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Thread: ECU Upgrade Appreciation or Problems

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    3,871
    Users Country Flag

    ECU Upgrade Appreciation or Problems

    This is not meant as a "chip war" section. So no comparisons between the different chips out there please.

    In all parts of the forum we get questions about chips and what it will do to the car. Both the good and the bad .... In the future for any response to such a question maybe we could point here and say .... "this is what people have said" ....

    So if you have had a bad experience with a chip please state it here. Cost does not count. What we want to know did it break anything on your car ? ... How many kms before you had a problem and what ws it?

    ALSO ... if you have had a good experience, please state it here.
    Current: 2023 MY23 T-Roc R Lapiz Blue + Beats Audio + Black pack 2018 MY19 Golf R manual Lapiz Blue + DAP) 2018 MY18 Golf 110TSI (150TSI) Trendline manual White2014 Amarok TSI Red (tuned over 200kw + lots of extras) 2013 Up! manual Red 2017 Polo GTI manual Black Previous VWs and some others ...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    3,871
    Users Country Flag Thread Starter
    I have only had good experiences with "chips" so far. It has never broke anything .... I had it on these cars ....

    Overseas
    1995 VW VR6 - VW Motorsport ECU upgrade
    1995 BMW M3 - AC Schnitzer ECU Upgrade
    2000 BMW 328i - AC Schnitzer ECU Upgrade
    2000 Isuzu (Holden) DC 320 V6 - Unichip
    2001 BMW Z3M - AC Schnitzer ECU Upgrade
    2002 BMW M3 - AC Schnitzer ECU Upgrade

    In Australia
    2005 RAV4 2.4 - Unichip
    2006 VW Polo GTI - APR
    2009 VW Tiguan - APR

    Custom:
    VW Golf Mk1 1800 16v Turbo - Haltech ECU

    Problems experienced:
    On the 1995 M3, my mechanic did not tighten a new oil cooler's piping properly and @ 8000rmin it popped off. (Stock 1995 M3 only revved to 7000rmin so as a result of the ECU upggrade?)
    Mk1 broke many things during its life ... too be expected from a Mk1 when pushing the boundaries too far in search of ultimate performance.
    Current: 2023 MY23 T-Roc R Lapiz Blue + Beats Audio + Black pack 2018 MY19 Golf R manual Lapiz Blue + DAP) 2018 MY18 Golf 110TSI (150TSI) Trendline manual White2014 Amarok TSI Red (tuned over 200kw + lots of extras) 2013 Up! manual Red 2017 Polo GTI manual Black Previous VWs and some others ...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    171
    I have only ever had an APR chip on my MkV GTI (2007).

    The good:

    Goes like poo off a stick
    Still decent economy
    Goes like poo off a stick
    Zero turbo lag
    Goes like poo off a stick
    Rounds up many "more expensive" cars on track days

    The bad:

    Done too many sets of tyres!
    The DSG had to be replaced, but I am not certain this was from the chip, though I am sure it didn't help
    Hard to drive within speed limits. (Goes like poo off a stick)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Canberra, ACT
    Posts
    944
    2006 Polo GTI -- REVO technik chip -- no problems
    2008 Audi S3 -- GIAC chip -- no problems
    2015 White German SUV
    2013 White German hatch
    2011 Silver French hot hatch
    2008 TR Golf GT TDI DSG

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Melbourne, Vic
    Posts
    642
    Trying not to make this a comparison but just pointing out problem I struck. A selling point of some ECU remaps is switchable programs..."available at the touch of a button". However this feature can be problematic. What they don't tell you is that your car can take quite a while to adapt post program switch. This lead to my car having a spurious Engine Over Torque followed by an engine shutdown while driving leisurely at 80kmh. This occurred several days and >200km after switching programs. After coming to a halt the engine immediately restarted and has been fine since. But not a lot of fun if it occurred at an inopportune moment.
    Of course the fix is not to switch programs, but this sort of negates having the feature in the first place.
    Golf Mk6 118 TSI DSG |APR Stage I ECU Upgrade | HEX-USB+CAN

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by logger View Post
    Trying not to make this a comparison but just pointing out problem I struck. A selling point of some ECU remaps is switchable programs..."available at the touch of a button". However this feature can be problematic. What they don't tell you is that your car can take quite a while to adapt post program switch. This lead to my car having a spurious Engine Over Torque followed by an engine shutdown while driving leisurely at 80kmh. This occurred several days and >200km after switching programs. After coming to a halt the engine immediately restarted and has been fine since. But not a lot of fun if it occurred at an inopportune moment.
    Of course the fix is not to switch programs, but this sort of negates having the feature in the first place.
    Just a comment on this topic (probably best to start another topic) - The program switching (all program switching regardless of brand) switches a series of "Maps" or "tables" in the ECU - it does not switch learned values or learned load values (including fuel trims etc), so these are retained by the ECU until it relearns (a constant ongoing thing). By attempting back to back acceleration runs or dyno runs, the learned values will influence the maps.

    You can clear them with separate steps with diagnostic tools if you require.

    The "Over torque situation" can be seen in this influence, but in this case of after several days (since switching), it was more likely triggered my a Air mass sensor spurious signal or similar. Unless you are data logging at the time or can repeat the fault, they are tough to track down. If it was days & > 200km's it probably has nothing to do with switching all.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    178
    Quote Originally Posted by Guy_H View Post
    Just a comment on this topic (probably best to start another topic) - The program switching (all program switching regardless of brand) switches a series of "Maps" or "tables" in the ECU - it does not switch learned values or learned load values (including fuel trims etc), so these are retained by the ECU until it relearns (a constant ongoing thing). By attempting back to back acceleration runs or dyno runs, the learned values will influence the maps.

    You can clear them with separate steps with diagnostic tools if you require.

    The "Over torque situation" can be seen in this influence, but in this case of after several days (since switching), it was more likely triggered my a Air mass sensor spurious signal or similar. Unless you are data logging at the time or can repeat the fault, they are tough to track down. If it was days & > 200km's it probably has nothing to do with switching all.



    Car stopping at 80Km/h crushing is serious and can be dangerous.


    So is this mean that switching is not good? Does it need to relearn at every switch?
    GOLF V GTI DSG Silver : On loan to parent until wife thinks I am a responsible driver
    GOLF VI 118TSi DSG Silver Leaf
    GOLF VII 110TSi DSG White
    GOLF VII GTI pp : on negotiation

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Melbourne, Vic
    Posts
    642
    Quote Originally Posted by Guy_H View Post
    Just a comment on this topic (probably best to start another topic) - The program switching (all program switching regardless of brand) switches a series of "Maps" or "tables" in the ECU - it does not switch learned values or learned load values (including fuel trims etc), so these are retained by the ECU until it relearns (a constant ongoing thing). By attempting back to back acceleration runs or dyno runs, the learned values will influence the maps.

    You can clear them with separate steps with diagnostic tools if you require.

    The "Over torque situation" can be seen in this influence, but in this case of after several days (since switching), it was more likely triggered my a Air mass sensor spurious signal or similar. Unless you are data logging at the time or can repeat the fault, they are tough to track down. If it was days & > 200km's it probably has nothing to do with switching all.
    Fair enough, I based my assertion that switching was the cause on the tuner advising me to avoid switching to prevent the fault recurring. I had prior to the single event switched progs willy nilly while testing stuff, but then definitely remained in a single prog for ~ 2 days and >200km just prior to it happening. For what it is worth, a google search for the specific fault I got "Engine Torque Monitor 2: Control Limit Exceeded" invariably leads to tunes in general (no brand in particular) being the culprit.
    Last edited by logger; 02-12-2009 at 08:38 AM. Reason: typo
    Golf Mk6 118 TSI DSG |APR Stage I ECU Upgrade | HEX-USB+CAN

  9. #9
    Logger, Info I was passed (second hand) was different (time after switching)- so you had a different answer! - Anyway, drop me an email if it happens again

    cheers

    Guy

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    blankedy
    Posts
    4,058

    I'm not very experienced in this area, but have chipped my current car and loved the results.

    Biggest issue I've found is wanting to get the FWD to stick to the ground with the new found power.

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