How to tell if a cars been chipped?

[OdramaSwimLaden]

I had a ride in my work colleagues A8 4.2tdi which he bought over the weekend. It's an 08 and in almost all ways identical to mine I had a few years back.

I told him mine was chipped by DMS to about 400bhp (standard was 335bhp) and his felt just as fast if not faster.....someone had definitely been fiddling with the engine on his. The garage he got it from claims to have spoken to the previous owner who denies any sort of tuning / chipping.

For insurance or warranty work, if they look into it, can they refuse payment / warranty work if they (somehow?) discover it's been chipped, even if he has no knowledge of it?

EDITED....see below!

Edited by OdramaSwimLaden on Tuesday 25th October 17:12

[EDLT]

It would have been remapped rather than chipped, some Audi Dealers will have the kit to find out.

Also, assuming he purchased it over the weekend, he bought it.

[Liquid Knight]

Because it will be at least 20% faster.

[OdramaSwimLaden]

EDLT said:

It would have been remapped rather than chipped, some Audi Dealers will have the kit to find out.

Also, assuming he purchased it over the weekend, he bought it.

Yes, remapped.

Noted the spelling mistake and glad you bort it to my attention

[Liquid Knight]

Normally there's a small white mark left on the windscreen after a chip repair. Provided it's been done properly it shouldn't be an issue.

[Piepiepie]

Im assuming he put these on? They make every car a little faster.

[The Hypno-Toad]

I say, I say, I say, I think my cars been chipped?

What makes you think that?

Well its got a salt'n'vinegar flavoured air freshner & the seat covers are made of old newspaper.

Thank you very much. You've been great, I've been Tim Vine The Hypno-Toad, I'm here all week, tell your friends, try the veal, don't forget to tip your waitress, I'll get me coat.....

[OdramaSwimLaden]

The Hypno-Toad said:

I say, I say, I say, I think my cars been chipped?

What makes you think that?

Well its got a salt'n'vinegar flavoured air freshner & the seat covers are made of old newspaper.

Thank you very much. You've been great, I've been Tim Vine The Hypno-Toad, I'm here all week, tell your friends, try the veal, don't forget to tip your waitress, I'll get me coat.....

HO HO......

[Dracoro]

You say his FELT faster. Well, nearly all cars FEEL faster when you're not driving. Could this explain why you felt it was faster? (I assume you didn't drive it?)

[k15tox]

Get some audi software check when the ecu has been lasr flashed.

Or take it to a dyno that's accurate if such a thing exists.

[shovelheadrob]

Had you considered the possibility that your remapped car is not as fast as you thought?

[OdramaSwimLaden]

Dracoro said:

You say his FELT faster. Well, nearly all cars FEEL faster when you're not driving. Could this explain why you felt it was faster? (I assume you didn't drive it?)

It felt faster because it was faster; I'm lost at what else to say

[OdramaSwimLaden]

shovelheadrob said:

Had you considered the possibility that your remapped car is not as fast as you thought?

It had, give or take a few BHP, exactly what was promised!

I'm more interested to find out the legal situation as mentioned in the first post.

There are more than likely 000's of people driving around in re mapped cars unaware that the previous owner had them done.....

Edited by OdramaSwimLaden on Tuesday 25th October 19:52

[Snails]

Take it to a rolling road to if it is producing more than it should?

[TheEnd]

If you your car was X fast, then had 65 more fasts added, it would be at x+65f

If y>x+65f, then yes, it will have been, unless your remap was ou in upside down, and was -65f.

[mrmr96]

Op there's lots of ways to tell if a cars been chipped. How about you start a topic called "Consequences of claiming ignorance of undeclared modifications" instead?

[frosted]

Once I was told by a Honda dealer director that all ECUs adapt to your driving style , so for instance if you drive mostly for economy the ECU will learn that and make best to give you high mpg , my car car for example was much faster than similar vehicles and like for like I had many disappointed owners asking me what I done to the engine

[mike9009]

mrmr96 said:

Op there's lots of ways to tell if a cars been chipped. How about you start a topic called "Consequences of claiming ignorance of undeclared modifications" instead?

When in naivety or not - the OP is simply asking whether it is easy to detect whether a car has been chipped. I have bought cars and wondered whether previous owners had had them chipped or not? For the average punter I don't think there is an easy way .... so what do you declare to your insurer if the previous owner did not declare??

Simple question - that I and the OP have never had a definitive answer to. Your reply does not help.....


Mike

[OdramaSwimLaden]

mrmr96 said:

Op there's lots of ways to tell if a cars been chipped. How about you start a topic called "Consequences of claiming ignorance of undeclared modifications" instead?

Excellent.

Wally!

[maniac0796]

frosted said:

Once I was told by a Honda dealer director that all ECUs adapt to your driving style , so for instance if you drive mostly for economy the ECU will learn that and make best to give you high mpg , my car car for example was much faster than similar vehicles and like for like I had many disappointed owners asking me what I done to the engine

Long term fuel trim. It uses data from around the engine and puts it into a percentage, which it then uses running in closed loop to make it run lean or rich due to driving styles over time. That's the basics anyway. You can find yours out with a diagnostics tool, but it'll usually reset if you disconnect the battery for a bit of time.