DoubleA4

I am in the same boat, have an 05' AR tip that is bone stock with 80K on the odometer. Just had the belts changed out and the tech who did the work gave it a good report card so feeling brave and will chip the car.

So, my question is this: most or all chips are developed using a base-line for all AR's however is there a chip out there that can be customized to your specific car/engine as they are all a little different? What does that process look like? I imagine plugging something into my ECU and using the car and then shipping it back for someone to "custom" program the chip...

Does anyone provide this type of chipping?

kierantaylor

I would love to see an answer to this question--- I too am looking to chip but am uncertain as to which solution is best and what the overall cost/process is.

Kieran

Mike B

"Chipping" is not really a replacement of the ECU. In early cars it required an add-on "chip" to store the new program because there wasn't enough memory in the stock ECU to store the additional programming.
At this point in time "chipping" refers to a process where a cable is connected to the car and new programming is downloaded to the ECU ("chip").
I bought my car with 106k on the clock. At 107k, I bought the APR programming.
I love it.

jujuC6

I just got mines a week ago and thinking of doing this in a couple of weeks. Is there any major diffefences between different tunes, ie overall performance? Quality? Bang for Bucks?

DoubleA4

I just had my 05 AR's engine and tranny chipped using GAIC products. The only issue was that the tranny ECU had to be shipped out, soldered onto the existing and returned so it wasn't the quickest. Speaking of quick, HELL YES it makes a difference. I would say its most noticeable on partial throttle though. There is no denying the speed ramps up quick and makes for nice highway passing that will get you in trouble.

I would say that the tune is mild but when coupled with the tranny tune it really does make a big difference to me. I was initially going toward the APR upgrade but was talked out of it as I was interested in more factory levels of smoothness and heard that the APR chip was a bit on the peaky side. This was only what I heard so take it for what it is, second hand info. What I can tell you is that that you cannot go wrong with upgrading your engine tune. Just call the shops that do the tunes and ask them if they have any comparisons to other engine tunes.

When its done, drive it like you stole it.