Revo.. this sounds good man..

[R_Ethug]

Well after a really boring/slow work day yesterday I pretty much surfed for 6 hours on stuff to do to my car. I read up on Revo and all the bullcrap with APR they are having. But as far as REVO goes I hope this lawsuit stuff settles down and I think they are the chip for me. They put a encryption code onto your stock ECU that the dealer cannot see or even tell has be modded at all. Then you plug their SPS utility box into your VAG port and upload your choice of software onto the ECU. When you take the car in for service just toss the stock software back on. 100% failsafe and the dealer can never ever tell you had it. Sounds a ton better than APR ECMS they have. Prices are comparable too. I just have to wait a few 1000kms now:(

edit.. all I can find on vortex right now is stuff on 93 and 100octane setups. I posted though about 91 octane

update edit.. i found out the revo setup has a 3bar fpr setup on 91, 93, 100 octane. or a 4bar fpr setup on 91,93,100 octane.. the 4 bar apparantly yeilds another 10whp on your car..

[Kor]

--- begin chip rant ---

Revo sounds awesome if there is a local rep who can re-flash your ECU. It seems like an easy sell, you get all the power of a chip without doing any mods to the ECU.

However, since there is no Calgary Revo rep then I don't see how its any better than Upsolute, APR, and the rest for us. If your software was overwritten by an OEM upgrade, then you would still need to send your ECU off to be reflashed, right? This is the same as what could happen with, say, a Neuspeed chip. The dealer could re-flash your ECU and overwrite the programming. Then you would need to send your ECU off somewhere to be repaired (re-chipped). The cost of a re-chip is usually very small, you don't have to buy a new chip if you can provide a reciept of the dealer flashing your old one.

As for the dealer being able to 'tell' that you have been chipped... all they need to do is drive it around their parking lot. There is no way to disable the chip so it will be obvious to them. This is the same amount of stealth that you would probably get from our Upsolute rep. I am told the Upsolute chip looks just like the stock chip and that Simon L is very good at soldering. The only way to really make your chip invisible is to somehow switch it back to stock. This is done by un-chipping (socket or soldering), switching ECUs, or using the GIAC IBE switch or APR ECMS.

Also I don't know what Revo pricing is like. I would expect to pay less since I am not getting the chip. It would be better if they would sell you your own flashing unit so you could just flash whatever program you wanted onto your stock ECU! I would pay for that!

What do you think? I could be wrong about this, I haven't read THAT much about Revo.

--- end rant ---

[R_Ethug]

yea you will have to send your ecu away for the original reprogramming. What they do is change a few data blocks on the ECU.. the dealer never sees these data blocks or even when the dealer flashes or upgrades your ECU these blocks will never be overwritten since they aren't in the sequence to be updated.

edit.. prices are same as APRS and GIAC 499US the switching device to change programs/octane modes is like 200US for it..

[Boy Racer]

The Revo does sound good as far as not having to remove devices for reprogramming and for the ability to switch before servicing. As far as the dealer re-flashing and the Revo being safe, it seems that the dealers here cant reflash the ECU's they just swap them for new ones which they have to ask you for first.

Now if someone could just combine all the best features of all products...

Stock chip
Switchable programs
Inexpensive
Download via OBD port
Local Support
Undetectable to the dealer

Until then, choose what matters to you and go for the solution that gives you what you want.

[Bighead]

I'm assuming you guys havent heard about the REVO 'Kill' program yet, then?

I'm very much hoping APR wins the suit.

[Kor]

No I haven't... what kill program? I have been searching the Vortex and can't find any information on this.

The lawsuit is just over whether Revo hired ex-APR staff who may or may not have provided company secrets right?

[Bighead]

There's one huge thread on the 1.8T forum that covers everything about the APR vs Revo suit. Yeah, its about APR technology being given out by ex APR employees to Revo.

The Kill program is a program with way too much boost and way too much timing advance designed to produce way too much power at the expense of your turbo and engine internals. Apparently, Revo was selling this.

[Simon]

wasn't one of Revo's main selling points the fact that it could be flashed onto the ECU like Upsolute? If you have to send away the ECU, it isn't convenient anymore.

[Kor]

Upsolute doesn't flash onto the stock ECU (at least I don't think so). But yes, the selling point for Revo is that you don't need a chip at all.

I have read some posts that say that the programming is different from APR's programming, but (1) those people might not know what they are talking about or (2) they are based on the same values and settings taken from APR.

As for the kill program... well you get what you ask for with most of the chip companies, don't you? If I buy a program I will ask for a 91 octane program with the least surging potential, because that matches how I want my car to perform. If I ask for 'insane boost' and they give it to me, thats partly my own fault.

Is the lawsuit over hiring employees who agreed not to work for the competition, or is it over specific technology? On one hand I am strongly against Revo stealing technology. However on the other hand I am strongly against companies making their employees sign contracts that say they can't use their skills elsewhere after parting ways.

[racefan]

Kor;
I don't want to rag on you man but you need to have all of the facts straight. The Revo chip can be turned off. You can purchase a SPS1 and this will allow you to change between the stock program and the chipped program. They connect to your OBD2 port and then upload the program to your stock chip the stock program and the chipped program will both co-exist but you will need the SPS1 to change this. Thanks.

[Khyron]

Yes, revo definately looks to be the way to go. I've read almost all the threads about them and the legal docs - I'm not overly concerned.

Flashable - you don't even have to break the ECU seal. Stealth from dealership tools.

Sure there might not be a local Calgary dealer yet - but it's so easy to become one I can see C1 or someone becoming one soon. Hell, ECU replacements are rare enough that I'd drive my car to Van for reprogramming if needed.

Multiple programs - stock/91/whatever you want. Can even get one that lets you set your own settings (hence the "kill" setting which would blow stock equipment). If you're stupid enough to buy the top line program and put it to the highest setting without knowing what you're doing, I have little sympathy.

And finally, the revo programming seems to be the smoothest out there. Still some questions about how lean certain programs are - but that will get worked out I'm sure.

All that said, I'm not getting it done until its been out in the field for a good ammount of time.

Khyron

[R_Ethug]

yea sounds good Khyron.. I'm waiting until the end of summer or next spring to chip my car by then all the bugs and legal crap should be worked out and I'll get the 3bar FPR on 91octane with a 100octane race mode and the security setup.

[Kor]

racefan: I definitely don't have all the facts! Don't worry about posting new stuff and correcting me, someone has to do it since I generally just spout off without any kind of proof!

It might be a bit premature to judge the smoothness or power of Revo since there are way, way less people who have had it done compared to pretty much all other chip companies. I have seen dynos too but I have seen all kinds of differenty dynos for all kinds of different things... but I will say that I think its probably just as good as the existing programs.

I do think its a pretty cool technology, and I bet the other chip companies will probably try to jump onboard with the same idea soon.

[R_Ethug]

well I bet they will too unless revo patents the technology then I doubt apr,etc will buy it from them..

[Boy Racer]

I doubt they would be able to patent the technology as it is a VW communications protocol that they are using. If anyone has the patent it will be VW! The idea of switching a pointer to different maps in the ECU is nothing new either so they would have to be creative with the patent. And yes, there are others working on the same thing and they aren't even directly tied to a performance chip company. So who knows what companies may be able to do this soon.