Declaring a chipped diesel

[DMitch]

Hi,

I have a A3 TDi 130 Sport and was thinking about getting it chipped, going by what I have read in a few of the posts on this site its well worth it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I have a couple of questions, fist does anyone have any idea of what sort of % increase I should expect to see in my insurance, and also what affect it will have on my warranty, does Audi have a specialist whose work will not effect your warranty?

DM

 

[A4Steve]

Hi there Mitch & welcome...
Insurance hikes do apply, but all depend's on your age, location etc etc, some insurers apply a block % ie 15%, but you'd better check with your company.

The only company that Audi will honour (in the very near future) will be Abt, other tuners like Oettinger will warranty their software and damage caused by their software, but please check on their UK dealership website first.
And finally you have Revo, their new website states that they will only warranty their software - no mention of the engine.
My experience has been first rate from Abt and Oettinger, with little or no repsonse from Revo & Amd.

Take your pick.

 

[DMitch]

Thanks for the welcome fatcat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Think I will check with Audi for a date when I can get the work done by Abt without having to worry about warranty. Alas I still have most of my 3 years left so am a bit worried about shortning it to 12 months or whatever the others provide. Insurance wise 15% is less than I was expecting, sounds well worth it.

DM

 

[A4Steve]

[ QUOTE ]
coupesport said:
Dont worry about the warranty with the Revo code - as you can get the SPS1 box to put it back to 'standard' when going to the dealer.

Just had mine done and very pleased. Info here

Revo Review



[/ QUOTE ]

On that one, ie concealing any modification, it may sound good on paper to do this, but in the event of a claim, be it injury or mechanical failure I would sleep more easily at night knowing that I'm covered for any eventuality.

If the claim is a big 'un, you can bet your bottom dollar that Audi and or your insurance company will do everything they can to not pay out for any non-compliance.

Not pissin' on your fire, just being responsible.

 

[danksy]

I agree that there would be issues with not telling your insurance company, since this would technically be increasing their risk, without you notifying them and therefore they may not cover you in the eventuality of an accident.

DON'T MOD IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TELL YOUR INSURERS!!


LETS BE CLEAR - James or Forge(Revo) DO NOT advocate decieving insurance companies in this way

Given the extra stresses imposed on the engine it therefore goes that one should take a more responsible attitude towards i) Driving, and ii) Servicing.

i) Driving - Allways allow the car a warm up and cool down period before using maximum revs, or coming to a halt after a fast drive.

ii) Servicing - Forget the variable interval servicing, and switch to fixed intervals, and do an oil change in between.

Diesels only.
Remember for diesels there is little done to the boost, pressures, more to do with adjustments on fuelling (i.e amount) and timing of ignition. Whilst this will still be evident through increased cylinder pressures there will be no where near the same level of stress on engine components compared for tuning a turbo charged petrol car.

Petrol cars.
Even taking into account what I have written above, all of the reputable tuners go to great lengths to ensure that safety margins are still built in and that normal ECU functionality will prevent any major damage as a result of software errors.

VAG Stance on modifications and servicing.

Whilst VAG dealerships may only make up c. 20% of their revenue from servicing, this accounts for up to 60% of their profits due to the thin margins on new cars in the UK.(My heart bleeds!) VAG dealers DO NOT bear the cost themselves for warranties, but have a "Duty of Care" to ensure that they only claim for warranty work from VAG when the cause can be proven to be a failure of a std part or component. If they feel that a car has been modified and that this has caused the failure they will make a judgement accordingly...

VAG has set a precedent for servicing, and replacing under warranty numerous owners' cars, (several RS4 owners gearboxes for starters), so in this way they have set a precedent for not only servicing cars that have been "stealth" modded, but also those with Lowered suspension, different wheels, different ECU's etc. so IMHO it would be very difficult for them to refuse warranty work on a chipped car. (We all know who the mod friendly dealers are!).

Having said this most reputable tuners write, and beta test their own code before releasing it for sale, to safeguard any damage to your engine.

Personally I would have no hesitation for opting for the any of the major reputable tuners.

Each of their products differs in slightly different ways, but make sure you go with someone who has a cast iron reputation, and also one who has a "close relationship" with a network of dealers should the worst happen.

To summarise.

Tell your insurers.
Increase the amount of TLC you give the car.
VAG have made a rod for their own backs given the "Customs & Practice" argument!
Choose your tuner carefully.

regards
Nick

 

[coupesport]

thanks Nick -

Fatcat, if you read the review properly then quote from the program switching section

[ QUOTE ]
In this way the ECU appears unmodified and warranties remain unaffected. Do not take this as a way to not tell your insurance about any modifications though !


[/ QUOTE ]

My insurance knows, and on that note knew all about all the mods on my TT too.

 

[audi_girl]

yeah agreed -the more companies there are enhancing the cars performance without adding a physical chip, the more Audi dealers and insurance assessors will look at that sort of thing in the event of a warranty or insurance claim.

 

[DMitch]

Thanks lads for all your thoughts, specially interesting what danksy had to say about the TLC for your modded motor, sounds like a sound move.

Thinking about the service interval, do the more powerful 150 VAG diesels have fixed intervals, if not why move to a fixed interval? Is it because the components in engine are not made to as high a standard of tolerance as those in the 150?

On a ware and tear note I have done a bit of research and found what you guys probably already know that VAG has a policy of underselling the true power of its engines, e.g. Diesel Car April 02 featured a 150 PD golf being chipped, and its stats before the upgrade were 236 lb ft and 170bhp, post mod, 281 lb ft and 185 bhp /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

So do you guys think that the following holds true? If there is no difference in the block and running gear between the 130 and the 150 I would assume that getting my 130 chipped to a possible 160 bhp should have no effect on the said components given that VAG is comfortable to deliver in standard form a 170bhp 236 lb ft motor.

Further in the article I mentioned earlier the author said "Another concern was whether all this extra power would affect my transmission, so I called the experts at Quaife Ltd, a company that specialises in gearbox conversions, to ask their opinion. The conversation was brief but informative. Volkswagen mechanicals are built to last and typically have a built-in 30-50% margin of robustness. Chipping an engine is not going to pull out your engine mount, blow up your gearbox, or turn your halfshafts into corkscrews." He goes onto say that if you are going to drag race it etc you will experience increased wear chip or no chip. "Quaife verdict, used sensibly, this upgrade will not damage your car." So I guess the question is do you think that the mechanicals on a 150PD (Golf) are the same as that on a 130PD (A3), bar the turbo and the intercooler?

DM

 

[danksy]

AFAIK the PD150 has uprated cranks, and pistons with a different compression ratio.

I'm not sure if there are any differences between the gearboxes or transmissions.

 

[Gaunty]

I checked with my insurance company and they wanted 90 quid for a 20% increase in power. I thought that was fair.

 

[Snail2]

Completely agree on telling insurance companies everything. I told mine about non-standard alloys, and was told to declare everything, because anything that looks even mildly modified will be gone over with a fine toothcomb, in the event of a large payout.

 

[Kingfisher]

Take care with the gearbox, the six speed versions are much stronger and the others may not take the extra torque..... for long periods of time.

 

[stuart_d]

Gaunty - That's not a bad insurance increase for a 20% increase in power. I'm shortly going to get my A2 chipped and a Miltek exhaust put on - I am very intrigued as to how much more my insurance will cost as well!