What Chip???

[samtheman]

hello there, i'm new to the S4 scene, i had an audi a4 1.8t sport quattro before and i had an MTM chip, high flow sports cat and full milltek exhaust, but i didn't think much of any of them, so i thought what the hell, i'll get an S4, much better, but now i want to chip that to... i've read or heard mixed things about MTM and AMD, but think that the AMD re-map sounds better because they dont change the chip so even if my insurers did take the ecu apart, they would never know.. what do you think?? i know you guys love a good ol' chip debate!!!

[Bushy]

AmD do change the chip, at least they put anotehr EPROM on a seperate board inside the ECU, at least that is what I understand

I have got AmD and have a trouble free 45k miles using the chip

However MTM seems just as good, bit unbiased really

And dare I say it Revo are the main serial port tuners at the moment - no mods to ECU physically - so maybe check them out

[Nige_RS4]

If you don't want your ECU touched, you have the choice of APR, Revo or Superchips in the UK at the moment.

[Dippy]

I would certainly question if it's worth taking to risk of not informing your insurer. As long as you have the right company, the extra cost shouldn't be too high to take the risk. Indeed there are chipping solutions which don't affect the ECU, making them difficult to detect, but NOT impossible.

For a stage 1 remap, I don't believe that you'll notice much difference between the suppliers except for MTM. MTM have a reputation of making a more peaky torque curve, with a higher peak torque but lower top-end power than their competitors. It's down to your driving style.

The other concern you should have is if you want to go further with mods, particularly exhaust. An 'off-the-shelf' remap is fine for stage 1, but go further and the 'off-the-shelf' solution may no longer be optimal. This gives AmD the advantage at this point IMO.

[ChrisG]

Welcome SfourMan. Besides the S3 we also have A4quattro T Sport. Interested in your opinions about the MTM and the exhaust. What didn't you like or was it just value for money? Have thought about an exhaust - but she'll tell me that there's nothing wrong with the one on the car , is there? [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
I've seen 208 bhp on one of these at AmD when I was there a couple of years ago.

[samtheman]

firstly i had it chipped and i loved it, although after about 2 days, it seemed normal again, it did have a really good change in power when the turbo kicked in, but after that it just seemed to run out of revs to quick, good in some ways, but not in others.. then i got burnt off by a mini cooper s and that really pissed me off!!! so i booked it in at qts for a full miltek cat back exhaust, he told me that milltek wanted to use my car to make the high flow sports cat for the 180 bhp a4, would i be interested, BLOODY RIGHT!!! so off i trundled to derby where they had my car for a day and made it from scratch which was brilliant, thanks for that milltek! i thought that it would give me more power to be honest and i was a bit cheesed off, it did improve the throttle responce a bit, but it was nothing to write home about! a week after having all that work done to it though, i chopped it in for my S4 which has the same 'put you back in your seat' acceleration, but the revs just keep on coming, and coming and coming!! oh dear, 130 mph!!

[DavidR]

I have the new APR program 95ron and 98ron on the S4 and it is very smooth, powerful and switched conveniently from the cruise control. Stock mode is there too with a security lockout.

It is a smoother product that AmD and slightly more powerful, but the nature of the AmD chip is that the car may feel faster / more exciting...

APR are still unable to provide serial port tuning on the S4, and when I last checked (last Monday), it seemed unlikely to arrive soon.

[Dippy]

Last time I checked, APR didn't even do a 'program' for my model ECU!

I hear what you say David, but I've looked at the power and torque graphs from both APR and AmD and they were pretty much the same to me.

Anyway, despite the fact that APR couldn't remap my car, I still know I have the best option as I have a custom remap from AmD.

[Nige_RS4]

Anyway, despite the fact that APR couldn't remap my car, I still know I have the best option as I have a custom remap from AmD.

I'm sure David will disagree, as he can switch between std & remap 'modes' on the move and can add a valet mode which prevents the engine from exceeding a certain RPM - surely either one of these options makes it more desirable.

Also, APR offer programmes for C & D box ECU's - what have you got ?

[wazza]

Anyway, despite the fact that APR couldn't remap my car, I still know I have the best option as I have a custom remap from AmD.

I'm sure David will disagree, as he can switch between std & remap 'modes' on the move and can add a valet mode which prevents the engine from exceeding a certain RPM - surely either one of these options makes it more desirable.

Also, APR offer programmes for C & D box ECU's - what have you got ?

Probably the E, Nige, as his is a 2001 model [img]images/graemlins/nodder.gif[/img]

I think the Revo map is good, although I have not tried much else (on the S4) so I cannot comment on them.

[DavidR]

I hear what you say David, but I've looked at the power and torque graphs from both APR and AmD and they were pretty much the same to me.

The APR product has been upgraded on the rollers (about 6 weeks ago) at star performance in conjuction with a tech from the US. I don't have the graphs here, but the power was up over 325bhp with a useful increase in torque. I reply on APR and Stars word for this as my car wasn't happy on the rollers due to uneven front / rear tyre wear and therefore it produced 360lb/ft of torque and then reared up! Needless to say I'll visit again when the front tyres are replaced. My comments about the driveability refer to comparison of 2 different cars with APR / AmD. AmD being less linear but perhaps having greater accelerative peak G force.

My car has a D box ECU.

[Dippy]

Fair enough David - you now effectively have a custom map, which is the advantage you have from Star. But let's face it, AmD have been doing that for a while for many customers.

I'll accept that APR may have a different approach to remapping and maybe it would be better than AmDs in some respects. However since my ECU is revision G (yes I DO mean G), and I'm hardly likely to change from AmD to APR unless there was a significant reason to, I'm never going to find out!

[DavidR]

Dippy, don't get me wrong, I think the AmD software is excellent too, and ran an AmD chip on my previous car. For me location is everything, i.e. Star 40mins drive, AmD 8hours [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I wouldn't recommend driving miles just to get APR over AmD, unless you wanted the switchable programs and lockout etc. There just isn't a huge difference...

[DavidR]

Also worth mentioning that the APR stuff is not custom, it just happened that star refined the S4 and S3 maps recently on their rollers using 2 customers cars and the APR tech from the US. I remain unconvinced that my last car got a custom AmD map either, as it did 1 power run, ECU changed and 1 post power run, there is a slight customisation but not in the same league as real time mapping on the dyno.

[Dippy]

Yes, I do realise that many (probably most) AmD customers get the 'off-the-shelf' remap. It's a shame really because I do think a custom remap can make a difference - it certainly did after my Miltek cats were fitted.