Chipstar

[CoxyLaad 0]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for a VR corrado to start my new project. (but that is another story)

I am currently have a mk2 golf VR6 as a runabout.

I was quite disgusted when I bought it because it appeared to have the alarm brain tie wrapped to the underside of the eibach strut brace which I couldnt honestly believe.

Anyway I took 10 minutes this morning to relocate it when I realised that it is not an alarm but infact a ChipStar piggy back ECU.

It was totally disconnected.

 

question 1.

Does anyone know if these are any good? is it worth wiring up?

 

question 2.

Has anyone got one fitted to their VR? did it make a difference? I am toying with the idea of supercharging my project VR (when I get it) and wondered if I coulf utilise this little beastie.

 

The only reason I can think of for it being disconnected is that the engine has had a set of cams installed to it and they have ben removed before the car was sold, which would mean the chipstar would be fueling incorrectly.

 

Any thoughts on this would be welcome

 

Ta

 

Ian

[Corrado31 0]

Double-edged answer coming up:

 

I had the Chipstar fitted by Stealth on my old C VR6. Immediate and very noticeable improvement in low-to-mid range throttle response. The only other horsepower-type mods were a Scorpion exhaust system and BMC air filter (no snorkel airfeed).

From memory, the stats were as follows (I can look up exact figures):

Pre-chip and BMC kit: 194bhp, 182lb/ft torque

Post-chip and BMC kit: 202bhp, 199lb/ft torque.

I.e, it's the torque increase that really improves the drive.

 

HOWEVER, after a few months I started getting flat spots and total engine cutouts in dangerous situations. VW tried everything and finally disconnected the piggyback chip to run ECU tests. Hey presto, the problem was gone. So I was a bit disillusioned!

 

Vince at Stealth gave me a refund with no problems at all and said it was v unusual for the chips to go back like that.

 

Conclusion: Generally speaking they are a great mod. The piggyback manufacturers market their chips as easily reversed. But on some cars the replacement ECU chips are push in-pull out anyway, so it's up to you.

 

If you are within range of Warwickshire, give Stealth a call. I'm not sure about the supercharging angle or cams. Usually they tweak the chip (with your car on a rolling road) to suit the exact car and existing mods, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.