I recently bought at 2000 A4 1.8T Quattro Avant. Previous owners had upgraded to 17" wheels, installed a K&N filter, a TT diverter valve, and a Borla catback exhaust. Is there any way to tell if the car has been chipped? I installed a vac/boost gauge, and see a maximum boost of about 16. It drives great, but this is the only 1.8t I've ever driven, so I have nothing to compare to. I don't want to spend money on a chip and find out I already have one.

 

several ways to find out. easiest but not recommended if your new to this is to remove the ECU and visually check to see if theres a chip(this may lead to unwanted engine operation). you can also take it to a tuner like apr and see if theres either a chip or if a program was flashed into the ecu. i dont think your chipped though since your cars only running at the stock 16 psi boost, a chip would usually increase booost to 18-25psi. i hope this helps.

 

No, stock boost is more like 8psi. If you are boosting 16psi, I would assume you are chipped.

 

are you sure stock is 8psi. thats usually on a supercharger. on my friends gs-t boost PEAKS at 16 before the BOV goes off.

 

stock boost is 7-8 psi, most stock turbo cars run at this boost level.

 

I carefully removed but didn't unplug the ECU and there is what looks like a chip that is slightly elevated from the circuit board. It's a Phillips brand, and doesn't look like it matches the others on the board. Thanks for the suggestions. It's such a blast to drive now, I'm not sure how much more power I could handle without losing my license. I'll definitely check with APR or someone similar before spending money on a chip.

 

Yeah, my DCII shows .64 hkpa...roughly 8-9 psi.

 

are you sure stock is 8psi. thats usually on a supercharger. on my friends gs-t boost PEAKS at 16 before the BOV goes off.
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Eclipse GS-T? Stock boost on DSMs is ~12psi. Boost has nothing to do with when the BOV goes off.. it's whenever you let off the throttle and how tight the spring is inside the BOV. If he's running 16psi then he must have an upgraded BOV (stock 2g plastic one leaks around 11-12psi) and a MBC.. if not, he's spiking like crazy.

 

definitely 8 psi that was what mine said stock with a boost gauge. Then when i got it chipped it was around 16. now i have boosted 21psi at the highest. 17-18 psi is nml for my car then she settles around 12-14psi. i wonder what kind of chip you have?

 

I didn't say stock boost for all cars is 8psi, I said the stock boost for an Audi A4 1.8T is 8psi. You really can't compare the stock boost of one manufacturer to another, or even assume that because one boosts "x"psi, this other brand also boosts "x"psi.