First of all, when I purchased this car, I had no intention of modding it in any way, just enjoying what Audi has provided straight from the factory. But lately, I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with the sluggish performance of my car. It seems like the boost will flutter and is not always a constant push. Also, it sometimes feels like there is no boost on some shifts, while it comes back on others. I just recently had the car examined for boost leaks; found one and fixed it.

First of all, I am more concerned with longevity of my car and reliablility, than I am with having a quicker, punchier drive. Me being basically useless on DIY's and diagnosis of problems, I want to be able to enjoy the car without worrying that I've caused the vehicle more harm by trying to better its performance. I know I would love it once I chipped it, but I don't want to place additional strain on engine parts than would have otherwise if the car wasn't chipped.

1.) does chipping the car effect the life of the engine / parts ,etc.?

2.) will a chip improve my sluggish boost?

3.) am I an idiot for asking these questions? (feel free not to answer this one)

(I plan on getting a boost guage to keep track of the psi and help track potential boost leaks.)

Info in sig.....75k miles on the clock-

 

1.) the chip will be asking the turbocharger to perform at approximately 200% of its original intended capacity. is this going to affect its lifespan? probably, but not to the point where you should be worried about it as long as you do regular oil changes and let it cool down.

2.) absolutely, assuming you have no other issues.

3.) nope, but you'll probably be flamed anyway, people like to do that here.

boost gauge is a good idea anyway. sounds like you've got a good grasp of what's going on.

 

wut rpm range are u in when u have no boost? u might have another leak on the turbo even though u fixed one. check ur plugs.

 

There's always a tradeoff anytime you mod. Get coilovers for a better stance and reflexes, and you may pay in ride quality. Chip the engine, and you'll get more power, but keep in mind that you're running the turbo, injectors, and fuel pump a little harder to make that power. Is it going to be prematurely destructive? Probably not. The chip is (I think) tuned to deliver around 40-50hp more than stock, which for a turbo to make, isn't all that much (1.8T guys can tell you how much extra boost the chip allows vs stock). It probably will improve your boost response to a degree. And no, you're not an idiot for asking what you don't know. You'd be an idiot to blindly mod without understanding what you're doing, especially if you did so with the resources of this forum at your disposal and decided not to take advantage of the collective knowledge here.

 

Right on, thanks to everyone for the quick responses! I thinkmy curiosity of the added performance is beginning to overtake my once "purely stock" attitude. The next step is convincing my wife that this is a "good investment"!

Lastly, one of the worst decisions I ever made was buying an aftermarket warranty. Granted, adding a chip will void it. Has anyone had problems with this? I'm assuming that if anything goes wrong, the shop who performed the work will "back me up" when / if it came to dealing with the warranty company??

 

 

The tough one is convincing the wife lol - tell her that by having the extra power, you'd be more able to potentially avoid an accident if you blindly pull out in front of another car And don't assume that the shop will cover you - there's so much computer control in these cars, that a VAGCOM scan of your car at the warranty shop may well expose the fact that you're not running a factory setup anymore.

 

im sure it won't matter much... unless you have the gas pedal to the matt all the time.... that turbo would blow up like the 4th july fireworks!

 

All the more reason to justify a BT upgrade

 

haha... if I was shttin franklins, I would go humungus turbo....