Your thoughts/feelings after installing the mountain chip...

[XiPHiAS]

I've ordered the mountain chips and received today (super fast service from Alan - thx!) ... I have the switcher also but after surfin'/lurking onto the forum I never found any real thoughts / feelings from owners with the moutain chip...

I know it is a good product, but what are your thoughts ... what is the gain, is the car so much faster ... where do you gain power ...

I hope to install the parts this weekend and I will write down my own toughts about the upgrade in this thread ...

[theelanman]

well.......if youve got the 2.25" exhaust and the everest chip you should get about another 40bhp.........a 25% increase in power so yes it'l make you smile even more.....just make sure your brake are up to it before you test it to the full........
always remember that stopping comes before you can use your 'power'

[G UK]

One word, Excellent!!

[RayD]

It’s a question that’s always puzzled me...


On here, I wrote...


"Paul, I understand how 204bhp at 0.92bar is quite a bit quicker than 165bhp at 0.65bar but I assume another car of the same weight with 204bhp at 0.65bar would be equally quick. Likewise 204bhp and no turbo.

John, I was hoping for a short cut to my understanding – I might have to do some reading.

David, “overtaking safely in about half the normal distance” This is where I get confused… increasing the boost from 0.65 to 0.92 dramatically improves the acceleration…

My car is like a four wheeled motorbike, it accelerates like mad.

Remember it’s my first turbo… and I haven’t driven it flat out in terms of speed or acceleration.

When I drove it home on the first day I was surprised the boost gauge never moved, and it didn’t move for the first fortnight. Only accelerating quickly brought it into action, and it’s still the same.

I imagine you could steadily accelerate up to 130mph without the boost gauge moving. I imagine you could rev the engine steadily up to 7000 revs and it wouldn’t move?

The boost seems to be directly related to the speed of the throttle opening rather than the amount it is opened. If this is the case presumably to halve the acceleration time when overtaking you would need to floor the pedal and wait for the results. I tend to squeeze the throttle down in keeping with the response from the engine rather than using it like a switch.

The bit I was trying to understand was this…because the turbo boost is gradual from 0 to 0.92 and seemingly related to the speed of the throttle opening, at what point do you see the extra performance supplied by the 0.65 to 0.92 element. Is it that when you floor the pedal on a standard car you get acceleration in keeping with 0.65bar and after uprating the pressure you get the further benefit of an extra 4lbs/in² - right from the start?

Does it only apply to flooring the pedal? I haven’t took particular notice but I imagined you could overtake a car quickly without even reaching the 0.65. Mine seems to still be making its way up when it’s time to slow down again.

Or is it just the gauge that is gradual, and the turbo is instantly 0.65 or 0.92?

I’m referring to driving on the road, in keeping with the original question.

Thanks Ray"

[ailwyn]

Ray,

You need to factor in the ECU mapping, which takes into account the throttle %, engine speed and such when setting a boost target, which it then controls with the wastegate.

The turbo setup is only going to be at max pressure/power when the throttle is wide open, from about 4.5k rpm. This is where you would see any performance increase as Alan hasn't remapped the ECU (IIRC) just the boost targets.

As for the weight & bhp comparison, I think there are too many factors to consider to make a broad statement like that, especially when comparing a turbo to N/A as the kick in the back off a turbo comes in at 4-4.5k rpm where an N/A will typically hit it's max power further up the dial.

So to my mind same power but earlier would make for a faster acceleration?

[XiPHiAS]

well.......if youve got the 2.25" exhaust and the everest chip you should get about another 40bhp.........a 25% increase in power so yes it'l make you smile even more.....just make sure your brake are up to it before you test it to the full........
always remember that stopping comes before you can use your 'power'

AP brake upgrade is ready to be installed at my dealer. We just wait for one missing part.

What exhaust I have... I dont know ... bought it from my dealer and it's not the PECO. I think it's a copie of the original but in stainless steel.
It sounds very cool and does the job :p

[RayD]

Thanks Ailwyn,

I didn’t intend to make any broad statements; it’s something I genuinely don’t understand.

If ever I get to the bottom of it, it might have something to do with me not using full throttle, generally.

I imagine from what you say people only benefit from the extra boost under extreme conditions... Flooring the accelerator in each gear and changing up at 6500-7000 rpm... 35mph in 1st, 60 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd and so on.

Next time I go out I’ll check when I change gear... doing it without thinking I’ve no idea.

Ray

[XiPHiAS]

My idea is ... the Elan is already 'very' fast, and I am so curious if you really feal the difference, and ... in what way you will feel the difference

The installing is delayed to thuesday (my birthday) ...
So I hope the mountain chip will be a REAL present for myself (from myself)

[kurgen]

My idea is ... the Elan is already 'very' fast, and I am so curious if you really feal the difference, and ... in what way you will feel the difference

Whilst not having a "chipped elan" I have had over the years several turbo'd cars that have been chipped including my present astra diesel. I would say, that the biggest "feel" of a chipped car over standard is in the mid range, on the road this would be felt most when overtaking. I have always been of the mind, and am taught as an EFAD driver to be in the danger zone for as little time as possible. This time can be reduced by having more mid range power. As for the bar room talk of 0-60mph times I really think...IMHO of course that they are irrelevant, as very few people would treat their car badly enough to get the same figures as road testers get!!. Also as the use of this extra power probably only occurs occasionaly in comparison to "normal" driving, the extra wear and fuel consumption is negligable. So in answer to your question, yes I would think you could definitley tell the difference between a chipped elan and an unchipped one
Dave

[Monty]

So in answer to your question, yes I would think you could definitley tell the difference between a chipped Elan and an unchipped one
Dave

Most defenently

When went to purchased Pinky II (all standard) and took it for a test drive i thought boy this is slow, soon as i got home the Everest chip was installed

[XiPHiAS]

I had serveral chipped cars in the past but it where diesel cars (Audi 80, A4 TDi and BMW E46 320d) and one non turbo (BMW E46 325Ci). I know my Audi's went faster (90 to +-120hp) and I could feel the extra power.

It is the first time I will doing chiptuning on a turbo petrol car.

[XiPHiAS]

Most defenently

When went to purchased Pinky II (all standard) and took it for a test drive i thought boy this is slow, soon as i got home the Everest chip was installed

Standard Elan slow ?
You make me curious when I have installed the mountain chip

[theelanman]

ah.....but dont forget monty went from a car with with an everest to a car without......

hence why he had a chip ready......

[XiPHiAS]

ah.....but dont forget monty went from a car with with an everest to a car without......

hence why he had a chip ready......

sounds nice :p

[RayD]

I don’t doubt the performance is improved by fitting a chip...

I've only been trying to understand when the improvement shows itself, and if it only applies to driving flat out.

I bet someone who knows what they are doing with ElanScan could find some figures to compare with these from a non chipped engine.

It seems a standard car will accelerate from 60mph to 70 in 3rd in 1.8 seconds.

Ray

[XiPHiAS]

Installed the Mountainchip today ...

DAMN, it feels like I have a totally different car!

I just did a testdrive and switched trough the different 'tuned' maps on the switcher... And it al goes well

I'm off for another drive, I cant stay inside now with this good weather and my 'tuned' Elan

More toughts and feelings, tonite when the fuel is out

[XiPHiAS]

Ok, fuel is running out and the Elan is back in my Garage ...

After a good drive, for me the Mountain chip is giving me the biggest smile on my birthday ever. Like I posted before the chip is AWESOME.
The car accelerate so much more aggressive.

I am so happy I ordered the switcher so I can compare between the mappings and run on the original map also.

But I think it can be a little bit more, so I'm looking for a K&N replacement airfilter at this moment ...

Tomorrow I planned a bigger and longer trip to check the modifications. I will also run some ElanScans to see everything is going well.

Update tomorrow.

[Doug]

We all knew you'd feel that way!

Drive safely

[ailwyn]

I bet someone who knows what they are doing with ElanScan could find some figures to compare with these from a non chipped engine.

Ray,

Probably not as accurate as your ES data, but this post certainly seems to demonstrate the difference.

Ailwyn

[Elanlover]

'Tis heaven