Haggistrap

Hi All

Has anyone had there Impreza Turbo chipped??

Do they give an instant power boost, or is it all hype?

Also are there any downsides to them eg use more fuel, risk trashing the engine??

Cheers

Adam M

suggest you forget the idea of chipping, and have a look in drivetrain, or do a search on ecus or chipping on bbs.22b.com.

Chip

Somebody call?

LEE P

Hoody

be warned about chips they are usually a mass produced iteam which can cause more damage than good.
The main thing to watch is the fueling if you do install a chip have it checked on a dyno to make sure everything is within its limitations .
My opinoin would be Gems or Possum Link as it is customised to suit your car.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Probably the safest chip that you can get for a uk turbo has to be the PPP chip, its proven and is the only chip that IM warranty.
On the other hand, you could go for either the Gems or for the Link chips, both are over 1k (14-1600 quid in most cases) but give you better tuning opportunities later, where as the PPP chip (with performance pack) will increase the value of your car (no other chip does!!).
If you want to go to the extremes then the Motec ecu is the one to have, very expensive (2k plus) but also the one for big power mods
Superchips have a bit of a reputation on scoobs, they have a tendancy to remove the safety, cheapest chip you can probably get though but there have been a few blown engines with them, then again there are people who run them even now with no problems (fit one at your own risk though! engines aint cheap!)

Tony

DJNormski

Go on, chip it!!!
IMHO, steer clear of piggy back chips such as Superchips!

Fixed map chips:
>PPP is the safest fixed map chip.
>EcuTek TEK1 and TEK2 are the newest fixed map chip, safety...TBE?

Map-able chips (SAFETY is dependant upon who has mapped it!):
>Unichip, work well.
>EcuTek TEK3 newest.
>Link, proven that they work very well (I am not bias )
>Gems, not widely used but I believe work well.
>Motec, work very well, but pricey and fiddly to map?
>Pectel, as above!

Fixed map will give some gains, remap-able chips will give you better gains especially if you are considering other mods such as breathing, intercooler, fuelling etc.

Jacko.

john banks

Tek 2 is cheaper than the current Superchip price!

rjw686

I've just had a ecutek 2 chip fitted and the performance is much improved.

scottdg

Improve your airflow first with decent air filter/induction kit and de-cat the x-zorst, then get an HKS SS BOV and an ECUTEK stage 1, if that's not enough go for the stage 2, and finally, beef your brakes up to handle the extra va va voom.

Worked for me. I run the car every day, do 30K mls a year and have total reliability. All the above saw a power increase from 232 to 258 then to 268bhp.


The drivability of the car has been totally transformed by the ECUTEK upgrade

Well chuffed!

PING

Haggistrap,

What age is your car?

Steve

Haggistrap

car is a S reg 1998, its the estate version.....

paul corrigan

no dont do it there are far better and safer ways to do it
it will end in tears

Haggistrap

I note even my local subaru dealer has a 're mapped ecu' package to give power gains. Is this any different form a third party chip?

LEE P

Well ill let you know when mine goes pop!

Runs lurvely at the mo! well itt didi when i switched it off 10 mins ago

PING

Haggistrap,

I too have a wagon (2000) and went through the same questions as you. I considered a Superchip - easy and cost effective. Put a thread up and had a torrent of ''Don't do its'' with good argument to support!

I've recently had the ECU remapped (as opposed to adding / replacing a chip) by ECUTEK - added muchos torque and as a result rather large grins when accelerating.
However their work is aimed at cetain ECU's (800/801 and 802's)only which I think (not too sure though) are only in 99 /2000 vehicles. If you view their site www.ecutek.co.uk, it shows pictures of these ECU's - it may be worth having a look at yours, just to make sure.

Another option of course is to see your Scooby dealer who can relieve of nearly 2k and send your car to Prodrive for their performance package - It's expensive, but must be safe as Subaru accept it under warranty!

Alternatively, you could play with your exhaust to gain earlier turbo spool up and torque increases and as a byproduct improve the sound of the car!

Sorry if this is all old hat, but hopefully something may help here - email me offline if you wish.

Steve

C h a z

Had mine chipped five weeks ago. No problems. Huge fun 263bhp 240 ft/lb torque. I would advise decat the zorst and improved air induction first though. IMHO problems relating to superchipping scoobs seem to be related to import WRX's.

ustolemyname??stevieturbo

iTrader: (1)

Steer clear of the chips, unless you are eating them. Subaru dealers will all sell the prodrive gear..with manufactureers warranty. But for power, go for a good replacement ecu, and with the right mapping, you will have power, adjustability for future mods, and most of all, peace of mind....
From reading here, while the ecutek sounds good, a few of you seem to have blown engines with this or similar products fitted by these people. Have I misread?

Haggistrap

thanks for all the info, as usual still not sure what to do....think I will go see my local Subaru dealer as get there advice...

LEE P

Well my experience of thee chip has been good so far!

my cars total mileage is 43500 on a MY00 and its run the chip for the last 10000 miles and a trackday to boot!

The car it came off had run it for 15000 miles no probs with mine or his and i drive mine quite hard.

Fuel consuption is a actually better as i dont have to rev it as much and it pulls better lower down.

all in all im happy with it and i know the risks but ive forgotten its been done and drive it as normal!

17 psi peak and 16 psi held thats enough for me!

Lee