It's overly-exagerated in the VW world, especially since motors like my 1.8t are so prone to coking/sludge.

Most VW people don't have a CLUE about the real workings of turbo cars compared to this DSM crowd. The 'chip' is exactly what Rob said it is, a way to get more power without really getting your hands dirty. But they charge you an arm and a leg for it and largely, IT'S NOT USER ADJUSTABLE. Anyone who ever cracks the CPU code immediately re-encrypts it so it can't be copied, so they can re-sell it for a similar markup.

WAY unlike the multitude of tools available to tune DSMs. The VW chips are SO restrictive that they don't even permit MBCs (to a point) or ANY type of 'add-on' devices, like an S-AFC or whatnot. Want a bigger turbo (VW guys consider a T25 big.)? Prepare to pay $1000 for a completely new program. It's not that the concept of a 'chip' is bad, but it was tried in the DSM world (remember JET?) and rejected. With extra control, you can get so much MORE power for your money...

There are some manual tools, like Lemmiwinks, but 'the crowd' immediately screams, "NO! You might hurt something!!!"