Ok, i talked with a guy at a shop that i frequent with my '91 300zx TT, and he says he used to work at APR. I believe him, considering their main headquarters isn't far from where i live.

Anywho, he says he likes the APR chip better than GIAC. He could be biased, but i'd love to hear some opinions of other people about that. A quote from IMOLAS4 says "If you want a smooth (conservative) powerband with a few interesting bells and whistles, then go with APR. If you want all out raw performance (at the edge), then GIAC is the way to go."

No offense, but that doesn't make sense to me. Are you saying one chip runs smoothly, while the other one throws you off a cliff? Here's what i want to know: when you put the pedal to the floor, side-by-side, but cars equally modded, which one is going to win? We'll call it a 1/4 mile race just to make it simple.

Alrighty, now on to the suspension. Ok, everyone i talk to says they love H&R springs, but many hate the coilovers. I've seen my fair share of busted coilovers from them anyway, so they're outa the pic. So is it better to match their springs w/ another shock, say, Koni, or just go with the street coilover from Stasis (which is matched w/ koni's)? I'm not talkin serious racing on the track or SoloII or anything like that, just drivin down the highway and bein able to change lanes with some agression without it feelin like a pickup truck with all that body roll.

Aight, thanks for your input. I hope I didn't offend anyone, this being my first post and all. I scanned a lot of the posts and found much of the info very helpful and rewarding.

Jonnie

 

Well, I'll jump in and explain my quote.
The GIAC has the edge over APR in the performance category; it squeezes out the maximum from the turbos.
The APR has a smoother powerband without the peakiness of the GIAC; it treats the turbos more conservatively.
Bottom line: GIAC would win; GIAC has already shown this. The fastest S4 in the country is running with GIAC.

As far as CO's...
Stasis is top-of-the-line; for some it is the gold standard.
H&R is a super setup, too.
Many match-ups are mated with the industry choice - Konis.
Any damage you may have seen in CO's may have a lot to do with the ignorance of the owners. So many CO owners get them so they can slam the car. The resultant change in suspension geometry causes stress throughout the system. These guys then try to drive the car hard and they end up with very expensive modern sculpture. It is the ignorance and bravado of owners that cloud their good judgement.
You seem to understand a few technical points, so I won't preach about proper suspension height for proper performance. But I will say that most of the good CO kits do a great job in the performance category, provided they are adjusted for performance and not aesthetics.

 

Ok, thanks.

I was talkin about the GIAC with this guy, and i was tellin him about chipswitch. He told me that it was still in its test phase, and it wasn't for sale yet. I told him it was, but he didn't listen to me. How does the chipswitch compare to the APR cruise control lever option? Both chips are comparable in price, so i want the one that's gonna push me the hardest.

About the suspension, you're right. If i wanted to slam it, I'd just put springs on it and let it ride like crap. I know H&R has a warranty, but the Stasis setup goes for $995 and has a lifetime warranty. You can't beat that.

Thanks again for your advice.

Jonnie

 

I know the chipswitch for the A$ 1.8t has been out for a year - it had some bugs at first, but they ahve been resolved. I don't know if the chipswitch for the S4 is available yet. I have the GIAC X-chip for my S4. I won't want a chipswitch - because I don't care about that feature. The switching gimmick is not my cup of tea. I want the focus to be on the performance, not on extra options and fancy gimmicks. For me, I have the luxury of having another stock ecu box for swapping, so I don't worry about (or feel the need for) "switching" on the fly.

I wouldn't be excited about the APR cruise control gimmick either. I would leave it in 93 oct mode and never "switch" it. I don't have a use for valet mode because, even if the car wasn't chipped, I wouldn't let a valet drive my S4 anyway.

I guess I'm more about "the less add-ons and gimmicks, the less chance of something screwing up". Less is more.

But these are my opinions; I know I'm in the minority. Many guys I know think I'm living in the stone age of chipping. Oh well... it works for me.

If what you were asking is which one will give you whiplash, then they both will. If I didn't tell you before, I will repeat my advice I give over and over: If you're choosing between APR and GIAC, you can't go wrong with either of them. It's far more important to go with the one that is offered by a local tuner. It will be more important to you later if you have some one nearby that you can turn to in the event of a problem.

If instead you were asking which "switch" is better... probably the APR. It's been around longer and it has more options than GIAC - for now! GIAC will be giving APR serious competition in this category soon enough.

Hope I helped.

 

Well, there are only two reasons why I would want the chipswitch option:
1. When friends, or family members, drive my car. I don't necessarily want my parents knowing I chipped my car. I'm a college student, and if my parents knew I was "throwing money away" on my car, they'd flip. Also, friends occasionally drive my cars, like if I'm dropping one off at a shop or something. I don't want them horsing around and breaking something.
2. So the dealership doesn't know it's chipped. With a factory setting, it would be much more difficult for a dealer to know it is chipped, thus voiding the warranty. It's still under new car warranty, and for the next 5 years or so it will be under used car warranty. I don't want any hassles, so I figured a $150 option would be more or less hassle-free in that sense.

Jonnie

 

1. Valid reason - that is personal, so I can't make any comment here.

2. The warranty issue is a huge and complex issue. Bottom line: The dealers have to prove that the damage has a direct relationship to the chip. If they want to prove you have chip, they will have to remove the ecu and take it apart. If it's there, then it's there! But the warranty issue should be less of a concern than anything else. Many people have chips and have had warranty work done. Some have left the ecu as is (chipped) and others have returned it to stock either through a switch or by swapping it for a stock ecu. In all cases, the owners have never reported problems with dealers.