I am fairly new to driving my A4 and any Turbo for that matter. I am confused on what exactly pinging is and if and when it should occur. I have always thought that a turbo will make noise and that the A4 has one of the quietest turbo's around. I do hear a high pitch Ping if you will when I drive my unchipped A4. Is this normal and is this a Ping? The noise I hear is very High Pitched. Thanks for the help

 

Are you using Premium Unleaded Gas?

 

cool

 

I think Alan Adamson said it best (pulled from Archives):<p>"If you're hearing a whisping of air, you are probably hearing the turbo make boost. Detonation is best described as the sound of rocks in a can being shaken. The harder the shake the more detonation!<p>Hope this help... Just remember, if you can hear it IT's BAD!"<p>From your description, it sounds like you're hearing the turbo "whine", not pinging. This is normal with all turbos, but with the low-pressure turbo on the 1.8T engine, it isn't really noticeable unless the engine is chipped. I noticed quite a bit more turbo whine after getting my Wett 1.0 bar chip installed.<p>Andy Hedin<br>'97 A4 1.8Tqms, Wett 1.0 Bar Chip, ABT Filter, Euro Headlights...<br>

 

Andy, not really related but if you had a choice today would you go with Wett again?

 

That's a tough question....as much as I love my Wett chip, there are new players out there now in the chip market that I'd <b>strongly</b> consider. They are the following:<p>1) Garrett -- he's local to my area (I'm in 'burbs of Philly) and I'm impressed with his knowledge and customer service. I've heard absolutely nothing negative about his chips, but some might say that's because there aren't as many 1.8T owners with his chip. I think it's because he has an excellent product.<p>2) AutoThority -- based on my prior experience with their products (I had their Stage II kit on my Corrado G60 & loved it), I'd consider their chip. They're new to the 1.8T engine, so once again there aren't a lot of owners out there yet to give feedback/opinions.<p>3) MTM -- I like the fact that Mayer worked on some of the development of the 1.8T engine when he worked for Audi. He still has close ties to the factory and some consider his chip to be the closest thing Audi has to a factory tuner (besides AudiSport).<p>I'd still strongly consider Wetterauer as I've been extremely pleased with the customer service I've received from them not to mention the great performance from their chip. Some on this board have blasted Wett for the performance (or lack thereof) of their K04 package. But I'm not really interested in that kit, so that made no difference to me.<p>But if I were going to buy a chip this weekend, I think I'd go with Garrett.<p>Andy Hedin<br>'97 A4 1.8Tqms, Wett 1.0 Bar Chip, ABT Filter, Euro Headlights...

 

I've been doing a bunch of inquiring and basically am where I started, sort of. I've heard a lot of positive things about Wett, TAP 1 and Neuspeed. Garret is a new one to me. I'm out in California, SF bay area and I keep hearing about this person going, in person, to X chip dealer, that person going to Y...etc. I think I'm stuck with the mail order, except for TAP (local dealer near me).<p>All these chips make it hard to decide. From what it sounds like, a majority of the chips are good chips, so I guess I can't go too wrong.<p>Your comments are appreciated. Now to find out about Garrett, Autothority....more homework!<p>Q2: If you were to mail order, would it still be Garrett?<p>Thanks again.<br>Ed<br>99.5 1.8TQMS (coming soon to my dealer!)

 

Garrett's web site:<p>http://www.giacusa.com/<p>AutoThority's web site (although last time I checked they didn't have 1.8t info on it yet) BTW, they're located in Virginia:<p>http://www.autothority.com/<p><i>Q2: If you were to mail order, would it still be Garrett?</i><p>Hmm....another good question. I think the thing that initially interested me about Garrett's chip was the fact that he was local to my area....I was quite surprised that I had a tuner in my own backyard! This is appealing to me in that I wouldn't have to mail my ECU away (although I did for my Wett chip). Hearing Garrett speak at the NYC Metro Area A4 club reinforced my opinion of what I had been hearing about him...very knowledgeable, a true enthusiast, won't settle for OK...strives for perfection. He is the tuner who worked with PES on their 2.8 supercharger kit and I believe he will be the tuner for PES's up-coming supercharger kit for the 1.8t motor. They brought him on board after another tuner failed to deliver a viable product (PES refused to say who the tuner was, but others have told me that it was Wetterauer...I don't know this to be fact).<p>Like you said, all the chips are fairly equal...there really isn't a dud in the bunch. You might feel more comfortable with a Neuspeed or TAP since you'll actually be able to drive down to get either of them installed avoiding the mail-order process. It's definitely a comforting feeling being able to hand your key over versus blindly mailing your ECU across the country.<p>But to directly answer your question, based on the info I have today, I would still probably go with the Garrett chip even if I did have to mail my ECU to him.<p>Of course, this is all my opinion....and you know what they say about opinions!<p>Andy Hedin<br>"Wett" but still researching chips.... :-)

 

Again, thanks for the great info!!<br>And I know what they say about opinions, but I did ask, so it was an invitation, so to speak.<p>I tried Autothority.com but no response (or should I say "host name failed"), any help?<p>Thanks.

 

and he told me he comes out to CA every now and then (i'm in the SF Bay Area too). <br>I'm considering his 2.8 chip, but have been swamped at work so I haven't followed up too much. He said if he was out he could reprogram so you wouldn't have to mail your ECU.<br>