REPOST: My Visist to AutoThority & Group discount [Archive]

Chris Ciccone

02-23-1999, 06:32 AM

O.k. I finally made the visit to the AutoThority shop in Fairfax Virginia. As some of you might recall I have been trying to get a group order together for the AutoThority chip (45hp, 46lbs torque, 11psi, $345 group price). I have also had some second thoughts about chipping. But after this weekends visit to AutoThority and my dealer, Im ready to chip my 1,8T! Here is what I saw at AutoThority.First of all the guys there are very friendly and honest. I have been dealing with a salesman named Pat DeSarno (sp?). He has been very helpful and has never once tried to down-play any other chip manufacturers. They have been in business for over twenty years, mainly doing Porsche and BMW's.The shop consists of a modest, if not cluttered sales office, full machine shop, garage, and three chasis dynos, including a dedicated engine dyno! Pat showed me around the facilities, and I must say, it was gearhead heaven! In the garage alone they had about 10 different Porsches that they were working on! two of which were 993 model 911 TwinTurbos ($120,000 cars). One of those they OWN, it has 630+hp and won the "lap across America" race last year. The other was shipped up from Indiana, has a Strosek kit on it and was also getting a 600hp upgrade. They had a brand new Boxster in the shop also. The Boxster was loaned to them from an owner so that AutoThority could develop a new chip/tuning system for it! This is mainly how they do some of their R&D. People are so comfortable with the company that they give them the cars for a few weeks so they can come up with some kind of upgrade. of course these people get free upgrades for life. They also have a full out machine shop. They don't do just chips, they also build and blue-priint engines for street and race! A prime example is the 911 Turbo that they had, and also a 928 that had a custom intake, $7,000 exhaust, and was getting the full engine treatment, I bet Tom Cruise would have liked this one for Risky Business! Basically I was happy to see that they know what they are doing and also have the facilities and expertise to actually build/work on engines and other major parts of the cars! And the fact that there was 10 Porsches in the shop spoke words about the company. I mean, these werent getting a $400 chip, they were getting $30,000 upgrades! Besides the Porsches, AutoThority has been tuning VW, BMW and some imports as well. They have years of experience with the Bosch Mortronic system. There, 1.8T chip does 45hp. 46lbs of torque, it is 11psi (modest boost), and has a lifetime warranty, and 30 day money back garauntee. I know I probably sound like a salesman, but I'm just trying to let you guys know what I know. I got to see some cool stuff, like a new dyno they installed. I forgot the exact name, but it was called a 'water brake" dyno. The diference (as compared to a DynoJet) is that on a DynoJet you rev the engine as fast as it will go and then you get your readings. I think with this one, the braking system allows the tuners to throw different loads to the car, re-creating the effects of going up a hill, or having different loads put on the engine, while they tune it. NOW DON"T FLAME ME IF I"M WRONG ON THIS, I DON"T REMEMBER EVERYTHING! They also have a dedicated engine dyno, which at the time had the 911 twin Turbo motor on it. This is a dedicated room that houses elaborate venting and hookup sytyems for the engine, a controller sits in a seperate room, and controlls the engine through a computer. It looked liked something out of Frakenstien, there were som many wires and tubes attached to the engine it was crazy!regarding our engine: They were given the opportunity to tune the 1.8T by someone that owned a 1.8 Passat. since then they have done many Audis and VW's. They have also encountered some different ECU in very late model 99's. Supposedly some of the 99's have a different ecu setup, or something like that, but they have already done a car with one like it so the problems have been fixed for that particular style.I feel very confident in their ability, especially since I know that they also work on engines and other parts of the car. Plus, seeing all those expensive Porsches proves to me that people trust them, and their work. I also went to my dealer this weekend because my best friend was ordering a 99.5 1.8T. We got talking and he told me about someone that came into the dealership a few months ago with a chipped 1.8. I talked to him about my plans, and he wants to DRIVE it! He said, yes Audi will cry about it, but their service dept. doesnt't really care because they get paid no matter what. He said the engine is good for a lot of power. So I feel comfy bringing the car into service also.Well, like I said. Pat is willing to give me a group discount. I have already talked to some of you about this. We need at least 5 total people and we can get the chip for $345 including shipping. By the way, they re-program the stock chip, so you can't tell by looking at it. Pat said we will all need to send the ECU's in at the same time. He will setup a day for us so they will all be done together, and then overnighted back to you. If it is done correctly, down time should be no more than a day! However they aren't open on weekends! so we will have to come up with a way to do it during the week. Like get them out Thursday night, re-program on Friday, back to you on Saturdaym should work. I plan on getting mine done on March 5th (my brithday)it is a Friday. Hell, he was going to let me try the chip that day for a while, but I didn't have a credit card on me. If you are still interested, or have become interested please email me at work. cciccone@teleglobe.com. I'm moving offices tomorrow, so give me a day or two to respond. I also, have warranty info in writing if anyone wants it faxed to them over the week. I just want to thank everyone on the forum that has answered my questions regarding anything having to do with the A4. We should all feel privaleged to be involved with such a good group of people, enthusiasts and vendors. I only hope that I can give back as much info as I have gotten from all of you. let me know if you have anymore questions or are interested in the purchase. Thanks. The Rings Rule.Chris Ciccone 99 1.8T QMS, Silver/Onyx, soom to be chipped.