Yet Another Neuspeed Chip Experience (very, very long)

Following months of "research" (procrastination), I got "Chipped" Wednesday at Neuspeed with the help of Greedspeed. Now I'm really part of "The Club", who's gonna show me the secret handshake? I'll admit this was on a Tiptronic Passat ("The Dark Side") but my impressions will, no doubt, be very applicable to the A4.

The day before I called the Greedspeed guys and set up a Wed. morning appointment at Neuspeed in Camarillo, CA to do the deed. Early in the A.M. I drove the 3 hours & 160 miles from San Diego through hellish Los Angeles traffic to meet with Anthony at the back door of Neuspeed's headquarters. Anthony brought his own tools and quickly liberated my ECU. He just walked in the back door of Neuspeed and gave it to their programmer. While we waited (about 15 minutes) he replaced my stock air filter with a K&N low restriction oiled foam filter. The filter says "Neuspeed" on it but it's really made by K&N. When the ECU programming was done, he plugged it in and checked it out with the VAG tool - also reset the "ECU lost power" fault code tripped by the ECU removal. I turned the key and it started instantly, a run around the block confirmed that all systems were "go". All this for only $200 plus tax and I applaud the Greedspeed staff for their flexibility, courteous service and knowledge!

Driving home I had the opportunity to evaluate the Neuspeed chip over 160 miles in Southern California freeway traffic. This means anything from crawling bumper-to-bumper up to 80+ mph. No pinging, the temp gauge stayed at 190 degrees and I got the exact same miles per gallon up and back after the installation. It's all I expected and less... allow me to explain. The Neuspeed chip is not the most aggressive chip on the market (+30 hp & 190 torque) and I was relieved and pleased to experience that it didn't turn my car into an uncontrollable monster. It does gave me exactly what I wanted, a freeway speed performance boost which allows maneuvering in a more definitive manner on the road. Now I won't wonder if the emergency brake is still engaged when I merge onto the freeway into heavy high speed traffic. Freeway onramp transition is great (and fun!), no hesitation at all. I think the turbo lag has been reduced. Pick that hole in the traffic for a high speed lane change and punch it - you're there! No more lugging down while negotiating a grade. The effect of the chip is not really noticeable until around 2600 rpm but then it builds well into the 5000s. The peak appears to be in the high 4000s, and at about 5500 it obviously drops off. At cruising speed, whenever the Tiptronic downshifts, you are well into the power curve. With a Tiptronic at typical California freeway speeds (70+) you are around 2600 rpm, the beginning of the power curve. A passing action produces a strong pull, even if you don't push hard enough for a downshift. I fooled with the manual Tiptronic mode to see what it might be like with a stick (no snickering!). I kept it in 5th at 70 mph and stepped on the gas to find that it had a much better than stock acceleration potential without downshifting. The cruise control gave me one little scary experience, however. At the speed I was going, it downshifted on a hill at just the right rpm to produce an almost jolting surge of the turbo!

My objective was to chip without mailing in my ECU and price also had some influence on me. All in all, this is a very satisfying experience and even though I know I don't have the "baddest" chip on the market - I'm very happy!

BTW, Anthony had two more ECUs in his possession that day for Neuspeed programming. One was from a VOLKSWAGON DEALER in Montana who is facilitating chip conversions! So much for the warranty arguments! I hear there's no speed limit up there in Montana!

Did you consider the TAP or any other chip? How did you settle on the Neuspeed? Was the $ the deciding factor. This is a very tough choice, as there are many to choose from

I've been looking at ALL the angles on the chip deal since I purchased my 1.8T Passat last November. Analyzing, procrastinating, over-analyzing, rationalizing, etc. With Wett, TAP, AMS(ABT), Hoppen, AutoThority, Garrett, Oettinger, APR, Neuspeed (and who else?) to choose from, it was not easy. I was not too happy about the prospect of mailing my ECU someplace or accepting an ECU exchange that might be a different code than my original. All out performance was not my objective either, I'm a somewhat conservative 51 year old computer geek. After reading and analyzing about a hundred postings on multiple website forums & a bunches of articles about chips, I realized that there are really few differences other than horsepower & torque curves between all these chips - no "best" for everyone and no real dogs. I was more interested in mid-range freeway performance, not off the line street racer thrills. The chips also appear to be extremely reliable and after the fact service is not a big issue for me, I don't think I'll ever seek any sort of upgrade reprogramming. Concerning the TAP chip - I did talk to Dick's Audi Performance up in Castro Valley, CA more than a few times on the phone and they were my second choice. They offered to do an ECU exchange so I wouldn't have the downtime with my Passat but I didn't really want a different ECU in my car.

Like I related in my first post, I purposely picked a middle of the pack chip with the Neuspeed, it was relatively convenient to obtain and the price was right. My Passat is not a tire squealing monster and I didn't want that, I'm pleased with the overall performance and I got exactly what I wanted.

Ain't these cars great???!!!

I settled on the Neuspeed chip also. But I just sent my chip in today and unfortunately I'm down until monday. That's okay cuz it looks like it's going to rain all weekend and I just washed my car, so the garage is a nice place to stay. Besides, if I wanted a fast car, I would've gotten an Eclipse GST (A stock GST still has more HP than a chipped A4) and paid 10 grand less. Then again, an Eclipse wouldn't be as impressive as an A4.... =)

please e-mail me or post your future observations on the board. I too have been considering N.speed seriously, primarily for the money and lower boost. It is more important to me hear real world observations than all the stats etc.
waiting on 99.5 1.8tqms maybe mid-April...thanks!

There doesn't appear to be a real concrete answer to this and not every dealer is singing from the same page of music. Warranty issues have been & discussed a thousand times in multiple forums on line. I called every VW and/or Audi dealer's service department in the San Diego metropolitan area and posed the "chip" question. I got a different answer from every one ranging from "I don't see how a Stage I chip would affect the warranty" to "If something goes wrong with the engine or turbo, we won't cover it" to "Don't buy one, they don't do anything" to a very belligerent "What the HELL do you want to do that for?!". It's interesting to note that I've seen recent postings relating that a number of VW & Audi dealers are actually facilitating chipping and that sales managers, etc. have chipped their cars. The VW VAG tool doesn't have an error code that says "Aftermarket Chip Installed!" and I never intend to mention I have a chip. Unless they drive the car in a spirited manner (and they shouldn't!) I don't think they will ever notice it. Under about 3000 rpm, the chip is not noticeable. I have only increased my hp & torque with a conservative chip to about the level of a V6 and I don't expect major mechanical failure. Do a "warranty" word search of the archives and you will probably find at least a few postings about chipsters and their actual encounters with dealers. Some postings I've seen state their dealer has no idea the chip is there. I doubt if you'll find one where a major mechanical catastrophe has occurred and a dealer has actually said "Tough luck, you're on your own!"

A final related note - During my lengthy chip research, I received this text via e-mail from Wetterauer:

"As far as the Factory Warranty is concerned: the installation of our chip will not void your factory warranty. Current U.S. laws support the consumer in the following manner: The manufacturer’s warranty cannot be void in the case of after market modification (including chip installation) unless an automotive dealer is able to prove that the modification in question caused the failure of a stock engine component. If this were to occur, then the dealer can only deny you warranty on that specific failed component, not your entire warranty."

actually it was my ecu the dealer in mt sent in.
as per my earlier posting- i did this at the rec. of several sales people,service techs and managers at the dealership- they lent me a car and charged me one hour of shop time- well worth it to avoid any potential problems with the install. incidentally they are an audi dealer as well.

It's raining? You must be in Dallas.