How does your car feel now, was it worth it, what was amd's service like?

I am pleased with the result.
The bare figures are;
before 156bhp @ 5155
185 lbs ft @ 3098

after 190 @ 4999
227 @ 4010 but the graph shows over 210 between 2400-4900 revs.
It feels much the same on the road at light throttle openings, with possibly a moments more lag at lowish engine speeds. I have been trying to check out the response.
This car has always felt strong even when new and the engine pulls well at silly revs ,certainly when compared to the (heavier) A4T quattro wife lets me drive sometimes !
In fifth gear it pulls reasonably from 1400 revs it pulls strongly from 1600 to 1800 it really feels very strong ,at 2200 it flies.
I have had it one week now and have covered some 600 miles including a trip to Norfolk from Berkshire , motorway, main road and country roads, a good tryout. The most noticeable improvement is the torque, coming off roundabouts results in rapid forward movement, but without much sensation except for the rapid disappearance backwards of the other traffic, very addictive !
Fuel economy seems slightly better currently 35.8 mpg and it was 35 / 35.1 before although the long journey did not seem to make much difference,too much wide open throttle ,even within speed limits.
I know there was comment about optimistic figures, maybe I'll get it run on another dyno sometime but the figures do tie up roughly with those published in the A4 forum for a variety of chips.

I would have had a different air filter fitted but they were out of stock .

Worth it ? Yes and having ridden in it wife has asked when i'm getting her A4 chipped !! That should see up to another 20 /30 bhp and similar torque ( it is a 180bhp version)but I want to fit the ventilated wheel arch liner first,to get better airflow through the intercooler.

Any further questions fire away .I'll answer as quickly as I can.

Chris,

It sounds very good.

What's traction like in the wet? You know, getting the power down. A lot worse than before, or just mildly worse, or no difference?

Any difference in engine note, induction noise, turbo whistle?

Oh, I nearly forgot, did you ask AmD about spare ECU's, costs etc?

Cheers,

Alan.

Would the ventilated wheel arch liner apply to the A3 as well?
How long did you have to wait while they did the work at Amd?
Is there a pub nearby!
I think you should change the 'T' off the back of your A3 to the red one off the quattro, just to show theres a slight difference!

I am considering getting AMD to chip my S3 as they are just down the road from me.

What did you think of there service?

and a dull question I know, but how much extra did the chip put on your insurance?

If the chip isn't very obvious how does your insurance company check or prove these things just out of curiosity.

amd are without doubt thew best people in the uk for chipping audis or volkswagens,they come highly recommended.power figures for the s3 after an amd chip are approximately 265bhp with torque to match.but the best part is that you get a dyno-plot computer print out showing you the new performance figures.and yes their rolling road is accurate.

John

It may be difficult to prove if you have a mangled car, but if they did find out. You would have no insurance.
Is it worth the risk.

I spoke to my insurers and they do things on a BHP basis an extra 40BHP would be an extra £65.


Dudi.

Paul @ AG

I need to speak to you regarding AG upgrades for my S3.
But I have to say that the torque figures from AMD's rolling road do seem to be optimistic at best. I saw a dynoplot on the S4 forum which reported 494lb!!! Which is not possible with a re-chip & exhaust.
I am not getting at AMD as from what I here they are very good. But it helps to have accurate figures.

I would like to ask if AG would offer discounts on volume orders of their chip upgrades?
If you would like to discuss in private then drop me line.

Dudi.

Paul,

I hope you don't mind me asking. Can you tell us more about the company you work for, and what tuning products are available?

Thanks,

Alan
'99.5 A3 1.8T MS Silver

John,

The answer is, if you don't tell them, they don't know, but my understanding is...

When/if you have an accident, the insurers send out an "assessor" to look at the car to see if it is a "write-off." (You may know this, I don't know) Depending on the seriousness of the accident, depends on how much the car is interrogated. So it is likely that they dig deeper the more serious the accident is. So if you have an accident, and the car is chipped, and the "assessor" digs deep and spots this, that's when the insurance company finds out, and that's when you're insurance document suddenly becomes a piece of toilet paper! - if you didn't tell them about it.

It's a crap and depressing post - I know, but I think that is roughly it. Sorry. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

AL

Hi

I realise that the assessors check for non standard wheels / suspension, drainpipe exhausts, induction kits etc, but do you really think that they can detect a non standard chip? I doubt they have a case if the chip just looks different - they would have to analyse it on some kind of test equipment - I think it is unlikely that this happens with every bent motor in the body shop / scrap yard.

It is a gamble - and i agree with your point regards insurance certificate invalidation - but hell, I pay enough to insure my A3 at the moment anyway - I dread to think what I'd be quoted with 190bhp....

regards

David

Especially if the standard chip is reprogrammed which is what AMD do, there isn't a visible difference, we already pay too much insurance as it is!

Insurance is sky-high, and it's just stupid. Just another instance of how we are getting ripped-off in this country!

Re: checking the ECU. You are probably right. It's doubtful that they would dig that deep. But it wouldn't be that hard for them to do it. But who really know's?

And it is true, if it is just a re-programmed OEM chip, then it would be impossible for them to tell just by looking at the ECU board.

It's a risk either way. :)

Cheers,

Alan

Surely Chris you must question the torque figures from AMD. If correct I'm sure the Insurers would like to re look at insurance ratings.

185 lbft std !!!. The Increase is in line with other ECU's. So I dont doubt the increase in power and torque which is the main thing.

Get the car to a decent Rolling Road and see.

There has to be a major problem with the software. They totally overstate std figures for the S3 and S4, let alone the figures after conversion. Has Audi got a very bad dyno in Germany ?. My old S3 certainly did not get the stated torque figures as std that AMD claim.
To be 20% out is a big number.

Jonathan

The S3 got traded in for a Polo GTI for the wife. I have a P1 on order and two three door cars in the family was not allowed. So at present its a UK Impreza Turbo untill the P1 arrives (soon I hope).

I'm expecting to go back to an S3 when Ive got the P1 out of my system

Jonathan

You didn't tell her the P1 was 3 door then! not tempted by an Evo VI for the same money?

Ive driven both the P1 and the EVO. The EVO is just to firm on the suspension and there is no character in the engine. I take family and clients in the car. The P1 is designed for UK Roads. I will put up with the crap interior again for a while !. Also Scoobies have a big club, orgainised events etc. There is a trend towards the Max Power brigade though as Import and old cars approach the 10k price range.

The car that now has my old S3 cant get over the mid range performance, and he's come from a 911 !. The MTM ECU for me transformed the car.

Jonathan

Those two things exactly put me off a scooby, ****e interior aka nissan micra, and bad boy image, what about an evo extreme? John.