Revo People

[Dompiece]

I am having my Labree cat-back installed on saturday. They have Revo software that I am thinking about getting, but my gut feeling is that $600 bucks is not worth the performance gain. Will somone please convince me to get the Revo software. thx in advance

[skiaudi]

there is no performance mod that will afford you more performance for your money than a chip. the horsepower gain with a chip is at least 4x what you get from an exhaust, and a chip also gives you better gas mileage.

[nimski62]

...http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ighlight=b00st

Nuff' said

[Dompiece]

^ I said convince me to get it! lol

[tadhgbrosnan]

From what I understand, if you do a FULL exhaust, then a chip is necessary to eliminate CELs and "reprogram" the car to run efficiently with the new downpipes. As I understand it, this is the primary reason to reflash the V8 S4s.

[Dompiece]

looks like I am going to save my $$$... unless anyone who has it wants to give a possitive review?

[EuroB6]

...http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ighlight=b00st

Nuff' said

his car didnt respond well to the mods...get it, just for the increased red line limit and crisper throttle response...600 is worth that

[b00st]

his car didnt respond well to the mods...get it, just for the increased red line limit and crisper throttle response...600 is worth that

i wouldn't say his car didn't respond to the mods...this isn't like a heart transplant. what i've known is that the B6 S4 is well tuned from the factory.

higher redline doesn't necessarily translate into any gain...its great on paper. but same model vs same model. didn't mean anything...sure maybe against a different car with the powerband tapering off in the higher end. but the extra 500rpms didn't do anything for him.

there is definitely throttle response increase and with REVO you can select it. from 0-9. 9 being a very hard on/off type of situation. good for track/auto-x. my brothers was set to 6. but throttle response was perceived as gains which is understandable. but doesn't necessarily translate into any gain horsepower.

you will not gain any MPGs with chip...at least revos....if anything you will lose MPGs. since you bump up the timing and gas...its doubtful of better MPGs. i was pretty much loyal to GIAC for about 5yrs on my A4...i've been through pretty much very file offered. even non-public ones. the flashes work on turbo cars but on the S4. not so much. if anything you can try it...but honestly don't except to be faster because of it. i know people see american muscle and they do bolt ons and get gains from just swapping mufflers...that just means they had very restrictive exhaust. their reflashes do give them a little gain...because the car had a little more room for improvement. the B6 S4 is pretty much tuned to the hilt from factory...no need to leave room. the germans squeezed it out. you see similar things in most of the BMW NA applications. some exhaust on some models gain 1whp and lose 2wtq. so chips give them 3hp. big deal...for the price...3whp isn't noticeable.

Get DPs if you get anything. don't even worry about cat backs. you will get sound and you will get performance.

[91gl]

i did the revo and it was well worth the money. the car feels so much smoother and the higher rev limit is nice

[JoeM]

Helps keep the TQ curve smooth and bumps the redline a little.

[ZONAWILDCATS4]

I returned my Revo chip. Initially I thought it was helping but it was the adjusted throttle response that changed...not that it gave me more hp/performance, and if it did, is 10 hp worth $600 to you. I couldn't tell the difference beyond the adjusted throttle response.

[Dompiece]

$600 bucks for no gain in power? sounds like a waste of money to me. Maybe I don't understand how the difference in throttle response feels. Does it make the car more fun to drive? or is it just a trick to make us think the car is faster?

[91gl]

it is not like a turbo car gain but you do feel it. 600 bucks for 10 hp? people are paying 1600 for dp's which yield you about the same. so yes it is worth it

[CanuckRS]

save your money, it's not worth the price IMO.

[b00st]

it is not like a turbo car gain but you do feel it. 600 bucks for 10 hp? people are paying 1600 for dp's which yield you about the same. so yes it is worth it

this can be debated all day. and its 10CHP supposedly. no dynos are produced by the companies to show it. it more like 1whp if any at all...

zona is referring to the dbw lag...we you nail the gas...there is a delay...apparently more in the S4 than other cars. so the chip adjusts the delay....

how bout we stick to putting out facts about the products and let them decide. telling someone YOU WILL GET 10HP for 600 bucks isn't necessarily true.

and the DPs will probably yield you 10-15awhp. as opposed to what crank hp they are rating the chips at.

[AtotheS]

I have the Revo software and think it is worth the money. I am not going to sit here and tell you it was a night and day difference, but all of the positive reviews above spell it out; better throttle response, higher redline (not that big a deal), and additional horsepower.

Now depending on how well your shop knows how to tune using the software, you can get more than 10chp out of the chip. The revo chip (and I am sure others do as well) allow for tuneability in terms of air/fuel ratio and timing. The tuning shop I was chipped at did me the favor of dynoing before the chip, after the chip with no adjustments, then dynoing after the chip and adjusting timing and air/fuel ratio. He was able to get 26hp to the wheels after the adjustments. I did go in with full exhaust, so there may be some debate whether the chip was actually getting back HP or TQ that was lost when getting the fullback installed. I cannot confirm nor deconfirm this as I did not dyno before and after exhaust install. The tuner did say that with these cars, if you do install downpipes that it is beneficial to chip them. Whether he was saying this to make me feel better about my purchase, who knows?

I would also like to dispel myths about getting CELs after a DP install, and needing software to mitigate that. I had DPs on for a couple of months prior to getting the revo chip, and got no CEL. I think it is rather arbitrary, and a lot of times the switching of the O2 sensors that causes this CEL. Not everyone who gets DPs gets a CEL, and in fact I would guess that only a minority of the people get them and even fewer number get them after a successful install.

[b00st]

I have the Revo software and think it is worth the money. I am not going to sit here and tell you it was a night and day difference, but all of the positive reviews above spell it out; better throttle response, higher redline (not that big a deal), and additional horsepower.

Now depending on how well your shop knows how to tune using the software, you can get more than 10chp out of the chip. The revo chip (and I am sure others do as well) allow for tuneability in terms of air/fuel ratio and timing. The tuning shop I was chipped at did me the favor of dynoing before the chip, after the chip with no adjustments, then dynoing after the chip and adjusting timing and air/fuel ratio. He was able to get 26hp to the wheels after the adjustments. I did go in with full exhaust, so there may be some debate whether the chip was actually getting back HP or TQ that was lost when getting the fullback installed. I cannot confirm nor deconfirm this as I did not dyno before and after exhaust install. The tuner did say that with these cars, if you do install downpipes that it is beneficial to chip them. Whether he was saying this to make me feel better about my purchase, who knows?

I would also like to dispel myths about getting CELs after a DP install, and needing software to mitigate that. I had DPs on for a couple of months prior to getting the revo chip, and got no CEL. I think it is rather arbitrary, and a lot of times the switching of the O2 sensors that causes this CEL. Not everyone who gets DPs gets a CEL, and in fact I would guess that only a minority of the people get them and even fewer number get them after a successful install.

i definitely think the full exhaust has something to do with it. no doubts there. so do you know what your overall gain over stock was? 26whp?

[AtotheS]

i definitely think the full exhaust has something to do with it. no doubts there. so do you know what your overall gain over stock was? 26whp?

The overall gain over stock was 26AWHP, which was also after full exhaust had been installed. I had no dyno done before and after exhaust, so perhaps the exhaust did help bring that number higher than it would have been had I still been running stock exhaust.

[b00st]

The overall gain over stock was 26AWHP, which was also after full exhaust had been installed. I had no dyno done before and after exhaust, so perhaps the exhaust did help bring that number higher than it would have been had I still been running stock exhaust.

and this figure sounds around right. from the shops i trust in the area. for a full exhaust and reflash. anywhere from 15awhp - 25awhp over stock. give or take a dyno and the way it reads and your selection of mods GIAC vs REVO vs APR, Milltek vs APR vs AWE vs magnaflow vs etc.

[ZONAWILDCATS4]

it is not like a turbo car gain but you do feel it. 600 bucks for 10 hp? people are paying 1600 for dp's which yield you about the same. so yes it is worth it

$1800 for the Milltek's to gain 10hp...thats even more ridiculous. I guess its a question of value which everyone has their own opinion, to ME its a cost benefit thing.

[b00st]

get your prices right. for milltek DPs...its $1999.
APR is $1159 for DPs.

so for $3000 you can gain from 15awhp-25awhp.
if you do a chip...your gain on stock exhaust is nothing but a better throttle response. with cat back i think it moves up to 3awhp. the DPs are the key to the whole system...and then flash the car....most go with APR cuz they are cheaper. but this again isn't going to bring you from a high 13s to low 13s. definitely not enough power from those mods to yield that big of a difference in ETs.

[Jrunr]

I am getting a Stasis cat-bak, so I was wondering the same thing. Sometimes it is the throttle response and actual drivablilty that really livens things up. However, you have to pay to play. Snub mounts, short shifters, sway bars, etc... None of these things make te car faster, or give it more horsepower, but they add to the driving enjoyment. That is what i am after.
In my opinion, which my not mean much, the true art in modifying the S4 is to be able to add the qualities you like without taking away from the luxuries you have in such an amazing car...

[b00st]

driving experience is part of it. i enjoy it myself.

i think when people are looking for bang for buck...there is no such thing when considering the B6/B7 S4. if money is no object and you don't care if it cost you 5000 and you barely gained anything...little better driving experience and your OK with that....i'm OK with it too.

if we are looking at hard facts and hard numbers.
bang for buck:
ECU REFLASH (as just a reflash and nothing else done): will yield a better throttle response on our dbw system. thats about it. approx. $600

cat back: will yield sound as a stand alone mod....thats about it. Approx $1300. FI is cheaper.

ECU + CB : yields the same as above ($1900 assuming milltek + Revo)

DPs: will yield HP a good 10-15awhp standalone. with CB+ECU...you can yield upto maybe 25awhp. approx. cost using milltek exhaust DPs is 3000.

[SuperAvant]

From what I understand, if you do a FULL exhaust, then a chip is necessary to eliminate CELs and "reprogram" the car to run efficiently with the new downpipes. As I understand it, this is the primary reason to reflash the V8 S4s.

Actually the chip doesnt usually eliminate the CEL's. What it will do is adjust the fuel maps to take advantage of the better exhaust flow but the CEL's are commonly caused by having your o2 sensors switched on install. Usually the code is too lean in Bank 1 and too rich in Bank 2. Or if the cats suck it will cause faults with the 02 sensor over time.