accelerating from 60 mph on the highway. The AC was on and the temp. was 84F. Is this pinging? Is the chipping making too much boost and blowing off? Why would I notice this now? The car accelerates very well from a stop and in third gear on the on ramps, but in 4th or 5th with or without the AC I seem to notice this. Todd at AWE said something about the K-03 spooling up, but I did not understand this. Please advise.

My '99.5 pulls long and hard in ALL gears.
What gas are you using? Where are you located at, what rpm is this 4th gear chugging occuring at?

-Jenner
'99.5 1.8T QMS Spoiler/Garrett

understand if I am in too high a gear and the engine is bogging out because the rpm is too low. I live in Indianapolis. It pulls hard when accelerating from 3rd gear or lower this only seems to happen in 4th or 5th when travel at speeds when the next gear down would bring the revs. up too high and I would have to shift down then back up very soon. Is it me or should I consult AWE?

sounds kind of like posts further down and people were speculating that the problem you are noticing is knocking. The way I look at it, if you are noticing anything annoying or different from stock performance (other than better acceleration, of course), it's probably something with the chip that needs to be addressed.

I have the Wett 1.0 bar and have experienced nothing like you describe.

Good luck ...

BDW (60 miles north of you in Hoosierland)

gets louder as it spools up, under the conditions you mentioned. It's not a pinging, clicking, or metallic noise. It's a neat whoosing sound, like a blow-off or something.

subtle. Like boost is bleeding off or something. It still accelerates hard, just not linear. Does that help explain it? It is very subtle and I don't know if a passenger would feel it.

I agree with the other postings. Call the mfr of the chip.

I experienced the same (slight) oscillating power in 4th and 5th gears when accelerating hard on the highway with my APR 1.0 bar chip.

Speaking with APR and from other helpful comments on a similar post (see link to this discussion below) the likely cause is the car is trying to ensure knocking does not occur (thanks to the knock-sensors I'm not getting any knocking/metalic sounds so my engine isn't being damaged, but it is sapping some power).

APR suggested I run at least 93 octane fuel (I had used some 91 when I didn't have a choice and have used 92 since). I'm going to use 94 octane fuel which is also available nearby and see if the problem goes away. APR was very helpful and first suggested I try the higher octane fuel, but are willing to work with me to resolve the problem. They would even change the programming to let me work with 92 octane fuel if I wanted (of course this would have a hit on performance). As others have recommended, speak to your tuner... I'm sure they can help you out. Also, try higher octane fuel and see if the resolves the problem. If you cannot find higher octane fuel, work with your tuner to get it right.

Wayne
99 1.8TQMS APR<ul><li><a href="http://a4.org/forum/m/a4/171372.phtml">Link to related discussion</a></li></ul>

The knock sensor could be backing off on the timing to cut power and prevent knocking...which is entirely possible in higher gears when you try to accelerate hard since load is much higher at these points....try octane booster, and if it helps, then you know it was pinging. You can then call garrett/AWE. Actually, you should call Garrett/AWE either way...

Good luck.
-Ash 98.5 1.8TQMS