I've got a Chip-It Dominator Mk1 with EGT (the latter not yet installed). It current set on Tune #6. Overall, I'm very happy with it.
My impressions:
Pros
- Very easy to install, both in terms of what's required and the provided doco
- For me, no error codes, no black smoke, no carry-on
- Got rid of that infuriating flat spot they seem to ship with the D40
- Good increase in torque
- Has extended the usable rev range by around 500rpm
Cons
I've not found any real cons yet
Neutral
- Maybe my expectations were too high, but it doesn't quite seem to have the power increase I was expecting (going by the seat-of-the-pants-dyno). Maybe its that I'm used to performance cars, or maybe its that the low revving diesel doesn't behave as I expected, but in any case, I don't feel a great difference in terms of acceleration. I don't think I can really blame this on the chip, as I suspect my expectations were too high. However, in terms of torque, smoothness and pulling power, the chip has made a substantial difference.
- The only other comment I have is that since adding the chip, it feels like the truck runs out of fuel at high revs on cold mornings when the truck's not fully up to temp. I should note here that I'm not using the supplied fuel rail blanking thingy, as I'm a bit too risk averse to remove the safety valve.
At any rate, I can't put this as a negative against the chip at the moment, as I'm suss of my fuel pump as a result of other issues I've had in the past. I'll continue to experiment and update the thread if I can isolate it to the chip or the pump.
Finally a few general comments:
- If you are totally risk averse and want complete safety, don't do a chip. All chips, by their nature, eat into the manufactures safety margins which brings with it some level of risk. The level of risk depends on how hard the chip manufacturer (and the user) push those limits. So to be totally safe, don't use a chip.
- From my research across a bunch of forums prior to the purchase of my chip, it would appear that:
* There would seem to be zero complaints out there about Steinbauers reliability. By the same token, I've not heard anyone raving about the performance increase they've gotten from it. My assessment was that Steinbauer is probably the safest of all the chips, providing "solid" performance.....but nothing hair-raising. My only concern was that I'd buy one and be disappointed with the performance increase. Otherwise, I'd have gone a Steinbauer.
* DP chip seemed to get a bit of a mixed review, but the general consensus seemed to be that they were reliable. Performance gains seemed to be reasonable, though I did read that some people didn't get the performance increase they were expecting. I should point out here that I read across forums for multiple manufacturers and tried to average the results, so that's no comment on how a DP chip may/may not work with a Nav.
* Chip It seems to have the most mixed reviews on reliability and it seems to span different models/manufacturers. I'm always a sceptic when it comes to zealous views on anything (be it, "this is the greatest chip ever" or "this is the worst chip, my car burned to the ground as a result of it") and so try to average out the responses. Most complaints seemed to be around black smoke and trucks going into limp home mode.
Equally, Chip It seems to get the most positive reviews in terms of performance increase.
For me, I felt the EGT module was a good enough safety feature to offset the reliability risks. I'm not happy to fit the fuel rail blanking thing, as I like the idea of a safety relief valve. So overall, I figured I could overcome the reliability issues if they occured.
My 2 bobs.
Will see how $ go. Good plan though.
