Brun

A mate of mine is wanting something along the lines of a Clio Williams, Saxo VTS etc. On purchasing it, he's looking to do the usual, exhaust and filter thing. He has also looked into Superchipping it. Around Scoobynet, chips are not popular for Scoobs, but what is the general opinion of them for n/a cars. Are they safe?

Kussimurran

Generally a waste of money, in my experience( and I have wasted a lot! ). Realistically on most NA cars, you ar elooking at 3-6 bhp extra from chipping. If exhaust and intake are significantly modified, then a remap may give reasonable gains, perhaps in the region of 10-15 bhp, but nothing dramatic.

dhorwich

I would also say a waste of money..!!! i had my astra GSI 16v chipped and it made no noticable difference also got my pug 1.6 205 GTI done and that was the same..!!!

When i had my astra the biggest difference came from a set of cams filter and exhaust and a rolling road tune..!!!

Its not really worth it on a N/A engine...!!

Dan

Brun

I did suggest the cam route to him.
I dunno what it is about chips, i personally wouldn't do it to a car. It just feels like cheating.

dhorwich

make sure he gets some decent cams too.... i wasted alot of money on my astra... first i started off with some shrick cams that cost £400, and got them fitted but the car was almost undrivable it was very lumpy and the power only really came in up the top of the rev range...

I then sold these and got some courtney high torque cams which made a huge difference and made the car so much more drivable..!!!

Dan

Brun

Cheers Dan

dhorwich

There seems to be alot of stuff out for the saxo at the minute, i.e supercharger and turbo kits...!! the VTS can be tuned quite well too...

Dan

LG John

From what I've heard superchips actually do good work on lots of cars except the Impreza. I believe the VAG units respond well. I personally don't see how you'd notice much of a difference on an n/a engine.

If he choses to go the VTS route get him to go on www.saxosportsclub.co.uk and they will keep him right. If you want a real monster then supercharge a VTS and it'll really fly - especially 60-100mph.

Brun

I personally think it would be very in-polite of him to do such a thing to a Saxo. He's simpy is not allowed a faster car than my Scoob. As i am his boss, he will suffer a written warning, if he does go down this route.
The only reason he is looking towards Saxos, is because they are soooooooo cheap.
He was wanting a Clio 16v, but finding one of these with the right mileage at the right price, is not easy.

dhorwich

I would tell him to steer clear of clio's... my mate had one, i think it was a 1995 16v and he only had it 9 months and in that time he needed a new clutch and heater matrix...!!! the car was not high mileage either..!!

Dan

Brun

I had one myself. 1996 N. I thought it was a much better car than my previous 205 1.9 GTi. Just as fast with handling to match. As for reliability, i'm not sure as i only had mine from 25k to 47k without anything breaking.
How i miss it. Hmmmmmmmm!

dhorwich

They are alot better than the pug..!! i had a 205 and it was embarassing taking people out in it..!! it was so rattly and squeeky..!! but had go-cart like handling, it could catch you off guard with some lift off oversteer though.!!!

Dan

Brun

Them were the days. Squeak rattle, no power steering on 195/50/15's, wheel spin everywhere

LG John

The VTS is actually a very good 'new' buy at the moment with the 'VAT back offer' and the 'free insurance' - it'll still loose a lot in its first year but that doesn't matter if he was going to keep it for a few.

Brun

He's looking at a couple of years old, for around 5k.

.:Nathan:.

Under estimated cars are rover 200's, you can pick 'em up dirt cheap, and the vi's are a much faster than a VTS and a lot cheaper to insure.

Handle well too, not quite like the go-cartness of a saxo though.

LG John

I find that hard to believe but never played with one at Crail so can't be sure. If your mate goes for a vts get him to try and stretch for an X-plate VTS as the year 2000 run were the ones with 130bhp! This is why my car was the 'supersaxo' that scoobynet so unlovingly refer to it as! If you think about it 10bhp is quite a lot of difference in something weighing 935kg and that explains the 15.3 1/4 mile as standard

RB5#295

I've never had an n/a car chipped (can't remember the last n/a car I had... almost), but I'd doubt it's worth while. As for the brand Superchips I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole, but there are plenty of reputable chippers out there. I think you're better off with someone who specialises in a particular manufacturer or engine.

I guess I see where the 'cheating' comment comes from, but I'll take the extra go and live with it on my turbo's, thanks.

Fen

super_si

Dont laugh, i know of a corsa going for sale.

250bhp , 0-60 4.97

let me know if you want more info.

Si