Hi All,

So I am thinking about getting the GIAC tip chip. My 2004 S-Line is all stock and I love it but would rather the tiptronic was not as "lazy". I know that the tip chip reduces shift times and, according to the performance shop I contacted, will not reduce the life of the transmission in any way. My questions are:

1) Does it work well with an OEM ECU?
2) Does it affect Drive, Sport and Tip modes differently? (I don't want drive and sport mode to perform the same)
3) Does it cause the transmission to hold 1st gear without having to hammer down the gas pedal thus causing the transmission to think for a good second or so before shifting to first? (that one drives me nuts, especially when turning left at an intersection, had a close call or two with a car coming at me and my A6 giving some serious thought to launching me out of the way...when I want to go now, I want to go now dang-nabbit! )

The big thing for me is the tendency to shift into 2nd gear to second you start moving and the pedal force required to cause a downshift, even in sport mode. I know that you can simply recode the transmission so it holds first in tip mode but if the GIAC tip chip will hold onto 1st gear longer in drive and sport mode as well that would be a huge thing for me.

Thanks for your advice!

 

YOu can recode the tranny to 1032 or just 32 depending on your factory coding. That will get rid of the annoying shift into 2nd. Even with a TIP chip you cannot shift to 1st unless you nail the kickdown, the TIP chip will shorten shift times, but not to superbike times like is claimed. Contact VAST peformance, they offer a TIP chip that I believe is far better than the GIAC, you can talk to Prince or Mike on the phone, and they will give you the stright goods

 

Thanks nothing77, if I can simply have the tranny recoded to get ride of that annoying shift to 2nd behavior I would much rather do that than spend the money for a chip. From what I have read, I got the impression that recoding only affects the tranny when in tip mode....does recoding also cause 1st to hold on in Drive and Sport modes as well? If so, I will just go that route. Thanks again.

 

I am not positive on how it reacts using S mode, my 01 didn't have S, but during spirited driving in D, 1st held till redline, and of course it holds in TIP