The threads within HJ are liberaly sprinkled with people who have chipped their diesel car (I did it myself) and who swear bolind by the improvement in performance of their car, in exchange for (in some cases) very minimal money.
Loads of names of "chipping companies" are droppedinto posts, but does anyone regret going down the chipping route and if so, why. ?
Also, is there anyone who has later encountered engine / transmission problems that the manufacturer has washed their hands of due to the car being chipped.
I know that in some cases, insurance hikes can be a nasty, but insurance besides, has anyone got any negatives to share ?
MTC
{Typo corrected in subject header, but I'm not doing the rest - DD}
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Volvo V70 2.4T
PPC from www.bsrab.se plus some relatively minor mods
200bhp/285NM beforehand
258bhp/444NM afterwards
Absolutely no regrets, but if I am really, really, really, honest, the drive by wire throttle is more "binary" in operation in stop-start traffic. This makes it marginally more difficult to be chauffeur-smooth when living solely in first gear at low RPM, clutch fully engaged. I am really splitting hairs though.
That's it.
I'm a very happy customer.
Stonking mod.
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Sorry not the answer you are looking for but I Superchipped my Golf mk 4 GTI 1.8T and it went from being a nice ride with a little poke, to being quite edgy - obviously it's no Boxter S or M3(!), but the difference is a raw surge of power over 4000 revs that takes it rapidly to 130 before power fades. I noticed that emmisions were up a year on from my MOT test but stil well within MOT pass rates. Finally, this may seem obvious but it's only worth doing on a turbo car - diesels are especially responsive. Proper tuned sports cars like porches and ferarris apparently are already at their max (you'd think Porsche & Ferarri would know how to get the best out of a performance car?) and aren't that responsive to chipping. No signs of any issues a year on.
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Was reading in another forum where someone had chipped their new fiat Panda. The car in question was the 1.3 multijet I think, not sure. The reason that the engine had been deturned from the Punto is frequently cited as the weak transmission of the Panda. The jump in power was From 70 to 100 horsepower or some 30%. The person did not have any transmission trouble but after the next thousand miles he noticed the exhaust was smoking. The car ECU settings were then changed back to the factory settings and the smoking stopped. Odd since Fiat have a 90 HP version of the engine in the Punto, so I doubt engine damage occured.
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Finally, this may seem obvious but it's only worth doing on a turbo car -
Oh yeah, and on non-turbo cars that were ECU detuned by manufacturer too
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I chipped my last car with two chips, once remapped the boost, and the other the fuelling.
The difference was really quite something, and put a big smile on my otherwise miserable face.
It was better in every way, even mpg, there was no downside for me. These were proper EPROMS that I had to install inside the ECU not one of those piggy-backed boxes that alters sensor values.
I hope to do the same for my current car someday.
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I may not, OK I definitely haven't, read this post correctly, but my contribution is: I chpped my car twice and when I took it back to change it, my work car scheme charged me 100 quid. So, kids, don't chip your cars.
: )
Sorry. Obvious joke noise inserted.
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if you see the factory set ecu as the basic timing with a standard su then any engine would benefit from a chip upgrade or mapping if made after 1993...............
unfortunately to gain credance some people take chipping to the extreme think of it as running your car on nitrous all the time..........
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I dont regret not chipping mine, is that the same thing?
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I've chipped my last two cars - no regrets.
I would advise staying away from any kind of plug in box solution that simply increases the fuelling - whilst being a very cost effective solution in the short term (on my Mondeo TDCI!) - you have to consider the amount of time it stood in my local Ford garage having the injectors reprogrammed - no coincidence I'm sure!
So all in all, genuine remap - good idea - if not a must !
CWE.
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Ahhhhh
this is the type of post that I've been looking out for.
When my Rover 75 went to be chipped I was not at all sure what the dealer did with the car, but I was aware that it went a lot better afterwards !
As i look through the advice and experiences of backroomers, lots of people refer to chipping, but I'm not relly sure what they have exactly meant. A quick serach on T'internet shows lots of "boxes" that when plugged in increase the power & torque by a healthy amount - are these the type of things that you have found to cause problems ?
Just out of curiousity, how sympathetic to your injectors needing reprogrammed was Mr Ford ?
MTC
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I've just read through my original post and I'm shamefaced by the number of typos, bad punctuation and poor spacing.
There are several mentions of the "edit" function now being available. Please can someone tell me where it is so that I can correct my GCSE U grade English !
MTC
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As i look through the advice and experiences of backroomers, lots of people refer to chipping, but I'm not relly sure what they have exactly meant.
Well, I can comment on the BSR PPC tuning done to my V70, as I performed it myself.
The PPC is a handheld device that downloads the revised ECU settings via the OBDII diagnostic port.
It is keyed to just one physical car via the ECU serial number that has to be quoted on ordering.
Prior to loading the revised "map", the original is uploaded and stored in the device so that the car can be returned to standard at any point in the future if so required.
The current versions of the PPC also function as a diagnostic code reader.
Finally, the PPC has a USB lead so that it can be hooked up to a PC and any updates downloaded from BSR before being transferred to the car. it can also be used the other way to upload fault code information retrieved from the car.
In practice, I've had not a single fault and don't know anyone who has (I know plenty of people who have used the BSR PPC product and their experience was key to me trusting to use it myself).
The car performs notably stronger (ie the full performance increase) on super unleaded, but retains the standard car's ability to run on potato soup (in a relative way, and way below 95RON) if so required, albeit with reduced performance. I know, as I had to do this once in Poland and didn't have the PPC with me to reload the original map. No need to worry as there was no problem and I recalled the BSR FAQ on this subject.
The only thing to be careful with is to ensure that the CAN bus has properly shut down before you start squirting the revised map down the wire and not, under any circumstance, to interrupt the download. Do this, and all will be well as it was for me and those other users I know. Ignore it, and you'll need a tow to a Volvo garage to have the original map reloaded. I don't see this as a downside as the instructions are very clear and the execution very easy.
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As an aside, MTC: You can tell that I am truly, honestly, delighted with the BSR PPC. A quick gander at www.bsrab.se shows they include some Mercedes models and included here are the E Class 270 and 320 CDis.
If one of these is the same engine as in Arnie (I'm not 300C spec expert beyond knowing that a Merc diesel is used in some models), then a phone call or e-mail to BSR might be worthwhile.
The cost of my PPC was £690.
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And finally... ;-)
(Well if MTC can be enthusiastic aboout Arnie I can be equally so on this subject!)
The BSR map adjusts according to the gear in use.
For the manual transmission in my V70 - that has a torque ceiling with plenty in reserve - this is simply to stop easy overwhelming of the front wheels in first gear.
in others, such as those with Geartronic transmission, where the remaining torque capacity of the gearbox is somewhat marginal, the torque increase is capped in multiple gears to remain below the design spec.
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What's the average price for this to be done? Would love to get it done on mine...
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Hi SiB
I knew that there had to be at least one person back here that enjoyed their car / motoring as much as Arnie and I - good on you.
Whilst Arnie does enjoy Merc diesel power, his power output isn't matched exactly to that in a 3 pointed star car. It's quite a bit more than in a E270 cdi and a bit less than in an E320 cdi. I take it from what I've read on your post (& on the website) that this is a "proper" remap and not just a "fasten on the box" solution taht others offer.
While diiging around T'internetland, I've found a few people offering their goods - this one for example powerklick.co.uk/chrysler.html without naming & shaming (if the experience is less than positive), has anyone used a similar product ?
MTC
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I knew that there had to be at least one person back here that enjoyed their car / motoring as much as Arnie and I - good on you.
Well, thank you Sir!
I take it from what I've read on your post (& on the website) that this is a "proper" remap and not just a "fasten on the box" solution taht others offer.
Indeed so.
BSR are actually the people who did the software development for the Koenigsegg sportscar so I think they know their stuff.
Seriously, they are held in high regard and all their products are proper remaps that also meet emissions standards.
As well as the car sailing through its MOT, I can also well believe this from what I have seen whenever my V70 has been on the rollers for dynoing.
(As an aside, what fantastic experiences these are, to hear that lovely five pot burble build steadily over time from tickover in third gear to a 6700RPM wail, turbocharger screaming its lungs out, exhaust howling like an RB211 at takeoff, and tyres and rollers drumming like the horsemen of the apocalypse. So LOUD, and to think I've maxed it out on a stretch of autobahn at a GPS verified 158MPH in air conditioned calm comfort.)
No experience of the Powerlick, sorry, but good luck in your quest.
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Just to affirm what everyone else says - had it done on my Saab 9-5 nearlyl four years ago and have never looked back. But just a few salient comments.
The kit fitted to my car is a Saab original, Saab being one of the few manufacturers that provided a tuning kit as an approved accessory. In my case, it takes the power from 150bhp to 192bhp - effectively turning it from a low pressure turbo into a performance high pressure turbo. Had the car been fitted with it from new, it would have retained a full manufacturers warranty.
Has it affected the engine or transmission? Nope. The car has now done 163,000 in seven years. The chip was fitted at 93,000. The car is still running on the original turbo, which is somewhat of a record for the Saab 9-5! The clutch was replaced at 100,000. The transmission (manual) is still fine AFAIK.
The only problem is that, once I had the tuning kit, I then wanted a suspension upgrade to make full use of it, which I did.
So I'm a happy bunny and would recommend it.
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