To chip or not to chip?that is the question. Focus ST

[Chadwiko]

Howdi All

This question has no doubt been asked before, but I am considering chipping my ST(225).

To be fair, the car performs very well as it is but would be interested in hearing peoples
opinions.

Is it worth it?If so why? And which chip is considered best?

Cheers

[Marcellus]

chip it............it's not a bad car as standard but even better chipped..

as for which....personal favourite was Bluefin (I was one of the original STs with Bluefin and have a very good relationship with Jamie the Technical Director of Superchips)

Dreamscience is popular but my personal oppinion is that they are wannabes.....they ultimately use superchips technology, were about a year behind super chips, had/have issues with limp mode kicking in, operate illegal restrictive trade practices and generally cow boys.....all of which is my personal oppinion.

[Chadwiko]

Marcellus said:

chip it............it's not a bad car as standard but even better chipped..

as for which....personal favourite was Bluefin (I was one of the original STs with Bluefin and have a very good relationship with Jamie the Technical Director of Superchips)

Dreamscience is popular but my personal oppinion is that they are wannabes.....they ultimately use superchips technology, were about a year behind super chips, had/have issues with limp mode kicking in, operate illegal restrictive trade practices and generally cow boys.....all of which is my personal oppinion.

Thanks, so whats better about it?DO you get torque steer? whats 0-60 approx? Mpg improved?

[Marcellus]

at the end of the day I daresay all the chippers (Bluefin, Dreamscience, WOlf) are much of a nothingness...torquesteer yes it's there but not really a problem (or not as much of a problem for the ST as for the VXR)............mpg didn't change much before to after remap.

The difference is the delivery of the power, the pressure the turbo runs to and if you do other things (exhaust) the turbo banging!!

[rsstman]

what about the mountune upgrade?

[Marcellus]

not one of the main stream ones....tell us more!!

[rsstman]

well its not just a chip. its a intercooler, k&n panel filter, and ecu calibration to 260ps. its more than a chip (so costs more) but meant to be by far the most driveable. it is the only upgrade that is ford approved and therefore allows you to keep the rest of manufacturers warranty, and the performance times quoted in performance car magazine and performance ford magazine eclipse many allegedly higher output conversions.

[Chadwiko]

rsstman said:

well its not just a chip. its a intercooler, k&n panel filter, and ecu calibration to 260ps. its more than a chip (so costs more) but meant to be by far the most driveable. it is the only upgrade that is ford approved and therefore allows you to keep the rest of manufacturers warranty, and the performance times quoted in performance car magazine and performance ford magazine eclipse many allegedly higher output conversions.

Thanks v much, just taking a look on google links now... seems pretty pricey.

http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?n...

[Marcellus]

sounds all pretty standard.....260ps is pretty low...Ford Warranty on it.....check the small print very carefully....putting in an K&N invalidates it!!

[rsstman]

Marcellus said:

sounds all pretty standard.....260ps is pretty low...Ford Warranty on it.....check the small print very carefully....putting in an K&N invalidates it!!

the k&n panel filter they supply is within the warranty, (ask mountine) a k&n induction kit i expect is a different matter.in fact chech the pistonhead headlines, about £1200 isnt so cheap but it is all ford approved and i would have thought when you sell the car it would be a good selling point and preferable than say a superchip. a pro alloy intercooler alone is £500 before fitting elsewhere.

260bhp isnt huge as some companies claim 270bhp from just a remap, but it will be by far the most driveable and nothing on your mind to worry about warranty and reliability wise.

[gee686]

GARYST220- first of all you can not live remap these vehicles,most new ecu's have checksumm correction in various areas, which makes it impossible to make changes LIVE.

but the whole LIVE REMAP sells well as it is different, if it even existed.

your best option would be to go to a company who has done alot of testing and development on the vehicle.

also just because a certain remap company has good marketing doesnt mean they are the best.
its all down to the tuner who creates the new map.

just thought i would add my 2 cents worth

[TheFuturesBright]

Remap is the best bang for bucks mod you can make on the focus ST. Mines running stage 1 and pulls 261 on every dyno it has been on. Makes the car more driveable and a lot safer when joining motorways and overtaking.

Theres three options for the hand held unitsbut rather than go into them all on here, it might be best to check out some of the topics on focusstoc.com.