kai_h
01-06-2006, 07:49 AM
Here's a bit of info, for anyone who's curious, about the GIAC chip I had installed in my 96 VR6:
From memory (and this is going back three years or more) it's a square package with legs on the side that fold down underneath it. It's designed to either be a surface-mount (which it was for the original one) or placed in a socket (which the GIAC chip is)
In order to install it, the original chip was desoldered, and a socket was put in it's place. The socket has some kind of key, as the GIAC chip is encrypted, and won't work on a bare board (or in a chip reader, supposedly) and has to have the bridge-board in order to function.
So, no, it's not a regular, rectangular EEPROM with a window on top of it. I believe it's some kind of PIC or PLC type chip, with a CPU and RAM and all that on board, I think the chip functions as the main controller, and also has the microcode burned into it as well, but I'm just guessing here.
As for the difference - not a huge amount. More torque at low revolutions which is nice, but subtle. Raised redline, so you can hit 100km/h in 2nd gear before the rev limiter cuts in =) and slightly better fuel economy when driven sensibly - enough that over a couple of years, the chip paid for itself in fuel...
I'm currently looking for a chip for my Bora 4Motion as well, but have received quoted of over $1k for some of them. The chip for the Golf VR6 was less than $400 from memory, and at this price point, it's worth it. For the minor gains (5-8kW at best) $1,000 is not good value for money.
From memory (and this is going back three years or more) it's a square package with legs on the side that fold down underneath it. It's designed to either be a surface-mount (which it was for the original one) or placed in a socket (which the GIAC chip is)
In order to install it, the original chip was desoldered, and a socket was put in it's place. The socket has some kind of key, as the GIAC chip is encrypted, and won't work on a bare board (or in a chip reader, supposedly) and has to have the bridge-board in order to function.
So, no, it's not a regular, rectangular EEPROM with a window on top of it. I believe it's some kind of PIC or PLC type chip, with a CPU and RAM and all that on board, I think the chip functions as the main controller, and also has the microcode burned into it as well, but I'm just guessing here.
As for the difference - not a huge amount. More torque at low revolutions which is nice, but subtle. Raised redline, so you can hit 100km/h in 2nd gear before the rev limiter cuts in =) and slightly better fuel economy when driven sensibly - enough that over a couple of years, the chip paid for itself in fuel...
I'm currently looking for a chip for my Bora 4Motion as well, but have received quoted of over $1k for some of them. The chip for the Golf VR6 was less than $400 from memory, and at this price point, it's worth it. For the minor gains (5-8kW at best) $1,000 is not good value for money.