Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Tip Chips,
but Were Afraid to Ask...

       Let me start off by saying I’m not a mechanic, I’m not a tuner, and I’m not affiliated in any way with GIAC (Garrett) and/or AWE.  What follows is merely my personal experiences, opinions, and seat-of-the-pants impressions of the GIAC (Garrett) Tip Chip which was installed by Todd at AWE in my 1998 Passat. So, before you install that tip chip, I urge you to consult with Garrett Lim, Todd at AWE, your mechanic, your tuner, your priest, or whomever you think is an expert on the topic because, I'm telling you up front, I'm NOT an expert... I'm just a guy that owns a tip chip.

www.awe-tuning.com      ===> AWE
www.giacusa.com           ===> Garrett

        The reason I wrote this document was because of the numerous inquiries I've seen regarding opinions on the tip chip on the various VW forums.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to put as much info on the topic as possible in one convenient place.  What follows is a working definition of tip chip, copies of a couple of posts I made to various threads regarding the tip chip, a section that covers most of the FAQ's about tip chips I've seen, and some installation tips.

So, What is a Tip Chip Anyway?
The tip chip is a completely separate chip from the engine chip you always hear so much about.  It goes in the TCM (tiptronic computer module) instead of the ECU.  It increases shifting performance in both auto and tiptronic modes.  In tiptronic mode it reduces the shift delay from ~1 sec. between shifts to ~0.2 secs.  Redline, or "dummy," up-shift points in tiptronic mode are also increased.

October 11, 1999: First Impressions
Had a VW weekend.  On Friday, I visited Todd at AWE and had my Garrett tip chip installed.  If you have a tip, you should really get this mod!  Shifting is much much crisper even in full auto mode.  Press the throttle quickly and the car shifts into sport mode immediately.  Launches are much improved, not nearly as much torque converter delay (still wait for the turbo though).  In tiptronic mode... well, what can I say... this is how a tip should shift!  Up and downshifts are greatly improved.  The tip actually shifts right when you tell it too!  No more d@mn delay!  Woo Hoo!  I never liked the tiptronic mode much before because I felt I didn't have enough control over the shifts.  I didn't like having to time my shifts a second or two before I wanted the gear.  Garrett's chip solved that problem!  Now I get the gear when I shift.  The shifting is not harsh at all.  Still very driveable.  There is no feeling of slamming from one gear to the next (something I was concerned about).  The best way to describe it is that the shifting is much crisper.  Not harsh at all.  I highly recommend this mod for all drivers of the tiptronic.  You will not regret it.  IMHO, the price is cheap compared to the vast improvement in shifting performance.

Get this, Todd didn't even have the tip chip in stock for my particular tip box (I was very late in getting Todd the numbers from my tip box... I had trouble finding the d@mn thing!) so Garrett Lim emailed the program for my tip to Todd Friday morning from California and Todd burned me a chip before I ever arrived.  Talk about customer service!  Plus, while I was watching Todd remove the oem chip, Garrett called to make sure Todd got the program and to see if the install went/was going ok.  How many other companies would do this for $250?

The price is $250.  You must send in your tip ecu.  It will be socketed, have the Garrett tip chip installed, and your stock tip chip will also be returned to you.

This was the first time I met Todd in person (although I've talked to him on the phone a lot) and I've got to tell you, he's really a class act.  He let me watch him do all the work, including all the soldering, and he did a great job.  Even showed my wife how to swap chips!  I talked to him about some other mods I was considering and he gave me honest answers to all of my questions.  Never tried to "sell" me anything, so to speak, just gave me his opinion and the reasons why he held that opinion.  For example, when I would mention any particular mod Todd would ask me questions designed to elicit what I was trying to achieve with the mod.  He seemed honestly more interested in helping me attain the performance I desired rather than in just trying to make a sale.  I found that very refreshing.  Todd impressed me as a guy that just loves to work on these vehicles and wants his customers to be happy.

March 1, 2000: Living the High Life
Having lived with the tip chip for a while now I'd still recommend it for anyone with a tiptronic tranny.  Full auto mode is just much better than stock.  Both in performance and in smoothness, IMHO.  Tip mode shifts are all faster than stock... although, I've noticed that sometimes shifts are slower than others.  In other words, sometimes almost instantaneous... sometimes a bit longer, but always faster than stock.

Don't get too caught up with the performance increase... this mod is smooth as silk and totally driveable for owners of all driving styles.  All the tiptronic idiosyncrasies remain... the kick down down shift while in tip mode, the redline upshift (although the upshift does occur later in the rpm band with the tip chip), etc.  I've had the tip chip for about 10K trouble free miles.  Others have had it longer.  I'd buy it again.

March 16, 2000: Some Words of Wisdom
My impressions are all seat-of-the-pants.  I am not a mechanic so I can't tell you exactly what Garrett did or what the tip chip changes.  What I can tell you is how Garrett and Todd responded to my questions.  One of my biggest concerns prior to getting my tip chipped was regarding longevity of the transmission after chipping it.  In this regard, Garrett Lim advised me that VW actually writes faster shifting code into European tiptronics than they do for the tips sent to North America.  Apparently, VW was concerned the "Buick drivers" would be put off by an automatic that actually performed so the shifting program was "detuned" for our market.  I talked to Todd about all the things I heard regarding how fragile the tiptronic was.  Todd basically laughed and said he had heard that too.  He went on to say it=s not as fragile as people say it is and that it is in fact a very robust transmission.  He said he=s seen a lot of tips with the PES supercharger who haven=t had any tranny problems.  He told me certainly not to worry about the tip chip, once I have the tip chip installed I'll see how smooth it is.  He was right.

One thing that really needs to be stressed is that the tip chip is SMOOTH.  Probably smother than stock.  Yes, faster smoother shifts!  There is no harshness to it at all.  The change it makes is much more subtle than the tire smoking change the engine chip makes.  I honestly believe that if I had purchased my tip chip at the same time I purchased the Stage 1.5, I would not have noticed how much difference the tip chip makes... it's subtle changes may have been drowned out by the horsepower increase.  I had been driving the Stage 1.5 for a couple months with a stock tip before I upgraded to Garrett=s tip chip so the difference the tip chip made really made a strong and favorable impression on me (as you can tell from my October impressions!).  To be honest, at this point it=s hard for me to remember how the stock tip performed so my immediate October impressions are probably the most accurate.  I assure you, when my wife gets her Passat Wagon she'll be getting both of Garrett=s chips.

You should  note that no other tuner produces a tip chip.  Rumors abound as to why.  Some say no-one, but Garrett knows how.  Others say its because the tip chip is too dangerous.  What ever the reason, I am aware of no recorded transmission problems due to using the tip chip.  Garrett and Todd also told me there were no problems that they were aware of resulting from the use of the tip chip.  Having had the tip chip for a while now, this information isn't particularly surprising.  There is simply nothing harsh about it (using my seat-of-the-pants gauge).  I doubt very much that the tip chip places any significant amount of stress on the transmission.  Certainly less stress than a 1.0 bar chip places on the turbo, IMHO.

As of this writing, there is no TCM/tip chip combo available.  In other words, the tip chip goes in your stock TCM unless you buy a spare TCM yourself.

I waited until 10K miles before I did any chip mods to my Passat.  Many people successfully chip at 5K.  Some even right away.  Others wait until after the 2 year/24K warranty expires.  Some people simply won't chip.  The reason I waited was because I wanted to be sure I had no (stock) engine, turbo, or transmission problems before I did anything that would jeopardize my warranty.  I firmly believe that VW will (at least initially) refuse to honor any warranty repairs to the engine or transmission if they discover a vehicle has been chipped whether the chip actually caused the problem or not.  So, should a problem occur after you chip (not that it's likely), you should be prepared to take legal action to enforce the warranty and/or pay for the repairs out of your own pocket... IMHO.

Installation Tips   (Get it?!?!? "Tips")
I had my tip chip installed at AWE (in Philadelphia) while I waited since I could not have down time.  If you don't have someone install it for you, you will have to send your Tiptronic Computer Module (TCM) in to Garrett or one of his retailers (I recommend AWE).  You will need to give them the numbers off your TCM before you send it in.  By the way, make sure you tell them you're sending it before you just plop it in the mail. ;-)  There are some instructions on Garrett's and AWE's web site about how to get to the TCM out, but these are a little more explicit.

The TCM is located in the floor (actually it IS the floor) directly in front of the passenger seat.  It is housed in a black weather proof box that is about 15"x8"x2" This is how you get to it:

First: Remove the passenger side kick panel.  This is a vertical plastic panel located under the dash board directly in front of the frontmost edge of the passenger side front door.  It's held on by one covered screw and one plastic clip located behind the panel and above the screw (the A4 has two screws).  After removing the screw gently pop off the clip so as not to damage it.

Second: Remove the door/floor edge trim.  This is the long plastic piece that runs from the kick panel along the bottom of the door to the pillar between the front and back doors.  It holds the carpet down.  The door/floor edge trim is held in place by several plastic clips.  To remove, pull up on the trim firmly but gently so as not to break any of the clips.  You dont have to take it all the way off.  Just pop up all the clips from the kick panel back to the pillar.

Third: Reach WAY under the carpet and locate the large black box.  Find the front of the box (the edge nearest to the front of the car).  Remove the box from its floor clip by pulling the front of the box up and forward (towards the front of your car) at the same time.  Once the box is released from the floor clip the wires are long enough that you can pull the entire box out from under the carpet.

Fourth: There is a plastic clip on one edge of the box.  Pop it open and the box opens like a clam shell.  Inside you=ll see a metallic silver box.  That is the TCM.  Copy down the numbers on the label for Garrett, or your Garrett distributor.

Fifth: If you're sending in your TCM you need to remove the wiring harness.  Its a little different than the ECU harness.  One edge of the wiring harness has a small metal clip on it that is hooked to the TCM.  Unlatch this clip.  You may notice the other edge of the harness has sort of a "hinge" on it.  Once the clip is loose, the harness is removed by pulling on the harness on the clip side and  sort of "rotating" the harness away from the TCM using the hinge as the point of rotation until all the pins are free.  Careful with those pins!