My review of a legitimate tuning company

[Buller_Scott]

hey all, how are things?

disclaimer: this thread is not intended to start chip wars, and i do not post this to seek approval, nor to debate with people the different merits of different tunes- i merely post this so that people will hopefully be able to glimpse my experience recently, and for those who are unchipped who wish to chip, to have another option available to them. I believe that sometimes, us aussies get somewhat the raw end of the stick, in that only major, expensive brands, make it to our shores, and this is all we have to choose from-happens with snowboard gear every year (burton, ride, raiden, nitro), for 3x what its worth overseas. I took the path i did because i believe in a competetive market, and i had done plenty of research regarding the tunes (understanding Oettinger, GIAC, Revo, Custom-code, APR to be reliable and impressive).

Now, review:

Abit over a week ago, and after having spent many hours researching diesel tuning in particular, i decided to take the plunge and purchase a ChippedUK st3 unit [http://www.chip-n-spin.co.uk/images/ST3.jpg] from Leigh, aka Logzy on here, at the price that is listed on his website lcautobits.com.au.

I took delivery of the product directly from him, whereby i recieved a small box with the unit bubble-wrapped, an obd cable, a usb cable, and an instructions cd-rom. Went home, and as per instructions, i loaded the program onto my laptop, i configured my particular unit to be ready to read maps from my particular engine, and went outside and downloaded the stock VW map into the unit.

After that, i copied the stock map from the ST3 unit onto my desktop via the data cable, and emailed to chippeduk. because of the timing, they were closed in the uk, so i called them later that night, just to confirm that they had, in fact, recieved my map (im skeptical when it comes to computer stuff-never made an ebay transaction, i choose going in to see the teller over net banking).

Jayson, at ChippedUK confirmed that they had received the map, and that they will be sending my two maps of choice back to me within the hour. to clarify, the ST3 unit can hold 3 maps, switchable at your leisure. i kept stock, and chose fast road and race map.

i recieved the two new maps via email a short time later, as attachments. saved them to my desktop, copied the maps to the ST3 unit via data cable, and went out to the car.

at first, i went to run the fast road map. they say this should take the polo tdi from 100hp 240nm to 140hp 315nm. uploading the map was as simple as plugging unit in, scrolling down the menu, selecting "write file to ecu", then choosing "fast road map", switching on ignition, and then pressing "Y" button. before the map starts to upload, what happens is it will erase your stock map from the ecu (but its stored on your st3 and desktop anyway) and clear all DTC's.

after about 5 minutes or so, the st3 unit will beep multiple times, and tell you to switch off ignition and unplug obd cable. done. now, the dest drive.

jesus f%$#@^#$&^@$&%@^@#$^$#^@#$^#$@^@#$^@&@^@#$^@#$^#$@ ^@#$^@#$^@#$^@#$ng CHRIST!!!!! its a long time since i drove the vr, and i have no experience with japanese tuners or hyundai sonatas or whatever people may deem as "fast" cars, but goddamn, my first thought was "uh... okay. um... this is a different car. utterly and wholly."

before, the tdi was zippy, and in second gear, rolling 40kmh, then plant it= nice little shove in the back, and zoom. now? there's no shove in the back. the map is just too smooth, and the power made me think the car's thinking "no suspension sag shove in the back, because there aint no time to eff around, gotta go!".

i loaded track map the next day (150hp/325-330nm), and got my kid sis to ride with me (16y.o.). obviously she knows nothing at all about cars, and every time i talk of my ambitions or mods etc etc im pretty sure all she hears is a chicken clucking.

40 roll onto the eastern, and i say "ready?". her: "ugh, yeah yeah whatever". me: plant it and run. her: "holy schitt! wow scott, that is really effing smooth. that is so much smoother than before... nice!". and its true. the power delivery is so smooth, yet the car really runs now. counting out loud (one onethousand two onethousand etc) it took me around 5 secs to go from 40 roll to 100 on the freeway. i dont presume to have good launches, so i wont be able to give you 0-100 times, but i WILL time 40-100, from second, for you.

so there you have it. reputable company (in uk/ europe, atleast), with warranty that wont be needed (i'll trigger overboost and limp mode before turbo blows, as a rule, and even then, i dont speed on freeways, nor plant it in any gear above 4th for more than a few seconds at a time). i will run track map with intercooler spray/ custom made smic shroud in the winter months, fast road with same mods in summer (gently), and stock when and if mom needs the car, or if i eventually teach my kid sister how to drive.

process was a cinch, files uploaded and downloaded flawlessly even for a computer retard like myself, maps deliver power oh-so-smoothly, and basically, im won. dad will be getting a tiguan soon, and he's going to get chipped with them also.

for the normally accepted remapping price, it would be an unreal upgrade at a great price. for $800? its nothing short of a heist.

hope you enjoyed the review, and any to-be-chipees, hope you enjoyed the insight. lastly, as somewhat of a pessimist, i could see someone saying "what's the catch? its too inexpensive- you have to slap a 1000dollar premium ontop of what you've paid in order for it to be decent, you must have been shafted SOMEHOW, here is a list of ways your car and you are going to explode as a result of you not having paid $1500". to those that would rain on my parade- sorry to disappoint. ChippedUK and their ST3 unit is good. damn good.

Folks, i appreciate that, on this forum and in australia, the respected and reputable chiptuners are APR, Oettinger, GIAC, Custom-Code, Revo. i wholeheartedly believe that ChippedUK should be added to that list.

cheers,

scott

[Gti Dave]

Congrats mate. I'm very happy for you. Happy cruising. LOL

[mikepologti]

sounds sweet man, though one problem. i think id be tempted to leave it in race mode lol

[Ralfi]

hey all, how are things?

hope you enjoyed the review, and any to-be-chipees, hope you enjoyed the insight.

I did. Thanks.

Without knowing much about chipping, can this one be used in both TDI & GTI models?

[philthy]

hmm, website says polo 1.8T.. might need to do some more research. I like the idea of loading it myself

[Buller_Scott]

thanks dave. the car is finally awake!

lol. mike- i havent taken it off. i THOUGHT i would put it back to stock for weekly commuting, but i dont- driving gently, on race map, makes commuting so much easier, with less gear changes too. its staying on race.

Ralfi- this unit can be used with either or. my understanding is this: its not really about what car you drive, but rather, what computer is in your car. before you calibrate the ST3 to your particular car on your laptop, the unit is a blank, universal unit, awaiting to recieve instructions as to what computer it is going to download from. basically, before i calibrated the ST3 to recieve files from my Bosch EDC15p ecu, someone with a 1.4 turbosupercharged golf gt could have mugged me and taken the unit and calibrated it to the Siemens ECU in his car, and been able to chip it in exactly the same way i did. once it's calibrated, however, the unit can only be used for your particular car (it registers the VIN). BUT, when you change cars e.g. if your next car were to be a golf gti, then its simply a matter of paying ChippedUK 100 pounds, and they will supply an additional map for that car(additional maps after ST3 purchase=100 pounds).

so basically, im going to run this chip for the next year or so until i get my suspension and brakes sorted (next priority), and then when i upgrade turbos to the turbo in the golf GT TDI, i only need to pay ChippedUK another 100pounds and they will write me a new map that takes the upgraded turbo and downpipe into account. pretty sweet deal in my book, and these are my plans.

Philthy- check it out. it really is a great alternative, and yes- the map switching is awesome. once you select to write a particular map to the ecu, it actually shows upload progress on the screen, a little bar that gradually fills from empty (left) to full (right). next time we get atrocious heat waves in melbourne, whereby its 40deg every day, i'll simply put it back to stock map so as to run conservative boost/ minimize stress on turbo (no stress on any other components- the VAG 1.9 diesel engine is frequently run with more than 200 horsepower in europe and north america with no issues).

as for research- i doubt you'd NEED to upgrade intercooler & exhaust from a strictly reliability point of view. i'd just confirm with these guys on vwwa who has triggered limp mode (if at all) with their apr/ custom code chip, and what boost spikes and sustained boost are acceptable for your K03 turbo. ChippedUK does the rest. Be warned, though- if you decied to go this path, once you send the maps, if its a case of waiting overnight (due to time difference between here and the UK's office times) you WILL NOT be able to sleep for excitement.

cheers

[Ralfi]

So if I went down this path (or any other chip for that matter) with a 2009 Polo GTI, should I expect to also upgrade my brakes or suspension to handle the upgrade, or will a stock Polo GTI play nice with a chipped engine?

[shhplit]

has anyone used this chip for their Polo GTI?

what power gains did you receive?

cheers

[Whubbsie]

So if I went down this path (or any other chip for that matter) with a 2009 Polo GTI, should I expect to also upgrade my brakes or suspension to handle the upgrade, or will a stock Polo GTI play nice with a chipped engine?

Suspension and brakes will be fine as stock with the chip, they can be better but there i no need to change them straight away.

[Blitzen]

So if I went down this path (or any other chip for that matter) with a 2009 Polo GTI, should I expect to also upgrade my brakes or suspension to handle the upgrade, or will a stock Polo GTI play nice with a chipped engine?

No need to at all...

I have only upgraded my suspension by adding a rear sway bar and, adding dropped and stiffened springs(drop of 10mm), but I did this long before I got my ECU tune done.
May people who have had their cars chipped have stock suspension and brakes. My brakes are still stock, and cop the punishment very well.