How many of you guys have had a chip upgrade done? Seems like the most logical course of action to get better performance at this time. :drivingskid:
It is certainly the easiest, but be careful. The one I was thinking of doing (I forget the ECU chip right now) voids the warranty. Do your research before you do something and make sure the chip upgrade doesn't void your warranty.
Color me skeptical. I can't find a copy of article any more, but I'm pretty sure there's got to be a copy floating about out there on the web. Quite some time ago (maybe too long ago to be relevant any longer), Car&Driver or Road& Track tried to do piece on the "benefits" of n/a (naturally aspirated) engine chip "tuning" As I recall they selected two vehicles for which there were a number tuning house "chips" on offer ~ a BMW 3 serries of some type, and the Chevy Corvette. After swapping the chips in, and running the cars on both chassis dynos and, I think, 1/4tr miles as well as fuel mileage test loops, the concluded 90% of all the chips at BEST did no worse the the OEM manufactures setup, and a substantial portion, i.e., MOST turned in worse results.
As I recall, something like only one (1) of the setups, Dinan's, actually made more horsepower, and that was attributed to the Dinan's willingness to bump the rev limiter 500rpm past the factory set limits.
Now with forced induction engines, i.e. superchargers or turbos, all bets are off. The tuners can easily offer substantially more power than what the factory engineers in consultation with the warranty and accounting departments will give you, mostly because they can simply shave more of the safety margin the manufacture insists on maintaining by limiting boost.
Unless you've got mechanical modifications to your naturally aspirated motor to go along with a chip tuner's "chip" I'm very skeptical that you've done anything better than what the factory engineers have been able to accomplish with the 1,000 of hours and litterally millions of $$$ spent on doing the factory ECU setups in 99% of cars.
But hey, I'd like to feel better about the last $1,000+ I spent on changing stuff on my car too :beer: I'd suggest using a lot of caution before believing every chip tuning claim you hear. Better yet do your own before/after dyno runs or 1/4tr mile times and report back to us with the results.
A chip as commonly known is really a reflash of the DME. It changes the default values the system uses for air fuel ect. The federal government mandates many things in testing to ensure emissions are going to pas in Alaska and the desert. You will not find a big boost of power unless the car can make use of this. I would go first with a desnork and cold air intake. This is a cheap way of getting a few HP. the evo one is great and an easy install. The next would be an exhaust, then a reputable chip. The only chip I know that works is the GIAC one that is remarketed by a few other names. These are also street recommendations as for the track or autocross alignments and pads are way more bang for the buck
THere are dyno charts on this site for various GIAC flashes and I think a couple of Revo ones as well. I know GIAC makes more power across the whole power band and considerably more torque down low.
i did custom chip...
you know, it shift faster, but i really don't feel the difrence in hp... the guy who chip it said that maybe 10-15 hp is hard to be noticed...
Not necessarily. Piggybacks are common. See UNICHIP.
FYI ...
Authority
has been chipping cars for a long time and claims 17 bhp for the CS
And Authority is offering $100 under their specials tab!!
And there is no way you will get a 17hp gain from either a program or a piggyback chip (piggyback chips usually arent done anymore after recent DME design changes as flashing is the better way to go). I'll bet you $100 you don't get 17hp gain.
I also know that the GIAC chip is only 995 and have seen there real world performance. while there HP claims are modest it is a definate differance but again without the proper breathing most chips are not living up to potential
My dealer is hosting our local PCA club's concours next month. Dealer will have a Revo guy there to flash our cars on a trial basis (free, for a few hours). Should be interesting.
==RedEye
