Hey guys, lately I have been wanting to do visual upgrades to my car, but I changed my mind and decided I want to make my car faster. But the problem is, I don't know where I should start first. I was thinking of chipping my car and changing the exhaust but wasn't sure if that was the best first thing to do. I want a good bang for my buck and don't want to dump an obscene amount of money right now.

Thanks

 

With these kinds of questions, it's helpful to include more detailed info about your car like year, transmission, engine code, and any mods already done to it. It's pretty good practice to edit your signature to include that kind of stuff so you don't have to think about it anymore. Give us a little more info and we should be able to point you in the right direction

 

I'm so sorry man. I completely spaced.

Its a 1.8t, and is literally bare stock besides replacing the clutch with a stage 2 clutch(i got a good deal on it). Will go do my sig now. Again, Thanks

 

Don't have to apologize, was just a polite suggestion

For starters, I would read the FAQ sticky which is here.
Based on what you said about not wanting to spend a lot of cash, sounds like you might want to stick with the stock turbo for now and just get a tune and some supporting mods. With a stg2 clutch you'll be in good shape for a tune like APR, GIAC, or Speedtuning. Give the sticky a read and post up with any more specific questions you might have.

 

Yeah, I already went throught that Sticky a few times and that is what led me to posting this. Like I was thinking that doing the chip mod would be the best idea and adding an exhaust as well. But are those mods really hard? I helped do my clutch, and have replaced my secondary air pump(which was harder than it should have been) other than that I'm not a gear head. But I am a really good and quick learner. I know the exhaust is relatively easy, but the ECU really throws me for a loop as that seems to be something that is quite tricky.
Thanks

 

Exhaust would be an easy swap with a few tricks. The hard part of getting a chip is writing the tune and that's already done for you. Your ECU is in a waterproof box in front of your windshield wiper. It can be removed and what's called "bench flashed", where they power it up using a batter or power inverter, then load the tune that way. It can also be done through the OBDII port on your car with a lap top and USB cable.

Being a 2001, you also have the option to forgo a chip and do what's called the "diode mod." More info can be found on this in the section of the FAQ called "chip alternative." I've done it to my car, it's really pretty easy.

 

So I would buy the chip and install it myself or have someone else do it? As for tuning it the same question.

And I saw that thread about forgoing the chip but I was kind of worried abuot it. How much power do you get compared to chipping and do you have the same reliability? I'm just worried about doing this and potentially damaging something

 

You send the ECU to the tuner and they do the reflash and mail it back. You reinstall it in the car and you're set. You will need to upgrade the DV as suggested in the FAQ. The diode mod can get you pretty much the same power but without the safety nets that the chip provides.

 

Definitely not as good as a chip, that's for sure. It allows you to sorta fudge the signal from the MAP sensor to the ECU to keep it from putting you in limp mode. The ECU can adjust fuel and timing to compensate for higher boost but only up to about 14psi. Then you run lean and bad stuff happens

 

I think I am going to go with the chip, I don't want to worry about screwing something up big time, plus the ECU chips seem to work really well without ruining milage(which I'm sure the DIY version doesn't either). Are all of the chips going to be at least like 400? I want to try and stay around $1k for all this but doubt it will be possible. I found some exhausts online for like 4-500, would these be crap compared to something like APR and Borla etc? As for DV, whats a good rule of thumb? I noticed people talking about some really nice ones being like $150 but that seems quite steep, what's your opinion?