S3 Modding Within Warranty Restrictions

[ClassicStorm 0]

Guys,

 

Due to my lack of 1.8T 20v knowledge I am posting this with the hope of someone being able to help! One of my mates has bought a 5K miled S3 (225bhp) 03 plate and wants to play with it a bit modding wise without invalidating his Audi Warranty. He has a A3 1.8T Quattro at the moment which hegot super-chipped and he is thinking of doing the same to the S3 along with a few other bits....

 

Any advice would be much appreciated and rough prices,if there are any things that you would defo not do then that would be useful too!

 

Cheers

 

John

[Kevin Bacon 5]

My mate with his Cupra R is in the same boat. SEAT will only maintain the warranty if he uses their factory approved Oettinger ECU work, which costs £1500 :!: and will give him 260bhp (from 210). If he uses a Jabba chip which allegedley gives him 280, then SEAT won't want to know.

 

I would imagine Audi would want to push their own stupidly priced 'official' conversion too.

 

K

[dazzyvr6 0]

just found this on awesomes site

All APR chip upgrades use encryption, which serve several purposes. First, it keeps prying eyes out of our software and prevents lesser companies from copying the chip and degrading the product. Secondly, the encryption prevents the dealer from flash programming the ECU. Also, all APR software is undetectable to a dealers VAG diagnostic tool.

so his warranty SHOULD be ok with an apr chip

[ClassicStorm 0]

I know that Audi were fine with reference to the Warranty with the superchip he had done to his old motor...many thanks for the info though guys.

 

Anymore,anyone?!

 

John

[vr6storm 0]

Pm ess_three from this forum as he is pretty knowledgable when it comes to S3's.........give him a few days to get back to you tho......as he's on his way off-shore today :wink:

[Ess Three 0]

You rang?

 

All this B.S about re-maps being undetectable by the dealer is exactly that...pure B.S. Pure fiction.

All you have to do is hook up a VAG 1551 or VAG-com and look at the requested boost...if it says 2300mb or so, it's chipped...if it says 1100 ish, it's not.

Mine is APR code...and I can tell it's there...and i'm no Audi Tech!

 

I can do it and tell straight away...and have been able to do so on each and every chipped 1.8T I've tried it on...so I'm damn sure the dealer will be able to tell, if they choose to look.

At that point your mate's warranty on anything Audi decide is related to the 'chip' is invalid.

 

That being said, things like MAF sensors and Coil Packs - which go on them - are not direcly related to the re-map, so you should be OK.

I've had the Coil Pack recall done under warranty, and 2 MAFs changed under warranty whilst being re-mapped.

I don't think I could swing a knackered turbo or bent con-rods though!

 

It's a risk...yes. But one that I was happy to take...I've had mine well tweaked for over 2 years now and had no related problems.

 

As for power:

Jabbasport = 280BHP...dream on!

On a standard ECU and injectors, the injectors max out at around 275-280 BHP...that is to say they simply cannot flow enough fuel to deliver that sort of power and the 'injector on' times are constantly on at high revs, so the solenoids are not getting the chance to switch off before being asked to switch back on...not god.

 

280 BHP from an S3 will involve cats, exhaust, airbox, IC mods (probably a FMIC as the astandard ICs are crap) and a lot of boost...I run way more than a simple chip will allow (about 1.2-1.3 bar @ 6000) and I'm not even close to 280 BHP...maybe just over 270, but certainly not 280. The little K04 simply cannot move enough air at high revs to make big power when using a standard managememt system.

 

Change to Motec, or DTA or similar and you may get it...

 

Regardless of this...don't be caught up in the world of silly power claims or silly rolling road print outs...look for a reputable tuner offering decent power and torque gains and no horror stories. This, to me, means either AmD or APR....and maybe REVO is you are prepared to be sensible with the boost settings!

...and don't believe every rolling road print out you see!