Chiptuning
There's a lot of myth surrounding chip changes some people claim huge power increases some claim virtually none but enhanced driveability, some claim loss of reliability while others claim increased fuel efficiency, here's my views on the subject ...
I bought a BBR Starchip for my car just over 3 years ago and fitted it myself, this isn't a job I'd recommend to anyone unless you have some printed circuit board skills and are a dab hand with a soldering iron. If you're ok with electronics it shouldn't be a problem though with the only difficulty being that the chip is soldered directly into the ECU board which means it must be de-soldered and removed before a socket can be installed allowing easier chip changes. The instructions were clear though and easy to follow and the kit consisted of no more than a chip, a couple of resistors and a couple of capacitors. The ECU must first be removed from under the drivers side of the dash and once disconnected the lid is unclipped ready for surgery !
Once surgery was complete with the old chip replaced with a DIL (Dual in-line) socket and new chip i enthusiastically re-fitted the ECU and started the car, it started without problem and i allowed the car to idle up to working temperature before going for a blast ! How did it go ? Well more of that later ...
How does it work ?
The principle of chip changes is that the engine fuelling characteristics are controlled by what is essentially a computer on most modern vehicles. The chip stores a matrix of values which tell the computer how to feed the engine with fuel and air under various conditions such as revs and load. This matrix is called a 'map'. When the car manufacturer establishes just what those values in the map are to be they have to take into account the various countries within the marketplace that the car will be sold to and therefore also differences in fuel quality and climate. For this reason the manufacturers will set the chip up with a conservative set of values which will allow mass production and more importantly acceptable reliabilty and emissions.
By re-mapping the chip it is possible to squeeze more power and better driveability from the engine, this is the concept. On turbo cars the chip also controls the turbo and it is therefore possible to get vary large power gains by changing the chip so that the turbo can run more pressure, the down-side to this being a loss in long term reliability unless other upgrades are considered. Some chip makers allow rolling road tuners to fit a programmable chip to the car, then by modem send the data for your car to the chip makers HQ who will in-turn provide a set of optimum values for your actual car which are then 'blown' onto the chip. This obviously costs more but is a much better option with a tailored map setup for your car.
So how did my car go ?
Well basically i will say that in the 3+ years that i have had the chip installed I have experienced absolutely no loss of reliability. I have struggled to meet MOT emissions though, that's easily remedied with mixture adjustment. I had the car rolling road tuned after 'chipping' and it wasn't really pushing out more power than before, BUT the engine is super driveable, all flat spots removed, revvy and free right to the red-line (and beyond) totally different and probably worth the effort for the cash.