RM

As many of you may know I have made some past comments or reports about the APR chips that I purchased. I was not totally happy with the chips and returned them. The people with APR were very nice to deal with, I just wasn't happy with the smoothness of the chips. I was offered a free upgrade but refused and ordered the MTM chips. I have only put about 25 miles so far on the car using the MTM chips but I feel very good about the chips at this point. My initial impression is smoother and faster. I know they are smoother, and they feel faster but this is just seat of the pants. I will try to post some more numbers in the next couple of days. I will run the same 2000 to 4000 rpm times in 6th gear and the 1500 to 5000 rpm times in 3rd. I am still on the same tank of gas as I was using with the APR chips and it will be a comparison of chips used in the same car. I know it will not be a totally accurate test but I will try to be as accurate and honest as humanly possible. Also if I notice any glitches in the MTM chips I will report that also, but I haven't felt any yet.

The reasons I returned the APR chips was due to the smoothness of the chips. Also I felt like the chips were doing different things in similar situations. Sometimes I would expect boost to come on and it would not feel the same as before. Also when doing the 2000 to 4000 run(and at other times) the engine felt like it would lose power for brief intervals, maybe for 1/2 sec or so, maybe less. I would notice this at 2 or three different points between these rpm ranges.
I think this 2000 to 4000 rpm range is a good test for smoothness because the boost is maxed out for a longer interval. I did not notice it in first or second gear at all.

I talked to APR about this problem and they were very helpful and easy to reach(Hoppen is not always easy to reach). They suggested I might have some bad fuel(Exxon premium) and to try some octane boost, which I did with no improvement in performance. This is why I mentioned I am still running the same fuel. I have approx 1/2 tank of this fuel left in the car with the octane boost.

The other problem I felt with the APR chip was when winding through first and second and shifting to third. The power delivery did not feel linear. It was still fast in third but the power delivery felt a little flatter. I've only made a couple of runs with the MTM chips but I did not feel this with the MTM chips.

I will do a follow up on the MTM chips in a few days when I have some numbers and a few more miles of experience with these chips.

Scott W

Look forward to it. Why not stay up all night, call in sick tomorrow & post results then? ;-)

Brett- APR

We definitely feel with this latest revision that our chip is as good, if not better, than the MTM chip in every category. I wish RM had the opportunity to compare this chip with his current chip. He was one of the very few people with the first revision. Of course, all updates are free.

We would be happy to participate in an independent chip comparison between our chip and any competitors chip.

Brett
APR

Jim De Arras

He's got my MTM chip at the moment, while I go through break-in. He had no bias going in, I don't think, and has no "invested" interest.

Adam

posted on your site? Why have the customers that purchased your first version not notified of the second version?

Adam
APRed S4

jerry v

Thanks....I'm looking forward to these results too.

Stephen/APR

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johnj

I have a APR chip in my S4 and I'm not experiencing the same problems you were-it's smooth through all ranges-do you know how to drive turbo's?

John
00S4

Another Drew

Obviously, since it's a turbo the power doesn't come on linear to the throttle position ( no matter how light the turbo's are). If you want linear power, you have to let off the throttle as you move up in rpms.

The MTM chip, by seat of the pants and by hearing, seems to have three main bands of power. 1) from a coast and then throttle on, you there's a short pause as the turbos wind up and you start pulling.

2) Now that the turbos are at full boost, the pull suddenly increases and it stays pretty linear. Up to now, it's very similar to stock chip.

3) The pull suddenly pulls even more, and you hear the sandblaster exhaust. More like afterburners.

You go through those three different powerbands in about two to three seconds. Just anticipate them coming and you should be ok.

Anybody in the DC area getting or have the APR ECU?

RM

Sometimes I have trouble explaining exactly what I mean. Once you come on boost and take every gear close to redline the rpms drop back but the car is still under full boost in the next gear. With the APR chip I felt like third gear should have been stronger.

As you progress through the gears the acceleration is less with each shift. This progression of less acceleration should feel fairly linear, at least in the first three gears.