Just bought a spare ECU

[Kor]

Always do the research before you buy something...

[1.8Trip]

Good advice, I usually try to get as much info as I can before I buy but I missed that bit of info. Anyway, APR has the Immobilizer clone thing. When C1 get their APR dealer approval I might go that route. Apparently you can swap back and forth without the Vag-com once you set the ecus to read the same.

[Kor]

I am pretty sure you still need the SKC numbers no matter what you are doing.

[1.8Trip]

Are you sure? This page says nothing about needing the SKC.

http://www.goapr.com/VW/support/immobilizer.html

Someone please fill me in. I wanna get it right this time.

[Eugene@TorqueSteer]

Let me just be frank and cover all the bases...

APR: The guys are theiving assholes, don't even get me started, I know too much dirt on these clowns to last me 3 lifetimes. Extremely good, reliable, streetable chip, and they stand behind their product 100%.

Revo: These guys are shady, there have been a few cases of individuals having their car ruined by their programs (especially the "trial" programs), and turned to Revo, who immediately told them to F.O. They don't want to hold any liability in regards to their product, but they don't have to piggy back your ecu and seem to have good output if it works right. Plus their boxes you can buy to switch between programs is kind of nifty. You pay for Revo by the slot, and you can go and get whatever programs you want up to the amount of slots you have.

Upsolute: Sub-par performance, too many people get Up chips to save money and end up switching later, all of them say the same thing, the difference is night and day. I do know someone personally though that used to work for them, seem like decent guys, but their programs just don't compete.

GIAC: Fuel map problems, boost spikes, their programs aren't as smooth and driveable as the APR, but seem to have better power output. The APR is more "streetable", while the GIAC seems to dyno a little bit higher. I had to get an AVC-R and have it control the duty cycles and boost maps instead of the GIAC.

Neuspeed: Ha

Wetterier (sic): Don't have much experience with them.

That is about all of the major chip manufacturers, there are some smaller ones, but many of them actually share programs and then repackage and rebrand them.

As you can see, each tuner has its ups and downs, you have to just see what you want. Be smart about your purchase though, because it is an investment, especially if chipping the car will void the warranty, at that point you are S.O.L.!

[Fluidic Digital]

Instead of "chipping" per say -- what is your stance on a boost controller -- like the BCS or Blitz SBC-iD controller?

Peter

[Eugene@TorqueSteer]

Originally posted by Fluidic Digital
Instead of "chipping" per say -- what is your stance on a boost controller -- like the BCS or Blitz SBC-iD controller?

Peter

As a replacement for chipping, it really depends one what you are wanting... I had an AVC-R and it was overkill.

Now there are good things about both, and you just have to make your decision based on weighing the pros and cons..

With a chip, you get a tuned fuel map as well as boost map, and your timing etc has been tuned specifically to generate the most power it can SAFELY from your engine. Not only that, it may remove your speed limiter, or raise your rev limiter, and also allow you to boost higher. (On the 1.8t, anything above 1 bar will throw you into hard limp mode without the chip).

The good thing about a boost controller though is mainly the addition of power is temporary, and you can easily hide the mod from your dealership etc. I can't think of another reason to get the boost controller except that. The assertion that it gives the same power gains is ridiculous, in some instances your gains in hp is relatively comparable, but gains in torque offer a huge disparity, this is mainly as a result of the boost controller having no effect on fuel mapping.

Also, if you are getting a boost controller, DO get something like the SS, because it has built in checks on YOU, so you don't end up boosting too high. If you look, why does the SS stop at 14 or so psi, because any higher and you will go into limp mode. Now if for some reason you get a regular boost controller, like the AVC-R, and you decide that you want to try to boost 50 million psi...well your turbo will be in 50 million pieces. Chips are just more dumbshit proof which is why I recommend them.

To sum it up, boost controllers have some small advantages, but if you are comparing power adders, the chip is the only way to go.