Ordered one today, plus an XLR pedal box - wondered if anyone has experienced any gotchas/observations/tips when fitting a Racechip. TIA.

 

Cheers,

 

Ben.

The pedal box will certainly add to the responsiveness of the car. You can fine tune and then remove the dial when you've found a setting that you're happy with.

I've got their pedal box. It's the 2nd one I've had and I can't fault them.  Very good mod and makes a significant difference to the car.

 

Now their tuning boxes on the other hand I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.  They are supposed to have a lot of QC and poor customer service issues.  Of all the tuning box threads I read it will be either a Race Chip or DTUK box that causes problems and both companies are very quick to start ignoring you, after the fact.  There's at least two 280 users on here that had issues with Racechip tuning boxes.  I've seen similar complaints on VW, Audi and BMW forums too.

 

Personally I would have saved some cash and opted for a Bluespark box or gone for a JB1/4.  Both have a much better rep and the Burger boxes are meant to be one of the best, with excellent customer support. 

12 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

I've got their pedal box. It's the 2nd one I've had and I can't fault them.  Very good mod and makes a significant difference to the car.

 

Now their tuning boxes on the other hand I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.  They are supposed to have a lot of QC and poor customer service issues.  Of all the tuning box threads I read it will be either a Race Chip or DTUK box that causes problems and both companies are very quick to start ignoring you, after the fact.  There's at least two 280 users on here that had issues with Racechip tuning boxes.  I've seen similar complaints on VW, Audi and BMW forums too.

 

Personally I would have saved some cash and opted for a Bluespark box or gone for a JB1/4.  Both have a much better rep and the Burger boxes are meant to be one of the best, with excellent customer support. 

 

Thanks - interesting. I have an option to return within 30 days, so I'll see how I get on. I'm thinking I'll try the chip first and then do the pedal box thingy afterwards, to try and keep my expectation bias in check...

 

 

24 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

There's at least two 280 users on here that had issues with Racechip tuning boxes. 

 

Where did you get that information from, please?

13 minutes ago, Bejam said:

 

Where did you get that information from, please?

On here.  IIRC, one was one of the early 280 L&K drivers and long term Briskodians and one was the guy who tuned his 280 to 560BHP.  In the latter case, it did work to some extent but not to the advertised numbers and performance wasn't consistent, e.g; there was random spikes/drops in power.  Not wanting to totally put a downer on it, apologies if it's come across that way  

 

FWIW, I bought the pedal box I have now from a guy who had it fitted on a Golf R (via ebay) he was open and said the box had a replacement control unit sent to him as it didn't work from new but since then it was fine.  I've had no issues with it in 2 years and the XLR I had previously was also fault free.   I sold it to someone on here who also didn't have any issues. 

 

18 minutes ago, Bejam said:

I'm thinking I'll try the chip first and then do the pedal box thingy afterwards, to try and keep my expectation bias in check.

I would do the opposite.  I've used pedal boxes on cars that have been mapped and/or had boxes fitted and in each case I've had the pedal box on first.  IME it will almost feel like a remap; the significant change in throttle sensitivity gives the perception of extra BHP.  So doing this would be a good indicator if the extra 'vroom' is due to the pedal box or the tuning box. 

 

I removed mine from my 280 a few weeks ago and the car felt like it was towing something, it instantly just felt sluggish. 

5 hours ago, penguin17 said:

Of all the tuning box threads I read it will be either a Race Chip or DTUK box that causes problems and both companies are very quick to start ignoring you, after the fact

My own experience with race chip was very good. My box went wrong and they replaced it straight away and reimbursed me with the shipping costs. I actually got an improved model as well.

I've not got a box on my sportline but I had a DTUK box on my Octavia VRS that I had previously.

 

It was amazing and I had nothing but praise for staff at DTUK.