How does a chip upgrade work

I think some of you are mixing up terminology and confusing yourselves :D

There are different ways of going about this. Flashing entails overwriting the parameters of the existing ECU. "Chipping" entails hardwiring a chip. Both of these will void the warranty if the manufacturer detects it.

Then there is a piggyback or plug and play chip. This is basically a chip that takes the outputs of the OEM ECU as inputs, alters them, and sends it out to their intended destination. This shouldn't void the warranty as you can remove it prior to servicing.
 
Gerhardva said:
That is the biggest load of BS ever. I have been running a Uniq+ for 170 000 km's, no issues. Remember, a chips is only as good as they guy that maps it.
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So you saying its better to let a guy map it for half an hour with limited equipment and knowledge than the manufacturer who has spent millions on equipment and countless man hours developing the original mapping.
 
DanH said:
So you saying its better to let a guy map it for half an hour with limited equipment and knowledge than the manufacturer who has spent millions on equipment and countless man hours developing the original mapping.
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Yes. The manufacturer tunes very conservatively and for worst expected conditions. :)
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
I think some of you are mixing up terminology and confusing yourselves :D

There are different ways of going about this. Flashing entails overwriting the parameters of the existing ECU. "Chipping" entails hardwiring a chip. Both of these will void the warranty if the manufacturer detects it.

Then there is a piggyback or plug and play chip. This is basically a chip that takes the outputs of the OEM ECU as inputs, alters them, and sends it out to their intended destination. This shouldn't void the warranty as you can remove it prior to servicing.
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Either on voids your warranty by contract.

Second one you are simply implying that they won't find out.
 
DanH said:
So you saying its better to let a guy map it for half an hour with limited equipment and knowledge than the manufacturer who has spent millions on equipment and countless man hours developing the original mapping.
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LOLZ. The guy that maps my car takes a day. It gets done on a load dyno and mapped at every 500 RPM, starting at 1000 rpm through to 7000 RPM. If your guy does it in half an hour, good luck to you.

The mapping gets done at half and WOT.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Either on voids your warranty by contract.

Second one you are simply implying that they won't find out.
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Sure, but there's no way to detect a plug and play system. Not that I'm aware of anyway, unless somebody is stupid enough to leave it plugged in when they take it for a service.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Sure, but there's no way to detect a plug and play system. Not that I'm aware of anyway, unless somebody is stupid enough to leave it plugged in when they take it for a service.
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LOL you think they wouldn't notice an empty socket? Not to mention the car won't run without the chip
 
I know that BMW supertech in durban is doing software upgrades for the 520d. They are charging R10k and since its by the dealer there is no warranty issues. Any other dealers doing the same?
 
Just leave all that stuff until you are out of warranty and only if you absolutely have to.

Most stock ECU's can run rich enough to compensate for a decat and induction change and probably evens full exhaust.

Unless you are in one of super detuned models like the older S4, in which case you are well out of warranty by now anyway.

Food for thought though...if it's cheap it's probably rubbish.

A full Stage 1 conversion that will make a real world difference is in the region of R10k.

Doing just the chip, or just the decat or just the induction is pointless.
 
A stage 1 remap on a turbo car is most certainly not a waste of money. Best 3-5k you'll spend and you probably don't need hardware for it.
Once you do intake and exhaust you can look at a stage 2 map which is even more fun
 
Naks said:
DO NOT go the chip route, esp from SAC and the likes, unless you have a spare engine lying around. These chips just fool the ECU into overfuelling, which leads to higher EGTs and in the long run failure of exhaust manifold and other expensive issues.
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How do manifolds fail? Its a flipping pipe?
 
Unichip: PROJECT FR-S / GT86

http://www.unichip.us/259-project-frs

@ Haldex, I thought they did a remap with the UniChip installation, calibration and setup? I know there are some dodgy installers in Cape Town… There is workshop’s which literally plug & play… which is not the right way to do it.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Unichip: PROJECT FR-S / GT86

http://www.unichip.us/259-project-frs

@ Haldex, I thought they did a remap with the UniChip installation, calibration and setup? I know there are some dodgy installers in Cape Town… There is workshop’s which literally plug & play… which is not the right way to do it.
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They install a bracket
Since the beginning of the FR-S project, the intent was to produce a finished bracket to hold the Unichip in place that holds the Unichip securely, looks good, can be easily removed, and makes no permanent changes to anything.
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Would be easy to spot.
I also dont like the idea of Oom Dirk Vd Merwe trying to show off with squeezing the most power out of my engine and showing off with dyno figures just so my engine can break in another 100km.

I prefer base files to be honest, something tried and tested over the years with no issues and done by a reputable company.
Im not one to chase every single kw. A good trustworthy base map is fine with me. No tuner finger interference.

Im not knocking our local guys, im sure some are good, most are not.
 
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