I've had my Chip Express unit installed on my Td6 for about six week and I wanted to report on my findings. As a test, I ran my Discovery up a local hill, average 5.7% grade, 0-60 MPH, at an elevation from 7200 up to 7400 feet above sea level. This was the location I chose since it is on the way home from work, and I can stop the vehicle safely and make consistent test runs. So before anyone bashes about how slow this seems, take the full scope of the environmental conditions into consideration. I was in the vehicle by myself and had a consistent fuel level.

Without the chip, I had average runs of 15.25 seconds to reach 60MPH from a standing start. This may seem slow, but she easily keeps up with or is faster than local traffic in most circumstances.
With the chip installed at the basic setting I was averaging 14.30 seconds to reach 60MPH from a standing start.
With the chip at +1 I have had numbers as low at 13.86 seconds, but tend to average 14.25 seconds to 60MPH.
Given the small improvement between standard and the +1 setting, I have not tested at the +2 setting.

Now for the questions:
No, my MPG has not been negatively impacted, but has improved when I go easy on the pedal on the right.
Yes, it is a lot more fun to drive and much more responsive across the board.
No, it does not make black smoke.
Yes, it is removable in a few minutes (to install or remove) and is untraceable - that being said, you want to closely follow the instructions during installation and removal
Yes, I installed it myself, but had a question during installation. I contacted the company during installation and they were very helpful - 5 stars!
Yes, It is shipped from Europe and takes over a week to arrive in the US - very nice packaging

In summary - totally worth it. Relatively low dollar investment with a measurable improvement in performance that you can feel every time you hit the accelerator pedal.

If you are interested: Link to Chip Express

Please feel free to ask questions.

 

This is awesome info, thanks!

 

Wow, unreal how much difference a slight grade at altitude will do? Aren't we like 7.7 at sea level? But, a full second improvement is what I saw out of the similar Bluespark unit on both the Cayenne and Audi 3.0 TDIs. Sounds about right.

thanks for sharing . . .

 

The altitude is the real killer, you lose about 3% per every thousand feet in elevation gain. So roughly a 21% loss in power - ouch. The grade is significant too. These things fly downhill, but fighting that weight uphill adds significantly to the workload required to get it up to speed.

 

Very good info for people looking into this mod. I have a Si6 so not much help here

Are there any concerns or safeguards for turbo longevity at that kind of altitude with a performance mod? Typically a turbo spins faster at higher altitudes and warmer climates, but not sure if the TD6 has some safegaurds to prevent shortening the life of the turbo?

I would guess some folks in Europe already tested this mod in the Alps at similar altitudes.

 

Oh, I know, we spend a lot of time in Colorado from 5000 where friends live up to 9000 ft where our cabin is. I just never noticed it "seeming" to make that much difference. I'm sure it does . . .

 

Agreed - It is an impact, but we don't notice as much, because it is impacting everyone else driving too. With the Td6 torque, it is probably impacting us less than others in gas models.

 

The turbo runs 1-2% faster per 1000 feet of elevation, but that is on all turbos (Porsche, Land Rover, etc. etc.) and the modification has no bearing on how fast the turbo runs. The speed of the turbo is primarily controlled by the exhaust (this feeds the turbo) and how much air can be compressed into the system (this resists the turbo) , which ensures the turbo never comes close to their ultimate design speed. Turbos have lifespans, just like superchargers and supercharger belts, but they can all be replaced.

 

Subscribed.

We haven’t had the wife’s ’18 TD6 long enough yet to really feel out our likes/dislikes just yet.... but I’m running a Cobb AP on my Macan GTS, and I really like it. Was curious about chipping the LR... this gives me some great info. So far, here in TX, I’m really impressed with the TD6 usability (obviously from all the torque). Our only real gripe is the early gas pedal “lag”, which seems to be a known issue. Not sure if a transmission reset would help, or if I should just look into a sprint-booster or ECU tune. Regardless, it’s good to know someone else out there tried this! Please update over time.

Thanks!

 

Looking for an update here. Was going to go with VelocityAp but the kept having scheduling issues to get it all the way to Austin and done in a day (coming from Houston).

Ive always heard the chip tunes are not nearly as good as the ECU tunes. Does the ship change shift points and parameters or does it just make the engine think there’s more air so it adds more fuel? Does the chip kill the auto start/stop?