Has anyone in the backroom had their car 'chipped'
Was it worth the money?
Does it use more fuel?
Why don't manufacturers offer chipped versions, or hane switchable versions, performance / economy mode, bit like auto boxes.
If you have chipped, have you told your insurance, if Yes, how much extra are they charging you?
If no, naughty naughty.
Anyone got, or know of, a chipped Volvo 3.0 24V {960 / V90 }204 BHP - what is the BHP after chipping?
Paul
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In the UK there is 70 mph limit what is the point of chipping a car.My friend chipped his VW 2.5td and destroyed the engine and box.If you want a faster car buy a faster car.Anybody who buys a car over 2.0 for normal use in the UK is in dreamland.If you want to drive fast come and live in Germany where we have about 20% of the motorway KM unrestricted the rest has from 50 to 130 km limits.
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Couldn't agree more.
Who wants to spend another £500 having their car chipped such that it may be 1 or 2 seconds faster while increasing their fuel cost and probably more pertinent, risk blowing their engine?
I don't know any chipping company that guarantees chipping wont blow the engine and that says it all to me.
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In the UK there is 70 mph limit what is the point of chipping a car.
But is there a law saying how quickly you can get to 70mph?
Anybody who buys a car over 2.0 for normal use in the UK is in dreamland.
Why? I much prefer to have some power left in reserve, just so that if I were overtaking and needed that extra bit of whallop to get me out of danger if necessary.
I generally find that the people who complain about people who drive fast cars are the ones wearing trilbys, have tartan rugs on their parcel shelves, hunch themselves over the steering wheel just so they can see that bit further up the road through their Mr Maggoo glasses, and mostly are only ever seen on Sunday afternoons - which is one day too many if you ask me.
No offence like ;o)
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>> In the UK there is 70 mph limit what is the point of chipping a car. But is there a law saying how quickly you can get to 70mph? >> Anybody who buys a car over 2.0 for normal use in the UK is in dreamland. Why? I much prefer to have some power left in reserve, just so that if I were overtaking and needed that extra bit of whallop to get me out of danger if necessary.
Well said, Dynamic. My sentiments exactly.
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L'escargot, with a name like that, your sentiments surprise me.
I'm easily confused....................
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L'escargot, with a name like that, your sentiments surprise me. I'm easily confused....................
L'escargot by name, but not by nature !!
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"But is there a law saying how quickly you can get to 70mph?"
No, there isn't, and this is the way things are going, just as UK VED rules dictated engine design for years, with long strokes and narrow bore to get into a lower tax bracket, so current motoring legislation dictates low CO2, catalytic converters and fast acceleration.
The old rules held up engine design advancement for decades and contributed to the demise of the UK car manufacturing industry.
Current rules are preventing lean-burn technology being developed and have led to "hot hatches" which boy racers use to mow down pedestrians at 40 mph twenty yards and two seconds after the lights change.
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Junior has come home walking on air, because he and his chipped K reg Civic VTI have won the 1600cc class at York dragstrip today. Closest competition was a modified Saxo 16v and a fast Nova. (He didn't want to be beaten by the Nova).
It was chipped when he bought it, the seller showed him a printout from when it had been set up on a rolling road. I think that might be the key. Most of the time he drives it frugally and the fuel cons is the same as the bog standard VTR (Saxo) he used to have. It's probably going to depend somewhat on the model of car, that VTEC engine is a tough cookie.
Cookie, chip, geddit? Ouch!
Your parents are going to be after me...
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If a chip could take 2 seconds off my 0-60 I would glady pay more than £500 for it! :) But as that is highly unlikely I would make full use of Superchips money back guarantee as the benefits can vary greatly.
I have my V6 Omega superchipped and now I am happy that there is an increase in grunt, however, at the time I had it done the engine was performing well and I mistakenly had the chip fitted to combat its flat spots. I should have solved the engines problems first of all before fitting the chip so during that period the chip made matters worse.
Now, after various other modification I am happy with the cars setup and that includes the superchip. If the car is totally standard I would be more inclined to install a K&N panel filter and free flow exhaust system to aid breathing before reaching for the chip.
It's also important to chose between the 'off the shelf' Superchip or the rolling road mapped Unichip, which will be tailored to your own car and as such have a better chance of improving your cars performance. The Superchip is a bit of a hit and a miss...
On a naturally aspirated car the chip will never make noticeable power gains, it may perhaps alter the power delivery and increase driveability - alternative it may mke matters worse. Fit it - drive it - rolling road it - keep it or get your cash back :) simple as that!
On a turbo diesel or turbo petrol everything changes and power gains are readily achievable by re-programming the ECU. But thats a different story...
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I once asked my insurance comp what the form was. They said that the premium would not be increased as long as an independent garage checked the braking system.
I then decided that I did not want to blow up my engine/gearbox and that the car went fast enough.
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I have just had my Saab 9-5 2.0 chipped. For info, this is has, as standard, 150bhp and 225Nm of torque. The chip increases the bhp to 192, and the torque to 300Nm. In terms of reliability etc., I do not think there is likely to be an issue. This performance upgrade is a standard, Saab-supplied afterfit, which can be fitted to a new car without invalidating the 60,000mile/3 year warranty. The cynical might say that the chip will only cause issues later in an engine's life and therefore Saab aren't concerned about this. However, the other comfort factor is that the same basic engine was fitted to the early Saab 9000 Carlsson, and produced 200bhp in this form.
I don't use the power all the time, who does? But it does give additional reserves of power when overtaking on non-motorway roads. Under normal driving, you don't even feel the extra power although it does give a bit of extra "bite" - the standard engine only gains about 20bhp (from 130 to 150bhp) from the light pressure turbo, based on previous models.
Was it worth the money? Yes, but only because I was lucky enough to buy an unfitted, brand new kit on eBay for £225 instead of the normal retail of £825. I think I might have felt differently had I paid the full whack, as it becomes a question mark over whether it would have been better to buy a 2.3 litre (although the 2.0 is generally reckoned to be a nicer engine).
Fuel consumption - the onboard computer shows a 3mpg drop (from 31 to 28), but I don't think this is accurate. I haven't had any properly monitored brim-to-brim fillups yet.
Yes I have told my insurance company. To put it in perspective, I am 49, my wife 51, both members of the IAM, I have a current speeding conviction, max NCB which is protected, and zero excess. The insurance, with Norwich Union, would have been £380 without the chip, and is £538 with it. I could have got insurance as cheap as £340 for the non-chipped car but that company would not have insured it with the upgrade.
Hope this helps.
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Specialist brokers are needed for modified cars.
Try Adrian Flux or Greenlight.
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Not strictly true, most insurers load the premium for modified cars and many refuse cover but unless the cars heavily modded most insurers will provide cover for an additional amount.
I am with Tesco who were half the price of Adrian Flux. As always, it very much depends on your circumstances.
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Quite right, Crombster, but its better to ask as many as possible. Most companies won't touch mine and it's not over the top.
Tesco sounds odd..........sure they weren't quoting for your house ??
I'm easily confused...................
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my modded house: twin chimney, banging sound system with in-house dvd, twin turbo hoover and Dunlop rubber (soled shoes)
;)
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