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4.0T - RaceChip - Piggy Back - REVIEW

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Old 08-21-2016, 08:57 AM
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Default 4.0T - RaceChip - Piggy Back - REVIEW

The review below concentrates on my first 3 weeks of ownership of this product. After the 3rd week the unit started to malfunction and was returned. Please read the entire thread for all relevant information.

Looking at this now it became a bit lengthy, but I wanted to provide my though process how and why I came about this product. Hopefully it will provide others like me with an option for TD1 free power.

We all want power. That’s the reason we don’t drive a Lexus but chose a German forced induction engine instead. Unfortunately that power in its stock form is never enough and what was simple before is made much more complex today with TD1 flag concerns. We can no longer flash our cars’ ECU and rest easy when taking the car in for service. Audi – and for good reason – is now monitoring what we do to our cars by scanning the ECU for changes and counters to see whether it was altered. Honest tuning companies will never promise you that your car will not be TD1 flagged after an ECU was flashed back to ‘stock.’ The answer I got is that Audi can implement a new scanning technique that will expose an ECU flash even when the car’s ECU was reverted to stock. I also read plenty of stories online of cars flashed back to stock yet still flagged with TD1. To me, as someone who still has warranty left, flashing an ECU was no longer an option.

I always knew that the 4.0T engine was special and tuners showed us the engine’s potential in S and RS, but I also knew that much of that potential is also in my A8 4.0T. Since I NEEDED more power, as most people that drive our cars do, the options for modifying became more limited due to TD1. I started to mix my own gas to 95 Octane and got great results (sorry no dyno, but do try it – it really works), but after a few weeks that was also not enough. The car felt consistently strong and never heat soaked, but I knew that I wasn’t getting any ‘extra’ power, I was probably just keeping more of what my car already had.

MTM has always given Audi and other brand owners a Piggy Back (PB) option. PB is something that many criticize here, but also something that works great in Europe / Asia and is actually preferred more there. The issue with MTM in the US currently is their distribution and price. The former does not exist, and if you find one the latter is simply unaffordable for most people – hence not very many reviews, although the ones that have it are very satisfied customers. To be fair, in Germany MTM actually offers warranty for your car which is included in the price, but here in US that warranty is not carried over, but its price plus important tax is, so the unit is unreasonable expensive. I was given a discount and the price was still coming out to around $4,000.00 with no warranties or guaranties. To me it was almost too much, but with a bigger want for power I almost pulled the trigger. I did not end up getting MTM because the install was a bit more than what I was willing to do before and after dealer visits. But the concept of a PB system still stayed buried in my brain. If MTM does this, are there other PB options that may do the job? Maybe not as good of a job as MTM but still an acceptable one?

I decided to try out a few PB systems. The first system I tried was VR Tuned Tuning Box and it almost made me stop trying this all together. The car made some power, but it was strange, not linear and I could tell that something was just off about it. I immediately uninstalled the system. In all honesty I should have never installed it in the first place. I found out that the VR Tuned fabricated their numbers (as I’m sure many tuners do), the unit came in a plastic bag, the wiring harness looked handmade and the instructions were incorrect. This was a bad experience but I decided to give it one more try.

I started doing research on this topic on other online forums that are more technically and mod oriented. No offense, but you guys don’t really talk about modification much here at AudiWorld. I started to look at Chipwerke, many S4 and some S6/7 guys have tried it with fairly good testimonials. However, there wasn’t much real world data and their website did not inspire much confidence. I wasn’t going to try another PB system unless I felt confident enough to do so. I moved on and found a company that other S6/7 owners were talking about – RaceChip. The interesting thing about RaceChip is that the more I looked the more information I found – which I found strange, because I thought I was fairly in tune with ‘what’s out there.’
https://www.racechip-usa.com/

Yes, the name is weird and I normally would not look at it twice just because of the name, but the website seemed legit, descriptions and videos seemed more or less professional, there were tons of information online and on YouTube about it. Try it, look RaceChip up and you will be surprised. Also, it seems like BMW guys really swear by this company (even though they made fun of it at first) with tons in BMW community having dynoed their cars with good results. The price seemed reasonable at around $600 plus they promised me money back (with a restocking fee) if I didn’t like it. This to me was worth to give this PB system a try – and I’m glad I did.


This thing makes POWER everywhere on my A8 4.0T. There are happy S6/7 guys out there with a RaceChip system but we have more TQ in A8 4.0T due to automatic transmission and I think that this system may perform better in our A8 4.0T cars than in S6/7 with dual clutch transmissions. I could not believe my first ride, I was literally floored. I expected another fail and instead I not only felt a tons more power but every time the boost kicked in I could literally see the front end of my car raise up. I intentionally held off from writing this because I felt that I should drive the car longer to see if there was anything negative about this product.

Pros:

1. Easy order process and Emails kept coming updating me with the order status.
2. Pricing is very reasonable with money back with 20% restocking fee (for now). A8 4.0T: https://www.racechip-usa.com/chiptun...-0-TFSI-320kw/
3. German TUV certified.
4. Packaging and install seems professional and the harness kit along with the device seems to be well constructed.
5. Power is adjustable, but I found default settings for our car to be just perfect.
6. Install was too easy! Our A8 engine bays have just the right area for this system. See pic below and please excuse the dirty engine bay.
7. Tons of more power and torque! I honestly think at times it is too much for our cars at full throttle. I find myself using brakes much harder.
8. The power delivery at part or mid throttle in Auto (Non S) is perfect.
9. The lag is drastically reduced and gear 1 is silly.
10. 3rd gear pulls are amazing. Let’s just say that I never topped out a 3rd gear yet at full throttle for safety reasons.
11. I did not dyno the car with before and after, I just don’t have time. BUT, I know the car is faster and runs stronger than the 2014 M5 Performance I drove (however it does not shift better). My brother with his 650HP GT500 was amazed and I honestly feel like the A8 puts down the power stronger – could be AWD. This Piggy Back system has made more difference than the flash in my Cayenne Turbo or the flash on my S600 V12TT. Everyone I let drive the car just could not believe the transformation and my wife is now reluctant to drive with me because the torque makes her stomach uneasy.

Cons:

1. I honestly believe that if the car’s ECU was flashed the car would accelerate smoother. I will try to explain.
2. On full throttle, especially on Sport mode the gear changes are rougher with this device installed. I don’t know if it is the boost coming down and then back up, but it is noticeably harder shifts. Some make actually like this. I know that S6/7 guys complain about shifting even when ECU is flashed, so this maybe just the nature of 4.0T tuning.
3. In Sport Mode at full throttle I find that the shift lag between 1 and 2 is quite pronounced and hard. Again, I don’t know why.
4. Sport mode in general is a rougher ride than before the PB install. A lot of power build up and the up and down in power is felt through the shifts.
5. You will have to relearn throttle application and at what point the car makes power because the boost onset is not very linear, especially in Sport mode.
6. My Tesla P90D is still faster =)

Conclusion:

Sorry for the long write up, but as some here may know my quest was to find serious power for our cars and avoid TD1 flag has gone on for some time now. This product is the answer and I wanted to take you guys through the process of how I came about it. The pros seriously outweigh the cons and I will be keeping this product for sure. I don't know if it makes the advertised peak HP and TQ, but in the mid RPM range I suspect it is very close to that. The gains are well within 75-100 HP / TQ based on my experience with modifying cars. 3 weeks later and I am still amazed by it. I don’t know how much my 95 Octane gas makes all this work better. I hope that those of you looking for serious power have a chance to check it out and enjoy it as much as I have. I will update this thread if anything else comes up with me using RaceChip Piggy Back system. This product seems to be also available for 3.0T and S8, but I don't know how it works in those cars.

P.S. I know that some videos are cheesy... but it gives you and idea how this works, and since it works that is all that matters.

Attached Thumbnails 4.0T - RaceChip - Piggy Back - REVIEW-img_3570.jpg  

Last edited by DirtyVegasTT; 09-03-2016 at 09:26 AM.
Old 08-21-2016, 10:10 AM
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Well, we all appreciate the write up. I'd be curious to see if the TD1 flag has been defeated or if it rears it's ugly head as I've heard rumors of, even with piggy back tunes. I wouldn't want to wish you the kind of trouble that would require to find out, though. Enjoy it, and I hope it brings you lots of trouble free grins. And you're right, when the option of more power exists, you need it.
Old 08-22-2016, 07:31 AM
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Thanks for the write up! I haven't found a need for more power yet but I've only had the car for a week and a half. In the future I may look at something like this. Most likely I'll just hold out until the warranty is up and then have it tuned.

Please let us know if any problems arise in the future. In the mean time enjoy! A land yacht with this much power is so much fun!
Old 08-22-2016, 11:21 AM
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Well, it's ironic that I just wrote about this yesterday and yesterday the car was pulling exceptionally strong. Don't know why. Anyhow, I think that it may have been tripped into limp mode because I stopped getting boost while the car was in Auto. What's interesting is that in Sport mode the boost was there. There were no alarms or messages from on-board computer. After I turned the car off and then back on everything was good. As I said earlier the car has too much power for my taste at this point and I think I will adjust the RaceChip settings to turn it down some. I'll keep updating this.

Last edited by DirtyVegasTT; 08-22-2016 at 11:35 AM.
Old 08-22-2016, 06:54 PM
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Strange. Car went into a limp mode again today. 2nd day in the row, but this time with a check engine light. I do not know why all of the sudden this is happening. Got an email out to tech support.

In the meantime unistalled the unit and the limp mode is now gone, but the check engine light is still on. I will clear it with Vag-Com and since I'm getting a new gas tank it has to go in for service anyway. So, I will know what my service tells me after they service the car for the new tank. Hopefully by then I would have heard back from RaceChip support for less aggressive settings. I will then put the unit back an and see if that will clear up the limp mode issue that I just started to encounter.

All this said, driving around with this unit removed made me realize that RaceChip added very noticeable power, but the car is back to being much smoother as well. Trade offs and trial and error I guess...
Old 08-22-2016, 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted by DirtyVegasTT
Strange. Car went into a limp mode again today. 2nd day in the row, but this time with a check engine light. I do not know why all of the sudden this is happening. Got an email out to tech support.

In the meantime unistalled the unit and the limp mode is now gone, but the check engine light is still on. I will clear it with Vag-Com and since I'm getting a new gas tank it has to go in for service anyway. So, I will know what my service tells me after they service the car for the new tank. Hopefully by then I would have heard back from RaceChip support for less aggressive settings. I will then put the unit back an and see if that will clear up the limp mode issue that I just started to encounter.

All this said, driving around with this unit removed made me realize that RaceChip added very noticeable power, but the car is back to being much smoother as well. Trade offs and trial and error I guess...
Thanks for the updates, until I hear what your dealer says I am going to sit on the sidelines on this one. I hope it all works out for you!
Old 08-22-2016, 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by DirtyVegasTT
Strange. Car went into a limp mode again today. 2nd day in the row, but this time with a check engine light. I do not know why all of the sudden this is happening. Got an email out to tech support.

In the meantime unistalled the unit and the limp mode is now gone, but the check engine light is still on. I will clear it with Vag-Com and since I'm getting a new gas tank it has to go in for service anyway. So, I will know what my service tells me after they service the car for the new tank. Hopefully by then I would have heard back from RaceChip support for less aggressive settings. I will then put the unit back an and see if that will clear up the limp mode issue that I just started to encounter.

All this said, driving around with this unit removed made me realize that RaceChip added very noticeable power, but the car is back to being much smoother as well. Trade offs and trial and error I guess...
Given you're starting to see these issues, I thought you may want to see this thing I found from a guy who used Race Chip on his turbo Mini Cooper. It's a long read, but it details the progression long term of running with the product.

Racechip
Old 08-22-2016, 09:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Jack88
Given you're starting to see these issues, I thought you may want to see this thing I found from a guy who used Race Chip on his turbo Mini Cooper. It's a long read, but it details the progression long term of running with the product.

Racechip
Yeah man... maybe, but many happy BMW guys with much newer cars in the same time so who knows?

Here is a 31 Page thread of happy BMW guys:

RaceChip Ultimate discussion thread

I found out that S6/7 guys have had their cars go into limp mode with ChipWerke and RaceChip. It's just so strange that it started happening now literally 3 weeks after the install and on the day after I wrote this review. I should have never written it and kept it a secret! J/K

Well, I'll play it by ear. This is the only thing I will do for power as I will not flash my ECU. I will give it one more fair shot after some setting adjustments.

I should just suck it up and buy an S8 Plus, but I don't want to pay the new car premium... must wait...

Last edited by DirtyVegasTT; 08-22-2016 at 10:13 PM.
Old 08-22-2016, 09:19 PM
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To bad to hear latest experience. You had me half sold yesterday. And I was following your experience on AZ too, so knew you went this way. After the hide the ball show that is surrounding the VR Tuned box you also posted on there and gave up on. I thought about that one some and when you first bit I figured finally a serious, educated user. Until you returned it and then the imprimatur vanished...

FWIW, my instinct on some of your experience with tranny shifting is that sort of sounds like they tuned it for an S6/S7 7 speed type set up rather than ZF 8 speed. No surprise with a lot more sales volume there than small/sleepy D4 A8 market. Actually with an S8, I made a mental note that it might be more workable since no matter if they set it up for an RS7 or an S8, it would be ZF8. Your newest reports have me hitting pause button though. May just stay paused though whole CPO window to APR or unitronic type ideas, esp. since at S8 level stock even pre plus power levels are already pretty silly in any rational everyday sane use.

Keep us apprised; definitely following here--or AZ for any serious posts. AZ C7 board that is, which you didn't mention specifically. D4 board here is more lively than any others that are D4 specific. D era board is very dead and not even broken out by generation on AZ. QW unfortunately has almost only tumbleweeds (and SPAM ads) blowing though. I watch C7 S6 and S7 and RS 7 board here some too, but not a lot on tuning on those either. Sometimes as these things age the posts get past the colors and wheels and percent discount new car stuff, and D4 board here is already turning that corner with mix now of first and second owners.

Last edited by MP4.2+6.0; 08-22-2016 at 09:46 PM.
Old 08-22-2016, 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0
To bad to hear latest experience. You had me half sold yesterday. And I was following your experience on AZ too, so knew you went this way. After the hide the ball show surrounding the VR Tuned box you also posted on there and gave up on; I thought about that one some and when you first bit I figured finally a serious, educated user. Until you returned it when the imprimatur vanished...

FWIW, my instinct on some of your experience with tranny shifting is that sort of sounds like they tuned it for an S6/S7 7 speed type set up rather than ZF 8 speed. Actually with an S8, I made a mental note that it might be more workable since no matter if they set it up for an RS7 or an S8, it would be ZF8. Your newest reports have me hitting pause button though. May just stay paused though whole CPO window to APR, esp. since at S8 level stock even pre plus power levels are already pretty silly in any rational everyday sane use.
Yeah man, in your case I wouldn't really mess with it. You have the best car out there and there is no reason to alter anything. Most mods - as you know - do not really make things better in the long run. Sometimes I should listen to my own advice, but like I said, I will give this an honest final try after my service.

As for the tranny, I don't know how this system would control or do anything with it since it doesn't really plug into anything that controls the transmission, so I can't see it being setup for one transmission or another. But I could be wrong...

Last edited by DirtyVegasTT; 08-22-2016 at 10:11 PM.


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