1999 Passat 1.8 t

If its a 99 your options are a bit more limited AFAIK. Upsolute may be about the only one (although I think there may be one other if the truth be known). Others are GIAC, APR, REVO & Wettaur (SP?).

The reason for the limitation is that on the 98/99 cars you need to solder a new chip into the ECU - on the later cars the existing ECU can be reprogrammed in situ . GIAC, REVO, Wett etc are only available via reprogramming AFAIK.

The process will be that you need to either get someone round to your car to do it (or take your car into a specialist.dealer) or, in some cases, you can send your ECU away for a few days & they will programme it & send it back,

Expect an uplift from 150bhp to just short of 200 and, alledgedly, a reliable and smooth power delivery. Torque goes up to something like 240 ftlbs. The only other thing you may have to change is the DV (diverter valve) and you can either use one from an Audi TT or alternatively buy something like the Forge unit. These are not terribly expensive.

The internals of a 1.8T are reckoned to be able to take 275bhp+ (the weak point being the con rods) so you are well within this. It is, after all, basically the same engine as is in the Audi TT 225. Engine life should not be dramaically shortened if you drive sensibly and, indeed, you may well see some improvement in fuel economy by all accounts.

Before you do this I'd have a think/look around the rest of your car. If its got 120K+ on it I'd be disinclined to go this route - find a younger car. Also look at your brakes, tyres, transmission, clutch, turbo etc. - these will need to be in good shape - particularly the turbo/clutch/transmission - you will be asking a lot more of all of them if you intend to really use the additional grunt. Also make sure your engine is basically in good shape i.e. no sludging issues (maybe run an Auto RX clean before you get it chipped) & also no other issues like worn cam chain tensioners (a persistant rattle at idle from the back of the cylinder head).

You may also consider stiffening up the suspension - 200bhp is quite a lot to put down through the front wheels. You shouldn't need to upgrade the brakes as long as they are in good working order - the Passat stops very well as it is. Wider tyres on something like 17/18" rims would help to put the power down better as well of course.

Expect to follow rigorous oil change routines - no more than 3-5K miles & make sure you use the bigger oil filter that's now specified in the USA and something like Mobil 1. Also make sure you are more dilligent about letting your car idle for a couple of minutes (before switch off) after its been used hard to let the turbo cool down properly - it will be getting somewhat hotter than it used to & if you don't you risk sldging and/or killing your turbo.

All that said, given the money that it costs it is the most ridiculous uplift in power for the cost in terms of the $/£ per Hp - I've never seen anything as good - the B5/B5.5 1.8T Passats are real "sleepers" in this regard.

Hop on over to the forums at

& - there's loads of people who have had this done & are very happy with it. A few have turned up problems on older cars - MAF sensors, vaccum leaks etc.

One last thing, don't forget to check with your insurers what this will do to your premium - depending on your age it might not be nice! Its something I'm currently considering doing myself. My car is a 98 with 69K miles on it.

HTH , rgds

I.