had my car for a short time -- 99.5 1.8TQMS

love it

leasing the car for 36 months

interested in knowing people's opinion/advice on acquiring a new chip for the
car in order to get more Hp out of it

how easy is it to exchange the chips when my service time/mileage arrives?
anyone else done this type of thing? my dealership says that if the car "breaks" and it can be traced to the "chip", the car is not covered under the warranty... ignorance is blisss, and what the dealership doesnt know, i think wont hurt them... or me.. hehe

so is this a good idea? and if so, what type of ECU should i be investigating... only looking to get another 40-60- Hp out of the car... not looking to do any other modifications.

does the "chip" improve gas mileage at all... not important, just curious.

if the decision is to chip, can anyone recommend a place in the pacific northwest that is reliable to this, and are their "chips" reliable?

thanks in advance.

anon... grazi.

<i>how easy is it to exchange the chips when my service time/mileage arrives?</i>

10-15minutes .. it's easier than washing the dishes. :)

<i>anyone else done this type of thing? my dealership says that if the car "breaks" and it can be traced to the "chip", the car is not covered under the warranty... ignorance is blisss, and what the dealership doesnt know, i think wont hurt them... or me.. hehe</i>

but it "may", stress on "may", hurt the next buyer/leaser. any more output will obviously put more stress on the engine/turbo. it's been debated ad nauseum exactly how much stress we're actually talking about .. i'm not particularly worried myself.

<i>does the "chip" improve gas mileage at all... not important, just curious.</i>

some have reported an additional 2mpg. my driving style has changed dramatically since i've chipped. now i fill up twice a week vs 1.5 times a week. :)

<i>if the decision is to chip, can anyone recommend a place in the pacific northwest that is reliable to this, and are their "chips" reliable?</i>

considering your situation .. you have to go with the extra ecu. apr, garret and a few others offer a complete ecu for an additional ~$200. they'll both give you approx 40-45hp gain. you really can't go wrong with any of them. the favorite of the month seems to be garret with apr running a close second.

i have an 1bar apr chip and am _completely_ satisfied, tho a cat-back exhaust is definitley in my future .. that is .. until my warranty runs out and apr releases their stage3+ 300hp kit. :)


99.5 1.8tqms apr
-jasyn

before bringing it in for service. Is this guy blowin' smoke up my butt or what? If that's the case why would I bother with the extra ECU? He wasn't a chip hater either... he was actually quite open and informative about it.

had an mtm stage 1 chip placed, was costly but is amazing! torque is awesome. paid $700 WITH SOME FUEL INJ. MODIFICATION.totally worth it. have a 1.8t q tip. in the pacific nw,look under www.hoppenmotorsport.com for dealer near you. good luck. mtm is considered audi's aftermarket specialist and they know audi's better than anyone.

Which of course could have been caused by anything from swapping ECU's to disconnecting battery power to upgrade stereo equipment.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

how easy is it to exchange the chips when my service time/mileage arrives?

If you've got a socket and different chips, it's pretty easy...say 15-20 minutes. If you've got a seperate ECU, then it's very easy, about 5-10 minutes depending on how good you are with a socket wrench.

anyone else done this type of thing?

Yes, there are many people on this board who have done it. Although it may seem like the norm here, chipping is not a common practice in general, especially not on new cars.

my dealership says that if the car "breaks" and it can be traced to the "chip", the car is not covered under the warranty...

Yep, that's the way it works. Seems pretty reasonable to me. If you change the cams out and that results in engine damage, should it be covered under warranty? I don't think so, chipping is the same way.

ignorance is blisss, and what the dealership doesnt know, i think wont hurt them... or me..hehe
so is this a good idea?

What it is is fraud, and if you do it to hide a problem CAUSED by the chip then it is criminal fraud. Maybe I'm too honest, but I wouldn't categorize that as a good idea. On the other hand I have yet to hear of stage 1 chips causing significant problems, but have heard of service departments giving people a hard time for having modded cars. So, for convenience sake it may not be a bad idea.

and if so, what type of ECU should i be investigating... only looking to get another 40-60- Hp out of the car... not looking to do any other modifications.

That's really up to you. Do your research, in the archives here, on various tuners web sites, find someone in your area with a chipped A4 and ask their experiences, check out Don P.'s chip survey. Try not to get caught up in the flavor of the month attitude around here, the favorite chip changes every few months.

does the "chip" improve gas mileage at all... not important, just curious.

Most report gas mileage at least as good as stock, but often mileage is reduced due to a change in driving style, again check out Don P.'s chip survey on his web site The Audi Zone (can be found on the links page).

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

nt