You still will need a chip. The AVC-R is just a boost controller, but it dosent interface with the ECU in any way. You can increase the boost to about 12psi, but that's about it. The computer will shut the engine down if it detects boost going any higher. A chip will allow you to bypass this function of the ECU, plus it has different fuel and ignition maps optimized for running higher than stock boost. Believe it or not there is a noticable performance increase between running 12psi on the stock ecu and 12psi on an upgraded one.