differences between 150 and 180bhp B5's

[Oranoco]

Is it really as simple as raised boost? What other components differ? Could I use an ECU from a 180bhp car and the chip that or even fit a chip designed for a 180bhp car into my 150? I can't say I'm overly worried about the turbo as if it dies I'll upgrade it just don't want to shaft the engine. Only really thinking aloud at the moment but these ideas buzz about my mind of an evening

 

[ian52]

Same engine and turbo. Dont think the ecu will be of any use. Sure my car is immo 3 with the quattro sports being near the end of the b5 run.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Yeah probably. Double check the injectors are the same, that aside everything else bar the factory boost level should be the same. Give you an example......
Saab 9000 cs / saab 9000 lpt. The only difference on these two cars is the boost levels. One (the lpt or low pressure turbo has a garrett t25 and runs at 8 psi. The other (cs or full pressure turbo) has a mitsubishi TDO4 15g (similar to a scooby) and runs at 13.2 psi. The cs is 225 bhp and the lpt is 163 bhp. EVERYTHING else component wise is the same. All thats needed is a tD04 and a remap of the lpt's ecu and its then the same as the cs. It really wouldnt suprise me if the 150bhp audi and the 180bhp one were pretty much the same the lpt and cs.....Just make sure the fuel system i.e. Injectors are the same.

 

[Oranoco]

Cool, will give my Superchips buddy a ring later and see if he fancies some time out with his wideband in exchange for some cash.

 

[aragorn]

Yep the AJL is identical to the AEB.

What boost pressure are you running just now?

 

[Oranoco]

12psi at present

 

[aragorn]

12 psi is default for an AJL, so i'd assume your making about 180hp at the moment!

You can probably go upto 15-16psi without too much worry.

 

[Oranoco]

Yep 181 last time I dyno'd it.

Mate of mine is a Superchips agent so might go and bend his ear and see what we can come up with. He chipped the car originally for me anyway so hopefully he'll be up for a play. Are the AJL cars DBW though?

 

[aragorn]

Nop, AJL's are cable throttle just like the AEB.

Instead of messing around, see if hes got a map for an AJL and see if your ECU will boot from it. You cant really "tweak" the B5 ECU's very easily, as they're not flashable. You'd have to change the program, burn to a chip, fit the chip to the ECU, then test it. If it wasnt right you;d need to edit it and reburn/fit/test.

 

[Oranoco]

Well I belled him on the way home and he's up for a play with this but has concerns over the turbo as I'm on the K03 rather than the K03s. This is begining to look like it might be doable

 

[voteforpedro]

Well I belled him on the way home and he's up for a play with this but has concerns over the turbo as I'm on the K03 rather than the K03s. This is begining to look like it might be doable

I thought AJLs didn't have the so-called K03s, so it shouldn't matter?

 

[ian52]

They dont. I think they just chip the AJL to run more boost. Mine is 1 bar i think.

 

[aragorn]

Yep the only cars that have a "real" k03s are 190hp B6 engines.

Late 150hp DBW B5's have a slightly bigger k03, but still not really an "S"

 

[Oranoco]

So I should just be able to get a chip done with the AJL prog and away we go? Hmmmmmm

 

[aragorn]

As long as the ECU will boot the AJL program, yes.

Depends on the age of your ECU compared with the AJL one. If yours is the later M3.2 type it will probably work. If its the early M7 type it most likely wont.

 

[Oranoco]

Mines a 96 on a P. Anything on the ECU to help identify as it's only a few moments work to pop the ECU out

 

[aragorn]

It'll be an M7 then

He might be able to extract the maps from an ajl rom and merge them with the rom you have, however i've heard that the physical IC used in the old M7 is no longer available and its a write-once chip so you need a new one for each change.

Alternatively, you could fit a later loom and ajl ecu, then use a normal AJL remap.

 

[audinary]

What's the best way to determine whether you have this M3.2 ecu?

Also, and revisiting N00bville here, how best can I determine how much boost I'm making? Is it somewhere in VAGCOM (freeware version)?

Occasionally my laptop and the car get on ok, but I don't seem to be very good at it. I'm pretty keen on checking a few things like the MAF etc.

 

[aragorn]

You need a boost guage to monitor the boost, the AEB doesnt have a boost sensor, it works solely on MAF. Alternatively you can log peak MAF and work out the power output and then guess the approx boost from that.

Best way to find out which ecu you have is to open the plenum box and look. The M3 style has two large plugs with metal levers on them. M7 style has 5 small individual plugs. They're also a differnt shape, the M7 is a squared off box, M3 is flatter and more rounded.

 

[audinary]

Thought that might be the case. Cheers chap.

I'm still going to try and get VAGCOM up and running this weekend, it suddenly occurred to me that, while my car feels like it's running fine, I've never actually driven a 1.8t which has been confirmed as running right. I might suddenly find that, with a tweak here and a fettle there my car is transformed..

From Chris the optimist.