After much deliberation, I have decided to install a $300 Chipwerke Pro piggyback tuner in my 2015 Q5 TDI. As one who has never done any modifications to a car, even this little step was big for me. Here's why.
My 2011 Touareg is/was the best car I've owned. (It's parked awaiting the buyback.) Amazing car, amazing engine! The only problems were recurring issues with the emissions control system, which required replacement of various components, all but $200 of which was covered under warranty or comped due to the 2nd failure of a covered part. When dieselgate came to light, some unsavory disclosures came with it. Of course, VW had cheated the regulators — not good — but at first it seemed maybe they had done it to deliver a better product to the customer. But then came the revelation that VW knew their emissions system was likely to fail under the expected workload, and that the cheat was motivated by a desire to delay these failures until after the standard warranty had expired, leaving the customer holding the bill.
Yet when the buyback was announced, I found I couldn't do without the amazing torque and efficiency of the 3.0 TDI engine. I decided on a Q5, and found my current car with under 10K miles on the clock.
Although I am anticipating that CARB and the EPA will approve a fix for the 3.0 gen 2 engines (MYs 2013-2016), I think it is likely that the fix will do one or both of the following: 1) degrade the engine's performance and economy; 2) put more stress on the emissions system. This is a concern, obviously. I don't really want to give up any performance at all if I can avoid it, and I'd just as soon do without a number of trips to the dealer to replace overstressed components. On the plus side, however, these vehicles will be covered by a long extended warranty of not only the emissions system but the HPFP and engine itself. I don't want to lose the extended warranty — it was a key feature in deciding to double down on a TDI, and absolutely essential to VW's having an opportunity to earn back my trust. So I am not going to take any steps (emissions delete, ECU tune) that would run the risk of voiding that warranty.
With a little encouragement and advice from TDI club member BarryT82, I came to see the Chipwerke piggyback tuner as a way to possibly have my cake and eat it too. I can insure myself against possible degradations in vehicle performance, while at the same time preserve my extended warranty coverage, since the Chipwerke is removable and therefore undetectable by diagnostic software. Furthermore, Chipwerke's website claims that the tuner can not only deliver power gains but also increase fuel efficiency via more mpg's. This attracts me, also. I have posted a few monster tanks so far with the "new" Q5. I live in the country, no stoplights, essentially the perfect scenario for great mileage. I don't obsess about it, but I'd be lying if I said I don't smile when I calculate a tank of 35. But what if I could get 38? So, I'm curious.
Chipwerke makes tuners for both gassers and diesels. In diesels, it works by adjusting pressure in the common rail. Here is a link to a page of their website explaining the idea:
https://www.chipwerke.com/eye-catching-performance-with-chipwerke/
Bought it on eBay last week and installed it today in about 10 minutes. You disconnect the rail pressure sensor connector under the engine cover and attach the Chipwerke harness in its place, then you connect the original connector to the other end of the harness. The module has a 15 pin connector of its own that attaches to the harness as well. You hang the module in a relatively cool, dry place in your engine bay, away from other electronics.
Who knows, maybe it will do nothing, and this will be a short thread explaining how I returned the module for my refund. But I'm more optimistic. Anyway, what I plan to do is report back soon with some feedback. It may take a while for me to form some definite conclusions. But I'll probably have some initial observations to report within a week. In the meantime, I invite others, especially Barry, to join me in sharing observations and/or data on this thread. With the current state of affairs in 3.0 TDI land, we might just have a very workable solution.
My 2011 Touareg is/was the best car I've owned. (It's parked awaiting the buyback.) Amazing car, amazing engine! The only problems were recurring issues with the emissions control system, which required replacement of various components, all but $200 of which was covered under warranty or comped due to the 2nd failure of a covered part. When dieselgate came to light, some unsavory disclosures came with it. Of course, VW had cheated the regulators — not good — but at first it seemed maybe they had done it to deliver a better product to the customer. But then came the revelation that VW knew their emissions system was likely to fail under the expected workload, and that the cheat was motivated by a desire to delay these failures until after the standard warranty had expired, leaving the customer holding the bill.
Yet when the buyback was announced, I found I couldn't do without the amazing torque and efficiency of the 3.0 TDI engine. I decided on a Q5, and found my current car with under 10K miles on the clock.
Although I am anticipating that CARB and the EPA will approve a fix for the 3.0 gen 2 engines (MYs 2013-2016), I think it is likely that the fix will do one or both of the following: 1) degrade the engine's performance and economy; 2) put more stress on the emissions system. This is a concern, obviously. I don't really want to give up any performance at all if I can avoid it, and I'd just as soon do without a number of trips to the dealer to replace overstressed components. On the plus side, however, these vehicles will be covered by a long extended warranty of not only the emissions system but the HPFP and engine itself. I don't want to lose the extended warranty — it was a key feature in deciding to double down on a TDI, and absolutely essential to VW's having an opportunity to earn back my trust. So I am not going to take any steps (emissions delete, ECU tune) that would run the risk of voiding that warranty.
With a little encouragement and advice from TDI club member BarryT82, I came to see the Chipwerke piggyback tuner as a way to possibly have my cake and eat it too. I can insure myself against possible degradations in vehicle performance, while at the same time preserve my extended warranty coverage, since the Chipwerke is removable and therefore undetectable by diagnostic software. Furthermore, Chipwerke's website claims that the tuner can not only deliver power gains but also increase fuel efficiency via more mpg's. This attracts me, also. I have posted a few monster tanks so far with the "new" Q5. I live in the country, no stoplights, essentially the perfect scenario for great mileage. I don't obsess about it, but I'd be lying if I said I don't smile when I calculate a tank of 35. But what if I could get 38? So, I'm curious.
Chipwerke makes tuners for both gassers and diesels. In diesels, it works by adjusting pressure in the common rail. Here is a link to a page of their website explaining the idea:
https://www.chipwerke.com/eye-catching-performance-with-chipwerke/
Bought it on eBay last week and installed it today in about 10 minutes. You disconnect the rail pressure sensor connector under the engine cover and attach the Chipwerke harness in its place, then you connect the original connector to the other end of the harness. The module has a 15 pin connector of its own that attaches to the harness as well. You hang the module in a relatively cool, dry place in your engine bay, away from other electronics.
Who knows, maybe it will do nothing, and this will be a short thread explaining how I returned the module for my refund. But I'm more optimistic. Anyway, what I plan to do is report back soon with some feedback. It may take a while for me to form some definite conclusions. But I'll probably have some initial observations to report within a week. In the meantime, I invite others, especially Barry, to join me in sharing observations and/or data on this thread. With the current state of affairs in 3.0 TDI land, we might just have a very workable solution.
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