APR (stage I) chipped for 2 months, 3,000 mi later...
02-11-2003, 06:04 PM
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APR (stage I) chipped for 2 months, 3,000 mi later...
Stage I impressions so far:
Everything else on my car is stock, including stock DV, and I haven't had any problems. No CPFs either. I do have an APR exhaust sitting on my floor at home with the words <i>install me</i> written on it, but its going to have to wait until I can find the time. I only run 91 octane, mostly Unocal 76. Racing fuel (100 octane) is not easily available to me and by the time I find 93 in CA, hell will have frozen over.
I did change my oil today (@16,750 mi). Mobil1 5w30, would've preferred 0w40, but I couldn't find it.
No change in how I feel about the chip. Its pretty much all summed in my first post <<A HREF="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/202292.phtml">https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/202292.phtml</A>>. Other than the obvious boost gain with the chip, I haven't noticed any anomolies with my chip. I don't get the vibrations that others have referred to. I've tried several times but I just can't seem to produce the feedback that others have been feeling. The car just seems so much more alive now with chipping. I've stopped noticing the sound of the turbo spinning when accelerating. The best way for me to describe is, "It's like falling in love with your call all over again."
The only thing I can add is a review of mileage (and this is what I seem to get emailed the most about.) To give you a baseline of my driving with the stock chip, I get about 21.9 mpg. This is a mixture of 50/50 city/highway over the last 14 months and 13.5k miles with my car. And my driving style would be casual driving. I would go speed limit +5 on city streets, and 75 on the freeways. Not overly aggressive, but moderate. Nor would I floor the accelerator, just drive like any other casual driver.
When I first got my chip, I wanted to really break it in hard and I was giving the chip a run for its money. With mostly city driving and driving like a bat out of hell (read: wide open throttle (WOT) most of the time), I surely paid for my fun. I would get 14.0 mpg. But I attribute this to mostly not understanding the difference between pressing the accelerator 3/4 and WOT. In terms of delivery of power, I find that giving the car 3/4 throttle I still am able to feel the rush of the added boost over stock, without excessively consuming fuel. So now I drive a little saner, but I do enjoy the added power. Even factoring in my chaotic 14.0 mpg fillup, I've calculated my mileage ever since I got my chip and I've averaged 24.5 mpg. I don't find the need to speed excessively, but I have taken the car up to 125 (flame suit on: an IS300 wanted some APR 1.8T action) and still at those speeds the car feels as smooth as silk. Before I get flamed I'll just have you know, it was an empty freeway, 1 passenger in my car vs. an IS300 with a driver and two passengers and I killed him in a sprint from 70-125, but that is another story.
And if you are in the Bay Area, and you are considering chipping. Let me know and I'll give you a ride, (I may even let you drive) and you can judge a chipped car for yourself.
Everything else on my car is stock, including stock DV, and I haven't had any problems. No CPFs either. I do have an APR exhaust sitting on my floor at home with the words <i>install me</i> written on it, but its going to have to wait until I can find the time. I only run 91 octane, mostly Unocal 76. Racing fuel (100 octane) is not easily available to me and by the time I find 93 in CA, hell will have frozen over.
I did change my oil today (@16,750 mi). Mobil1 5w30, would've preferred 0w40, but I couldn't find it.
No change in how I feel about the chip. Its pretty much all summed in my first post <<A HREF="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/202292.phtml">https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/202292.phtml</A>>. Other than the obvious boost gain with the chip, I haven't noticed any anomolies with my chip. I don't get the vibrations that others have referred to. I've tried several times but I just can't seem to produce the feedback that others have been feeling. The car just seems so much more alive now with chipping. I've stopped noticing the sound of the turbo spinning when accelerating. The best way for me to describe is, "It's like falling in love with your call all over again."
The only thing I can add is a review of mileage (and this is what I seem to get emailed the most about.) To give you a baseline of my driving with the stock chip, I get about 21.9 mpg. This is a mixture of 50/50 city/highway over the last 14 months and 13.5k miles with my car. And my driving style would be casual driving. I would go speed limit +5 on city streets, and 75 on the freeways. Not overly aggressive, but moderate. Nor would I floor the accelerator, just drive like any other casual driver.
When I first got my chip, I wanted to really break it in hard and I was giving the chip a run for its money. With mostly city driving and driving like a bat out of hell (read: wide open throttle (WOT) most of the time), I surely paid for my fun. I would get 14.0 mpg. But I attribute this to mostly not understanding the difference between pressing the accelerator 3/4 and WOT. In terms of delivery of power, I find that giving the car 3/4 throttle I still am able to feel the rush of the added boost over stock, without excessively consuming fuel. So now I drive a little saner, but I do enjoy the added power. Even factoring in my chaotic 14.0 mpg fillup, I've calculated my mileage ever since I got my chip and I've averaged 24.5 mpg. I don't find the need to speed excessively, but I have taken the car up to 125 (flame suit on: an IS300 wanted some APR 1.8T action) and still at those speeds the car feels as smooth as silk. Before I get flamed I'll just have you know, it was an empty freeway, 1 passenger in my car vs. an IS300 with a driver and two passengers and I killed him in a sprint from 70-125, but that is another story.
And if you are in the Bay Area, and you are considering chipping. Let me know and I'll give you a ride, (I may even let you drive) and you can judge a chipped car for yourself.
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02-11-2003, 10:45 PM
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you're getting better gas mileage than i am . . .
are you switching back and forth from stock mode to chip? i did not initially but when the gas jumped to 2.19 a gallon, i started to drive mostly in stock. i'm only in chip mode when i know i'm going to be driving a bit more aggressive. the kicker is, after driving in stock for a few days, i'm re-psyched on the chip because i'm much more sensitive to the added power. . .p.s. you going to KK thursday?
02-11-2003, 10:50 PM
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I don't find the need to drive *as* aggressively as I used to when I was stock.
Hmm... what kinda mileage do you get stock? Hmm.. with FWD I would think uou should be able to get 31 since you don't have the weight and power train handicap of Quattro.
I might not be able to make it to the KK meet this week. I'm a bit overloaded with work this week, but I'll try!
I might not be able to make it to the KK meet this week. I'm a bit overloaded with work this week, but I'll try!