D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

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disco stu
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D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by disco stu »

i was really curious how my car would drive after i installed the chip. to be honest if i wasnt really paying attention, it didnt SEEM different. i could tell a change, but as you should expect when installing a chip, wasnt smokey burnout impressve. duh.

im doing the Miller MAF conversion so to help fund it i sold my EAT chip to a board member. So obviously im putting the stock chip back in.


i do so, start it up. dosnt seem much different. idles about the same, revvd about the same.

pull out of my driveway, drives pretty much exactly like it did with the EAT chip....for about 1/4 of a mile. Then it hit like a ton of bricks. It idled worse, throttle response was TERRIBLE. And most noticeable of all. There was no top end whatsoever.

it was a completely different car

I would highly recommend the EAT cheap by Mark D'sylva.
Brad D.
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Post by Brad D. »

It is quite amazing how accustomed to power you become. What seems fast one day feels mundane a week later. That's the biggest problem with a boost controller that is adjustable from inside the car.....
Bennetts22
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Post by Bennetts22 »

does he make a chip for the M5?
turbodan
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Post by turbodan »

Bennetts22 wrote:does he make a chip for the M5?
If he doesn't I know Conforti does.

Chips are chips. I dont think any of them suck. You pick up a lot of power with a chip in a US M5/M6...
disco stu
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Post by disco stu »

im pretty sure he did because there was supposed to be a group buy and almost nobody bought them.


at least thats what i thought i heard
tsmall07
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Post by tsmall07 »

turbodan wrote:
Chips are chips.
Not true. I've driven my car with Dinan, Conforti and EAT powered computers swapped in. There are very noticeable differences between them and the EAT is the star.
Rich Euro M5
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Post by Rich Euro M5 »

Bennetts22 wrote:does he make a chip for the M5?
Mark did the development work, then nobody bought the chip. Since he has the code Mark can burn a chip for the US/NA M5.

Rich
rodpaine
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Post by rodpaine »

I tested all three in my 528e and commented here about 2/3 of the way down the page. The biggest problem I've seen in other 528es that the owner has installed a chip in, is the poor state of tune the 528e is in and the resultant poor or mediocre performance the chip is blamed on. Unfortunately, this is in the majority of cases I've been asked about or have looked at. Tune it to a sharp edge and a chip will put a grin on your face, otherwise, no.
FWIW,
-Rod
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Post by turbodan »

tsmall07 wrote:
turbodan wrote:Chips are chips.
Not true. I've driven my car with Dinan, Conforti and EAT powered computers swapped in. There are very noticeable differences between them and the EAT is the star.
I'll take it from a dyno. Its hard to distinguish a few HP with a butt dyno, and thats going to be the difference between chips.
tsmall07
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Post by tsmall07 »

turbodan wrote: I'll take it from a dyno. Its hard to distinguish a few HP with a butt dyno, and thats going to be the difference between chips.
A chip is abotu more than just HP. Its also about throttle response, smootheness of power, and when the power is adjusted.

The Dinan and Conforti do absolutely nothing south of 3000rpm and they fall off approaching 6000rpm. The EAT chip increases power through the whole range. The EAT chip also smoothes out the whole range of power.
wkohler
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Post by wkohler »

I agree with Tyler on that. I had never driven a car with a Conforti chip, but the D'Sylva chip was leaps and bounds better than the Dinan, but the Miller is leaps and bounds better than the D'Sylva - but it requires more modification, mang.
rodpaine
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Post by rodpaine »

turbodan wrote:I'll take it from a dyno. Its hard to distinguish a few HP with a butt dyno, and thats going to be the difference between chips.
Yes, it is hard to feel a performance increase and it doesn't come without a lot of time in competition. Decades ago when I was in my late teens and early twenties racing fuel dragsters and Hemi muscle cars, I could tell you when I knew a run was two-tenths of a second faster, by what I felt. Now, as an old fart, it probably takes the better part of a second to feel an increase, if there is one. But it still works and for the younger folks here, who've had some competitive wheel time, they no doubt can feel it, too. Never underestimate the Butt Dyno. For many, it gets us close when we don't have access to the rollers to get it in print.
FWIW,
-Rod
Mike W.
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Post by Mike W. »

I'll take it from a dyno. Its hard to distinguish a few HP with a butt dyno, and thats going to be the difference between chips.
I'll disagree, unless you're racing, the butt dyno is what it's all about. It can also bring up the torque/HP equation, but lets face it, unless it's competition, how it feels is what counts. Maybe a few stoplight grand prixs, but really it's how it feels or makes us feel that counts. And I think you can feel minor changes, take adjusting the timing on a car with a conventional distributor, a few degrees one way or another can make a HUGE difference in feel. Even though I bet peak HP didn't change much.
SeattleGuy
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Re:

Post by SeattleGuy »

Mike W. wrote:
I'll take it from a dyno. Its hard to distinguish a few HP with a butt dyno, and thats going to be the difference between chips.
I'll disagree, unless you're racing, the butt dyno is what it's all about. It can also bring up the torque/HP equation, but lets face it, unless it's competition, how it feels is what counts. Maybe a few stoplight grand prixs, but really it's how it feels or makes us feel that counts. And I think you can feel minor changes, take adjusting the timing on a car with a conventional distributor, a few degrees one way or another can make a HUGE difference in feel. Even though I bet peak HP didn't change much.
Zombie thread but +1 on this. I am finally ordering my EAT chip tomorrow and hopefully front Billies and some dog bones and a UUC shifter and that will be The Program for the summer. By fall comes Guibo, Center Bearing and a stereo.

As to your point on twisting the dizzy, yes on my A1/A2 GTi/GLi's you wanted to twist it just a hair, take a jeweler's screw driver to make a mark at the original timing but yes it felt markedly different and better with a tad of an advance even if you lost a little bit on the very top. I can't wait to pop that chip in next week though. My other 535s had them, both JC.
dspock
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by dspock »

Didn’t know you could still get these from Mark.

Thanks for bringing this one back from the dead.

Guess I need to figure out which DME I have!

- Dave
SeattleGuy
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by SeattleGuy »

Yup, word..... I think the main reason it's a zombie thread is because many of us have had the same car(s) for awhile and already have them. But this one is a newbie to me and I had a long gap in E28 ownership so I was still on the JC tip that I had in my last one. Nothing wrong with those at all and my recollection tells me it felt a hair stronger up top but that could just be down to individual cars and a 10 year-old memory from my last 535. There is no question that this one is demonstrably stronger down low and mid.

But yes, he's in my old State and town of Columbus, Ohio (his distributor is) and he will serve you up!
jhh925
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by jhh925 »

I'm not sure it's relevant for this thread, but one thing to keep in mind that Mark's chips (and logically I'd think pretty much all of these chips) only adjust fuel & timing for the WOT maps. Unless you're WOT, all the maps are literally identical to the maps in a stock chip. You won't feel anything unless you're deep enough into the throttle to trigger the WOT switch ... and until you get there, there's nothing to feel.
BillW in StL
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by BillW in StL »

And what if I removed my WOT switch on the floor when swapping in a 5-speed?
BMWCCA2
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by BMWCCA2 »

That's the transmission kick-down!


St. Louis? What high-school? :rofl:
BillW in StL
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Re: D'sylva EAT chip review, from a downgrade perspective.

Post by BillW in StL »

Oh yes, kickdown. Also a good NOS trigger.
I have seen confusion as to whether the manual and automatic Throttle Pos. Switches (they are different) both send WOT signal to ECU.
Lindbergh HS
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