Switching from superchips to GIAC

[Johnnyb]

Hello,

I have got an 07 S3, have had it bluefinned which i put back to standard mode today, its going in for a service tomorrow and as i have been driving all day i have realised the car just feels the same maybe a tiny, tiny bit slower but not really noticible, so the remap has obviously not made much of a difference.

I have got a friend who is very good friends with a GIAC dealer, so im going to go and have a chat with him soon about their remap, as i have sort of regretted going with superchips for a while now especially with all the positive feedback on this forum for GIAC.

My question is, will my ECU be affected if i was to leave it on standard from the bluefin and then have it remapped by GIAC?? is this messing with the ECU too much??

GIAC also said they offer a 28 day money back guarantee, but nobody has ever brought theirs back.

Thanks

 

[IH786]

Hello,

I have got an 07 S3, have had it bluefinned which i put back to standard mode today, its going in for a service tomorrow and as i have been driving all day i have realised the car just feels the same maybe a tiny, tiny bit slower but not really noticible, so the remap has obviously not made much of a difference.

I have got a friend who is very good friends with a GIAC dealer, so im going to go and have a chat with him soon about their remap, as i have sort of regretted going with superchips for a while now especially with all the positive feedback on this forum for GIAC.

My question is, will my ECU be affected if i was to leave it on standard from the bluefin and then have it remapped by GIAC?? is this messing with the ECU too much??

GIAC also said they offer a 28 day money back guarantee, but nobody has ever brought theirs back.

Thanks

Hi mate, don't think your ECU will suffer. Its electrical as opposed to mechanical, so it should be fine

Let us know what you think of the GIAC remap, as i am seriously considering it for my S3 next year :icon_thumright:

 

[Kris]

I'm also thinking about having the GIAC map next year although looks like i may have to travel a fair distance from Nott's to get it done unless someone can point me to a localish dealer? I'd be interested in more GIAC feedback be it good, bad or indifferent.

 

[Deleted member 21388]

Does any know if Giac offer the same service such as Revo or Superchips / bluefin, ie free remap if Audi reflash your ecu ?

Cheers

Richard

Ps does any one know of a GIAC dealer in the North West ?

 

[Shao_khan]

I am astounded you dont feel much difference - I had the superchips map, but not bluefin and the difference was astonishing.

 

[L33TAY]

I'm the same, looking to use GIAC next year, so would appreciate the feedback, the other alternative was bluefin, so your thoughts would be good!

Lee

 

[rickquattro]

If you had a RR plot of before and after you may be more sure of the remap gains.....

 

[Stockholm]

You don´t have to take your car to the dealer to get GIAC - if you also buy the Flashloader, which you really should.

GIAC program should be around 700 Euros, independent of if you buy Stage 1 or 3.
Stage 1 is for cars with original exhaust systems - 305-310hp.
Stage 3 is adapted for upgraded exhaust system and should give you approx. 335hp

The Flashloader will set you back another 300 Euros.

With the Flashloader you´re able to reload the original program without affecting the flashcounter as soon as your car is going to the workshop.

Audi dealer/workshop won´t see a thing during the ECU diagnosis and with the original program loaded they can´t feel any difference during a test drive.

I´ve also seen alot of discussions here about the actual power increase.
I´d say that Audis stated power of 265ps is fairly correct.
My S3 2.0 TFSI had 264bhp (at the wheels) which equals 279hp (at the flywheel) before tuning. With Stage 1 the same test showed 308hp at the flywheel. 29hp increase, which feels like alot more.

Good luck with the tuning :thumbsup:
Cheers

 

[Johnnyb]

Hello again,

Do you know if GIAC can alter the maps to your requirements? i would like the remap to be a bit more aggressive than superchips, after driving the car again tonight it still feels like it did with the map on, slightly slower in 6th but thats about it.

 

[Stockholm]

Hello again,

Do you know if GIAC can alter the maps to your requirements? i would like the remap to be a bit more aggressive than superchips, after driving the car again tonight it still feels like it did with the map on, slightly slower in 6th but thats about it.

There´s a total of three programs available from GIAC for the S3 TFSI.
I´m only aware of functions in two of them. Contact your dealer and see if you can get a custom quote.

If you want your car to be more aggressive you should definately go for Stage 3 and at the same time upgrade your exhaust.
Or actually, you only need to upgrade the downpipe and the cat.
The original exhaust (from the cat and backwards) is good for at least 350hp.
So changing it cat-back will mostly be for the sound experience.
Unless you plan to change the turbo and go far above 350hp.

However - depending on your tuner it´s probably easier to change the full system, all at once, than just changing the downpipe and the cat.

 

[Gti Jazz Blue]

It is possible that there is an issue with your S3 that is limiting the increase, it may even be that yours is a good'un and running higher in stock programming.

Switching to GIAC may not actually make much difference if there is an underlying issue.

I'd have a chat with SC first myself.

Paul

 

[Johnnyb]

Hi,

I was thinking that my car must be up on standard power, what i intend to do is have the GIAC remap put on, and if its similar to the superchips remap then get my money back and stick the bluefin back on, but if it feels like a big improvement then i will obviously be keeping it, i know i should really get the car dyno'd but i just cant find the time at the moment.

 

[s3mike]

Is it normaly for Audi to quote power at the wheels?

I found a website ages back where they did independant tests of cars claimed BHP versus wheel BHP. Most cars were quite a bit less at the wheels than stated but the S3 all got almost 100% of the quoted power at the wheels.

If that's true it means our cars are more powerful than stated when compared to others.

Look on www.rototest.com/rri - quite interesting.

 

[steve184]

My S3 2.0 TFSI had 264bhp (at the wheels) which equals 279hp (at the flywheel) before tuning.
Cheers

Errrm i don't think so something is wrong here - there is no wayon this earth a 4wd car is going to only lose 15bhp through the transmission - I would say at least 30-40bhp so one of these figures aint right i'm afraid!

140bhp diesel has 140bhp but probably only 110 at the wheels - and thats a FWD verison!!! would be even worse on a 4WD

 

[Deleted member 21388]

Errrm i don't think so something is wrong here - there is no wayon this earth a 4wd car is going to only lose 15bhp through the transmission - I would say at least 30-40bhp so one of these figures aint right i'm afraid!
140bhp diesel has 140bhp but probably only 110 at the wheels - and thats a FWD verison!!! would be even worse on a 4WD

I would agree with you on this but after reading a back issue of EVO when they RR'dd a Lambo Murcielago, they though it was only rear drive. As the Lambo and the S3 has have a broadly simlair electronic 4wd systems (kind of haldex in reverse for the Lambo !), chances are the slip on the RR for the S3 is mimimal when running and hence losses equivalent to a fwd car ! & Reading this forumn it seems that there are a few S3 that are running a bit more that Audi quoted figures fresh from the factory - hence what looks like very small losses on a RR.

Richard

 

[CJP80]

My car has 330PS at the flywheel but only 260 at the wheels - as measured by the MAHA 4wd rolling road. I don't think this is correct however as the Haldex may be throwing out the figures.

 

[JamS3]

My old 8L S3 which was remapped lost something like 60 - 70 bhp over the transmission so these figures will be correct above.

 

[AL_B]

I agree with Jam. Had my old 8L S3 on the rollers a few times, and the 4wd drive train does sap a lot of power, and yes about 70bhp. It's an incredible amount to loose really.

 

[julians]

my caterham (rear wheel drive) loses circa 40bhp, as did my old honda s2000, so it sounds perfectly feasible that a 4wd , whether it be haldex or more normal diffs, would lose ~70bhp.

 

[Amchlolor]

Crikey, those losses are incredible!
I'd no idea cars were so bad.
A bike, even with ancient chain drive, will only lose about 10% from crank to rear wheel.

 

[emzino]

Is it just Audis Quattro system that loses that much? I thought Quattro was one of, if not THE best 4wheel drive system in the world...

 

[Savage]

It's pretty much all 4wd applications. As a veeeeery general rule expect something in the region of ~20% transmission loss in a 4wd application.

The old Vauxhall 4wd system used be the same. Owners, me included used to fit a switch to the 4wd system that allowed you to activate and deactivate it at will to try and minimise the loss whilst moving.