Are Chip upgrades suicide?

[armynick]

I'm looking at chipping my GT3 and I see a few have done it already.

I use my car everyday and cane it most days, it's done 49k miles and seems reliable.

Is chipping it going to reduce the engine life considerably? Are bits going to wear out at a noticable faster rate?

My last question is: Can the number 10 chip be fitted without any mods such as a BOV and airfilter?

Cheers

[madmike]

Naturally, the harder you push the engine, the faster it will wear out. However, you can do things to mitigate that wear to the point where it balances evenly with the extra fun you'll enjoy.

I refused to upgrade my chip until I got a BOV to relive the pressure on my turbo, for instance. And I waited a while for Sanj's BOV supplier to get them in stock. It was worth the wait.

You should be fine if you take the mitigating steps, and keep a closer eye on things post-chipping.

[armynick]

Hi,

Yeah I intend on getting the BOV first. Can't afford the kits until later in the year.

I use mine everyday and done wanna kill it. Are all the chips made by the same company?

[Lasse]

Hi!

The main concern should be the Renault/Alpine gearbox. It will not take much more load than it is designed for in each application. If you raise the power significantly (>50 bhp) you will DEFINITELY get gearbox-problems.

Best Regards /Lasse

[madmike]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Esprit V8s at 350HP share the same gearbox as the 4 cylendar SEs (stock 260HP) but only have uprated clutches?

If so, increasing your HP by 50 won't gauarntee you will have gearbox problems. Yes, you might wear out your clutch faster if you don't uprate it, and depending on your driving style.

But Lotus themselves put and additional 90HP through the gearbox.

Mike

[Tekk]

I stuck the #10 chip in my GT3 (actually being a complete coward and mechanically incompetant to boot I got the person doing the service etc to stick it in).

Did it about 2 months ago - works fine - and has yet to blow up the engine despite vigerous attempts by me to provoke such behaviour :-)

Stopped the hankering for a V8 for now anyway. Certainly has a noticeable difference in performance, power comes in a lot earlier and more of it, really noticeable when overtaking.

I already liked the car a lot, certainly felt beautifully balanced, but just seemed to lack a little bit of punch. This seems to have helped a great deal.

K.