Okay, I know that I have a wack sacralegious automatic 2.8 but what can I do to get a I'll bit of a get up?

 

A chip and exhaust is about it, unless you go through with the SC.

Or, if you're clever and have mechanic friends that'll help you tear your engine apart, I've heard of people putting a spacer on the headgasket to give the cylinders more room to draw more air (or somethin along those lines, I'm pretty noobish with the fine workings of an engine) which is a supposed 20-30 hp gain.

and I've heard of even more ambitious people pulling the head completely out and taking it to a machine shop and machining it down from 1/32nd of an inch to ~3/128ths which supposedly forces the combustion to happen in a much smaller volume in the cylinders, yielding about a 50-60 hp gain.

But like I said, I'm pretty noobish with engine stuff like that so I could be wayyyyyy in left field with those two suggestions. Techs, feel free to back me or criticize me with that, I'd like to learn something new today.

 

A4Cragman, thanks for the response my good sir, but what is this "chip" that you speak of and what does this "chip" do exactly?

 

An ECU chip. It's essentially new software on the computer that runs your car from everything to metering fuel injection levels/trim to air flow, throttle response, exhaust readings and all that. Getting the ECU chipped by a company like GIAC or SpeedTuning re-maps that software to run more efficiently than stock, yielding about 10-12 hp and a quicker throttle response on the 2.8l engine.

Ultimately, GIAC and SpeedTuning do the same thing, the main difference is GIAC is more reputable and has, if I'm not mistaken, been around longer so they've got more experience, but SpeedTuning is about a hundred bucks cheaper for pretty close to the same gains. Most people with a 2.8 go with SpeedTuning for that exact reason, the gains are the same but for less money. If you had a 1.8t then GIAC would be the better bet, it's more tunable to future mods on a 1.8t IE you can buy it with a map for better stock performance and then you can upgrade the maps once you get an FMIC or go BT etc, whereas SpeedTuning isn't as flexible with future upgrades.

And, since I know you'll ask about prices on the two chips, SpeedTuning is 200 with the mention of being a member of this forum; GIAC is closer to 300-350 depending on which map you get.

One benefit to the GIAC chip on a 2.8 (and SpeedTuning could be the same here, but I didn't see this info on their site so I'm not positive) is the speed governor is removed and the rev limiter bumped up to 7100rpms. At stock, the 2.8 is governed to 130mph and 6400rpms and on GIAC's site, it says the governor is removed and the rev limiter raised. I didn't see anything on SpeedTuning's site saying that their chip does that as well, but its possible they do. So if you're looking to see just how fast you can get going with that chip, GIAC may be the better bet since it's ungoverned.

 

A4Cragman, excuse my french but u are the ******* man. Are there any other things that I can do to boost the wind in my sails? Primarily, are there any adjustments that I will need to make after adding the chip? Thanks again friend.

 

Far as I know, the chip is pretty plug and play; You pop out your ECU, put it in a box to whichever company you go with, they return it within a couple days, you put it back in the car and you're good to go. Probably the best advice post-chip is to never run lower than 91 octane fuel, since most ECU chip maps are tuned specifically for 91 or higher. But, you should be running 91 anyway so that shouldn't be a problem.

As far as anything else to "boost the wind in your sails" that is bolt-on and (relatively) cheap, your remaining option is to upgrade your exhaust. Go with a high-flow catalytic converter, since even if you live in a non-emissions testing state, the naturally aspirated engine needs the back pressure from a cat to keep the low end torque; at least thats what one of the more senior, experienced guys on here told me. After that, maybe a catback and new muffler.

Though the exhaust won't help a whole lot, not enough to really be noticeable even, after doing things with the exhaust, you'll start getting into really expensive areas such as the headers the OP was talking about, a supercharger kit, and then after that, custom engine work. All of which adds up REALLY fast labor and part wise.

 

Is it a necessity that I have to give them my chip? I just want them to send me what I paid for so I can do it myself.

 

Well I'm sure you could just have them send it to you, but unless you're familiar with soldering chips onto silicon motherboards such as the one in the ECU module and can ensure that you get all the pins lined up in exactly the right places and a full, solid solder joint on all the pins, I would say you're much better off sending it to the guys who have installed several hundred of these chips and know exactly what they're doing with it. Its worth the 2-3 days of car downtime to make sure it is done properly.

Plus -and I'm not positive here cuz I haven't gotten my chip yet- but I'm pretty sure that once the chip is on the module, they have to hook it up to their computer to flash it in order for the new map to be installed. And I'm pretty sure they give it a warranty when installed by them so if something goes wrong, they'll replace it where as if you do it yourself, you run the risk of accidentally soldering something in the wrong place and screwing up your entire ECU - which isn't a cheap OEM replacement, upwards of about 700 bucks to get a new ECU module if you bugger that one up. It's definitely in your better interest to just send it to them and let them do it.

 

well first you'd have to forge your internals and pistons ect before bosting of any sort so you dont have to worry about cracking your block or breaking parts. I have a 1999 A4 2.8 aswell and im working towards more performance too, i have a secconed block witch im forgeing rn and it is worth it if you know what you're doing and what to put in it. The 2.8 can actually be a beast motor once supercharger and tuned witg all the right parts. So dont listen to people who tell you your cars not worth it.