steve's auto clinic

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snail

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anyone used the unichip from them before? if so how was the service, did u have any mechanical problems afterwards etc?
 
Check on the speed and sound forum. They'd be able to advise best.
 
I've used them to service my vehicle but halfway though the day they called asking if they could remove my catalytic converter - at a cost of course - claiming it would vastly improve blah blah blah - so now I'm not sure about using them again.
 
bwana said:
I've used them to service my vehicle but halfway though the day they called asking if they could remove my catalytic converter - at a cost of course - claiming it would vastly improve blah blah blah - so now I'm not sure about using them again.
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was explained to me as: (by different people in joburg)
the catalytic converter is compulsory in many european countries. There is nothing about it in our laws.
Removing it will do 2 things
Improve fuel efficiency and improve the speed of the car.

And I went there coz it was old and needed to be replaced.
 
I had an A4 1.8T modified by them many years ago! All went well! Was a simple chip modification/remapping!
 
Venomous said:
was explained to me as: (by different people in joburg)
the catalytic converter is compulsory in many european countries. There is nothing about it in our laws.
Removing it will do 2 things
Improve fuel efficiency and improve the speed of the car.

And I went there coz it was old and needed to be replaced.
Click to expand...

Here's the thread I made at the time. http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=590659
 
Venomous said:
hmmm,

then they were probably, sadly, after the extra labour money :(

I guess your distrust in their honesty or lack thereof is not unfounded. I hope you found another service shop/mechanic
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I am looking for one, my next service isn't for another 2-3000km so I've got a little time.
 
I would rather go to someone like Ferolli, Stealth, STO etc for a remap for extra power, if you are forced to go bench flash then STO is still a good option. (These are in Cape Town so look for similar guys in your area).

And removing a CAT on an older turbo charged petrol car is a very good idea as it is most likely end of life and throttling your turbo
 
snail said:
anyone used the unichip from them before? if so how was the service, did u have any mechanical problems afterwards etc?
Click to expand...


They use the Dastek Unichip, which is very good. I did a chip on a Sentra 160 years ago to take better control of my fuel consumption, I didn't do it for more power. You can get the chip that is set when they tune the car, or the one that you can actually change the mapping real time (more costly). My dad used the Bloem branch about 13yrs ago to do a Intercooler, diff conversion on his Isuzu frontier. My brother in law had two chips put into his Scoobi's at the Durban branch. They are quite professional and I would recommend them.

On the Cat, if it is old and clogged, then a mini cat (which is a whole lot cheaper than a new cat) can be fitted. This is necessary as the CO2 sensors for modern cars with Cats are usually on the converter. I did this with an Astra 180 Sport once its Cat had become useless. If I was removing the cat for performance reasons only, and it is still functional, I would make damn sure to ask for the cat and save it for a rainy day. Those things cost a bucket load of moola!
 
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SirFooK'nG said:
They use the Dastek Unichip, which is very good. I did a chip on a Sentra 160 years ago to take better control of my fuel consumption, I didn't do it for more power. You can get the chip that is set when they tune the car, or the one that you can actually change the mapping real time (more costly). My dad used the Bloem branch about 13yrs ago to do a Intercooler, diff conversion on his Isuzu frontier. My brother in law had two chips put into his Scoobi's at the Durban branch. They are quite professional and I would recommend them.

On the Cat, if it is old and clogged, then a mini cat (which is a whole lot cheaper than a new cat) can be fitted. This is necessary as the CO2 sensors for modern cars with Cats are usually on the converter. I did this with an Astra 180 Sport once its Cat had become useless. If I was removing the cat for performance reasons only, and it is still functional, I would make damn sure to ask for the cat and save it for a rainy day. Those things cost a bucket load of moola!
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that may have been true a few years ago but the tech has changed so much that better gains and reliability can be seen with OBD port/ecu tuning. Infact I think you will struggle to find anyone who is still "chipping" their modern ecu. Many of the tuners also allow map switching as well. Their benefits of modern ecu tuning, esp for turbo cars, far outweigh the older chip tuning route.

Im sure sinbad will be able to offer more insight as he was running revo on his cupra for quite some time.
 
rodga said:
that may have been true a few years ago but the tech has changed so much that better gains and reliability can be seen with OBD port/ecu tuning. Infact I think you will struggle to find anyone who is still "chipping" their modern ecu. Many of the tuners also allow map switching as well. Their benefits of modern ecu tuning, esp for turbo cars, far outweigh the older chip tuning route.

Im sure sinbad will be able to offer more insight as he was running revo on his cupra for quite some time.
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Probably right on newer cars, looking back at the older Turbo cars, they are the only ones that really benefitted from chipping. And usually meant upgrading the intercooler or even putting one in where there was not one. For example the Isuzu 2.8DT had a miserable 80kw when it first came out, intercooler and chip would get you about 120kw if done exceptionally well. Nowadays engines are performing better than that straight from the factory with direct injection etc, a 2.0l Turbo diesel gets you over 120kw.
 
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