Chips?

["Graydon D. Stuckey" <74031.1206@compuserve.com>]

All,

	I thought that I would give my .02 here.  I called Ned, Al @ Hypertech,
Jo Hoppen, and even Brad @ Dinan.  From what I can tell, Ned has the best handle
on what is going on inside the ECU, but I still have a very hard time spending
$800.00 (or even Hypertech's $750 CAN) for a 5$ chip.  I realize that we are
paying for the development and not the chip, but that just makes it that much
harder, since I am supposed to be an auto engineer.  Dinan doesn't appear to
have the chip data yet.  I guess that is why they were offering "free chips" to
anyone willing to let them use their cars.
	I talked to an engineer at Bosch, who, of all the Bosch people there in
Farmington Hills, is most likely to have any info about the K-Jet fuel injection
and he was a dead end.  At this point, my best bet is to do like Ned, and
reverse-engineer the chip with an eprom simulator and an engine simulator, on a
bench.  It would take a couple of days in Chicago (where my friend has all this
stuff, and does this routinely) but I don't have a couple days right now.
	Basically, the chip has very little control over the fuel but it does
have control over the boost, ignition, and fuel cutoff.  Fortunately, the K-Jet
system is pretty good at fuel already.  Since we really only need to know the
locations of the values for max boost level and timing, this reduces the volume
of the search, and actually may be not that difficult.
	I am still debating what to do.  I am definitely NOT going to spend $800
or even 500.  I have a lot of other more interesting options for not much more
money.  I would like to keep the budget small since the car is only worth a few
thou in the first place, and I am going to put about $500 into the suspension in
a few weeks.
	On a slightly different note, I put a new set of tires on yesterday, and
am actually rather impressed.  I bought OHTSU, (215/60-15) for $67.00 each,
mounted and balanced, and they checked my alignment for free.  After they
_checked_ the alignment, they wanted another $40 to _change_ the alignment, but
I held my ground and said "NO."
	These OHTSU tires are certainly no worse than the BF Goodrich Comp T/A
HR4s that came with the car and they are quiet and smooth.  The BFG HR4s were
all out of round!  They had lots of tread left, but they vibrated horribly.
This is my second bad experience with BFG HR4s, so I think that they are off my
tire list forever.  BFG Comp T/A R1s OTOH, ... ooooooooohhhhhhhhh yeeeeeaaaaah!

Later,

Graydon D. Stuckey  '86 5000 CS Turbo Quattro

GDS Racing
4081 Sheraton Drive,
Flint, MI 48532
(810) 733-0255
FAX   733-7383
74031.1206@compuserve.com