it's a guess, but seems that way). First off, search the archives, there's more info on chipping in there than you can shake an ecu at.

Second, chipping makes a big difference. I haven't chipped YET (this fall), but have ridden in several chipped cars. I have experienced the Neuspeed .8 bar chip, Wett .8 bar and 1.0 bar chips, and MTM 1.0 bar chip. Each one was a tremendous improvement over stock. Also, the 1.0 bars were clearly quicker than the .8 bars. Prices range from ~$200 for the Neuspeed to ~$600 for the MTM (or APR W/ spare ecu).

As for warranty, technically they have to prove that the modifications (chip) caused the failure of the part to deny you warranty coverage. In reality, what are you going to do if the service manager says they won't cover something under warranty because of the chip? Is it worth the time and trouble to get a lawyer? Best bet is to find a service department that will work with you on the issue. That said, I can't remember the last time I read a post on this board about someone being denied warranty service due to chipping.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms