Is it worth chipping my S3?

[seechim]

I've been running a 2000 model Audi S3 for about 6 months now. I adore the car; engine is brilliant, turbo pulls hard, quattro grips hard etc.

There is a strange drop in power in 5th/6th gear - as boost is building up from about 2,000rpm, the pull gets stronger and at 3,000rpm drops off somewhat only to pick up again 100-200rpm later. Can anyone enlighten me on this?

I've contacted a few ECU remap comapanies who all tell me their ECU upgrades are the best etc. One i've found (I think it was REVO) claim to up the power from 210 to 255bhp.

Is this safe for my car? Will I shorten the life of it? By the mere fact that the car is designed to take 210bhp, is 255 pushing the limits of strain on the drivetrain? I don't want it to exaggerate the power-drop problem.

Finally, as people claim there is an extra few mpg to be saved when driven normally - can this be vouched for by anyone?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

[vixpy1]

This is the one to go for:

www.amdtechnik.com/products.variant.cfm?variantid=27


Ignore all the claims for most companies, the remaps will mostly give exactly the same increase, the companies just claim more.

[waynepixel]

I have had a Revo re-map on my Golf GTI 1.8 Turbo and was amazed at the performance of the car. The car as standard has 150-Bhp, after Revo, 212-Bhp. The car is fantastic to drive and great fun. Worth every penny.

[angrys3owner]

I haven't had my car remapped by AmD but they did replace my engine, I'd probably recommend them for any work you need however consider all the options - Revo, Jabba, Custom code, MRC etc they all give around the same power 250 - 270 depending on what you believe and may be closer / more what you need.

The hesitation is probably the AMM (Air Mass Meter or MAF) this records the ammount of air flowing from the airbox to turbo and is quite a common fault. It's about £80 for an exchange from a dealer, it could be a coilpack starting to go, but I would expect more issues than what you describe.

Over on Audi-sport.net there are loads of owners that have been running remapped cars for a long time without any issues relating to the remap. Think tyresmoke also has a lot more info on S3s.

edited to add: I also know a few people in "real" life that have said on motorways etc. the MPG has gone up post remap however if thrashed goes down.

Edited by angrys3owner on Tuesday 29th August 13:15

[seechim]

Thanks for the replies lads.

angrys3owner - A couple of years ago in my car's life, it had the Mass Airflow meter changed. The symptom last time was apparently no power in 2nd gear.

Is it an Audi-only job or DIY?

Forgive my ignorance - coil packs, what are they? I've heard they go on many VAG turbo cars in early life - I would have assumed they'd been replaced before.

[angrys3owner]

seechim said:

angrys3owner - A couple of years ago in my car's life, it had the Mass Airflow meter changed. The symptom last time was apparently no power in 2nd gear.

Is it an Audi-only job or DIY?

When it went on my car it caused a sort of surge, it'd be doing nothing even with foot flat on the floor then acceleration like normal all of a sudden, it's easy to do yourself if your happy enough removing a few screws and a jubilee clip - it sits on the engine side of the airbox with a connector sticking out if you want to have a look.

seechim said:

Forgive my ignorance - coil packs, what are they? I've heard they go on many VAG turbo cars in early life - I would have assumed they'd been replaced before.

Coilpacks are the replacement from the old single coil, there is on your engine a coil that fires each sparkplug rather that one big coil. if you take the engine cover off you'll see them right on the top of your engine to the back.

They are a common fault and even after the recall as with the MAF / AMM they will fail again with age / sods law.

[911JUS]

i had my old 210bhp s3 revo'd and it was fantastic well well worth it.

think i paid about £450 about 2 years ago

J

[RacingTeatray]

You'll know if a coilpack fails - it sounds terrible - loud clattering noise from the engine. Very easy fix though - just slot a new one in, once you've identified the culprit. Although I had all four done on my old A3 TQ just to be sure.

[monkeyhanger]

Coilpacks are easy to diagnose.

Remove them 1 at a time. Removing a good coil will make the engine even rougher. When you remove one and the engine stays the same, you've found the little bugger

[angrys3owner]

However the coilpacks sometimes don't fail totally for a while, before mine went totally I had a little surging / hesitation at high engine speeds and it was the coilpack.