One of these days I will possibly consider getting my Fab RS chipped, but whats the likelihood of a chip reducing the engine life due to increased wear? Are there any other problems that users of chipped cars have encountered?

I will probably wait until its got at least 20k miles on, is this a good idea? (Not that I've got that much choice as I cant afford it right now).

Whats the damage with insurance?

yes it does.

so does driving the std car hard.

so does not driving the car much at all.

you cant win.

Also, isnt chipping bound to dramatically increase wear on other parts of the car, such as clutch, brakes, etc?

I've always been very anti-modding to be honest, although it is tempting to get extra power easily, but part of me thinks if I'd really wanted improved performance and whatever else, then I should have bought a faster car to start with (like a CTR, Clio 182 etc...).

It's more about how you drive it than the chip itself...

The chip doesn't make the car drive itself harder, only you can do that!

Rob.

I wouldn't wait until 20K to get it done, just make sure it's nicely run in (5K in my case, but i'm impatient...)

As for shortening the life of the engine, how long do you plan to keep the car?

Once the initial rush of the extra performance wears off, you'll find yourself driving "normally" anyway, but with an extra bit of go when needed

No need to worry IMHO

The chip works within the engines built in safety margin, ie the basic parts of the pd130 are also in the pd150, so the 130 engine should handle close to what the 150 can. Also as diesels work under higher pressure than petrols, the internals are stronger anyway so they should be able to handle over 220bhp (as Ross Clarkes does IIRC). When it comes to engine wear, as long as you don't thrash it to bits, the engines life will not be affected and could even be lengthened as you will be using the engine at lower revs for the same speed, (this also helps with fuel economy).

You guys re-assure me, but surely the cars clutch and other parts are only designed for standard power (maybe I'm just being dumb, but I know nothing about the internal working of cars)?

You guys re-assure me, but surely the cars clutch and other parts are only designed for standard power (maybe I'm just being dumb, but I know nothing about the internal working of cars)?

As long as you are not rinsing about like a madman, then there is no worries, the clutch wear depends on how you drive, and there is the traction control to help as well if you leave it on.

As long as you are not rinsing about like a madman, then there is no worries, the clutch wear depends on how you drive, and there is the traction control to help as well if you leave it on.

Define madman... I certainly do drive quite hard sometimes, regularly pulling off hard and revving to redline (in every gear) -- not always, but when I drive hard, I REALLY drive hard

But then red lining it before you pull away, will wear out the clutch quickly anyway. If the traction control light comes on, then you are putting down more torque than the clutch/gearbox can handle at the time and wearing the clutch out quicker.

Methought ASR measured wheel slippage (by comparing wheel speeds) rather than clutch slippage?

Agreed clutches will wear out quickly if used for traffic light Grands Prix.

At the end of the day, as has been said previously, it's all down to how you drive.

If you rag your motor, regardless of whether it's mapped or not, the wear rate increases.

As way of an example Jon (TaviaRS) did some 120k miles in his, mildy modified Octy. This included a fair few track miles. It only went pop due to a misdiagnosed problem by his dealer.

As Geoff said, once the novelty has worn off you'll go back to driving "sensibly"....it's nice to have the extra power when needed or if you just want to play.

But then red lining it before you pull away, will wear out the clutch quickly anyway. If the traction control light comes on, then you are putting down more torque than the clutch/gearbox can handle at the time and wearing the clutch out quicker.

Hehe, well I am not that bad, there doesnt seem much point in redlining before I pull off, but certainly pull about 2000 rpm - I normally always turn the traction off, and I rarely spin the wheels. Anyway, it seems like there isnt too much risk, so it may be something I look to in the future when I have a few quid going spare.