Andy Hedin

I posted this a few months back, but I figured with all the "hoopla" about Garrett's chips, I'd repost for those who didn't catch it the first time. This appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer...and NO, I don't work for Garrett and I'm not even chipped by him (I have a Wetterauer). I just thought someone might enjoy reading it.<p>PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER<br>SUPERCHARGING ENGINES WITHOUT GETTING GREASY <br>Thursday, April 16, 1998<p>Section: TECH.LIFE@INQUIRER<p>Page: F01<p>By David J. Wallace, FOR THE INQUIRER <p>Tires squeal, gravel takes flight, and other drivers notice as <br>the conservative-looking four-door sedan accelerates from a red <br>light. The speedometer needle leaps toward 60 m.p.h. before the car <br>uses up second gear, and a wide smile creases the driver's face. <p>This car is radically different from the mild-mannered new <br>Volkswagen Passat that left the dealer's lot less than 5,000 miles <br>ago. It has more horsepower, quicker acceleration and a faster <br>throttle response, thanks to Garrett Lim. A soft-spoken 29-year-old <br>medical student and part-time "car hacker" in Fairless Hills, Lim <br>transformed the car without picking up a wrench. <p>By rewriting parts of the computer code that controls the auto's <br>"brain," Lim unleashed additional performance that had been toned <br>down by Volkswagen engineers. All the tools he needed were the <br>computer in his spare bedroom, a small machine that burns memory <br>chips, and a soldering iron.<p>Lim is among a growing number of individuals and companies that are <br>hacking the family car.<p>Starting in the late 1970s, carburetors have been replaced by <br>electronic fuel injection, knock sensors, and other computerized <br>controls. So, the shade-tree mechanic has had to get a high-tech <br>education. Computer tuning is primarily aimed at performance cars <br>such as BMWs, Camaros or Porsches. But many cars can be <br>reprogrammed, Lim said.<p>Before you start making plans to change the chips in your Escort to <br>turn it into a pocket rocket, Lim said, you should know that this <br>technology won't work in just any car. Chip-tuning is most <br>frequently useful in high-end European cars with engines that have <br>been electronically limited to meet U.S. emissions and safety <br>standards. Some expensive U.S.-built cars also can benefit from this <br>electronic makeover. <p>"It's a transformed car. It's crazy," said the car's owner with <br>delight. "I'm amazed by the power and why Volkswagen didn't build <br>it this way in the first place. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing."<p>But there are consequences. The owner didn't want to be identified, <br>fearing Lim's adjustments might jeopardize the car's warranty.<p>Also, mechanics who don't know the car has been "chipped" may make <br>misadjustments to the engine. The new chip settings also could cause <br>a car's emissions to fail inspection, heat engine oil beyond safe <br>operating limits, or push the car's speed beyond the suspension and <br>steering needed to control it.<p>All that and more can result from a few lines of rewritten code <br>within the Electronic Control Unit, a silver-color metal box about <br>the size of a paperback that sits under the car's hood. Disconnect <br>the box and the car won't even start.<p>The ECU, which is often encased in a tamper-resistant box and uses <br>encryption to protect it from electronic tampering, contains the <br>car's inner limitations and capabilities. Those limits prevent the <br>engine from revving too fast or the car from accelerating above a <br>maximum miles-per-hour. If the car exceeds those limits, the ECU <br>will know.<p>And it will remember. <p>And it will tell your mechanic the next time he or she checks the <br>ECU. Everything from the temperature to the barometric pressure can <br>affect a car's horsepower, and the ECU can recall those details. On <br>Volkswagens, the ECU can tell when a gas cap was left off after a <br>fill-up and tattle to your mechanic, Lim said.<p>"I'm changing things like the carburetion and timing, the kinds of <br>things you can't do unless you get into the chips," he said. <br>"Timing and fuel is where the power is. That hasn't changed. It's <br>fun and easier to do this than little mechanical fixes. I like <br>acceleration - that's why I got into this."<p>The second-year student at Allegheny University of the Health <br>Sciences medical school has been a frequent visitor to New Jersey's <br>Atco Speedway, taking his 1977 Volkswagen Scirocco out on nights <br>when the public can use the quarter-mile drag strip.<p>Lim's interest in auto chips led to his creation of the Garrett <br>Integrated Automotive Corp., which has rewritten code and shipped <br>chips worldwide for cars ranging from Ferraris to Volvos.<p>Buying a "Garrett chip" costs a few hundred dollars, depending on <br>the car and model. A software kit for creating your own chips is <br>priced at $5,000. Yet Lim said he was not in this to build a <br>business. Most sales have been to individual owners who contact him <br>via e-mail or from his home page. Recently, two West Coast companies <br>specializing in Volkswagen parts signed deals to use his chips.<p>"If $400 gets you 20 horsepower, that's a cheap deal," said John <br>Rose, who owns the Southampton garage where Lim tests his cars. "We <br>have a 1986 Monte Carlo with the owner paying $1,500 for new headers <br>and carburetors, and she's also going to gain unreliability. Because <br>aftermarket stuff can't possibly match the engineering done at the <br>factory."<p>Lim wrote software to monitor a car's performance from a laptop <br>computer that displays acceleration, horsepower, timing and other <br>vital signs. Most new cars have a computer port near the driver's <br>seat for a probe to be used by mechanics. The new Passat has one in <br>the dashboard beneath the steering wheel.<p>"I have to see what the car needs," he said. "There are 64,000 <br>numbers and you have to figure out which codes control what. You <br>also have to know what's going on mechanically with the car."<p>That means some old-fashioned knowledge of fuel-air mixtures that <br>can run too rich or too lean and cause engines to knock. Factory <br>chip settings can handle variations in gas quality or other factors. <br>Aftermarket chips are set for specific cars and drivers, so owners <br>may have to use premium grades of gasoline with higher octane to <br>maintain improved performance. <p>Frank Montgomery said he'd seen only a half-dozen cars with altered <br>chips at Devon Hill Motors, which sells Volkswagens and BMWs. As <br>service manager, he said, he has to break the bad news that <br>aftermarket chips, parts or other tinkering have ruined a car's <br>performance or voided its warranty.<p>Enthusiastic BMW owners have installed chips from Dinan, a Mountain <br>View, Calif., company that reached a deal with the German automaker <br>to offer its own warranty. Devon Hill can sell used BMWs modified by <br>Dinan as long as the dealer informs buyers of the modifications and <br>the differences in performance, Montgomery said.