After-maket Computer Chips To Enhance Performance

Down-sides: 1. Not legal for street use in North America. (Can significantly impact emissions). 2. Can, and most likely will, adversely impact some aspects of performance. 3. May not deliver on any of the claims. 4. Expensive.

Richard.

significantly

Also: may reduce overall durability of engine and driveline.

--Geoff

The story is simply this - the factory stock computer is programmed for optimal engine efficiency with the use of the standard garbage-grade 87 octane fuel. (ie: Regular) Normally, if you put high-test 91-93 octane fuel in the car, you get no horsepower benefits.

What the performance enhancing chips mostly do is tune the engine for 91-93 octane fuel. Thus if you use the cheaper 87 octane fuel the engine develops less power than the factory chip, but if you run 91-93 octane then the engine develops more power than the factory chip.

Most of the performance enhancing chips also remove any rev and speed limiters that may be in the factory chip, so if you can only go 100Mph with the accellerator nailed to the floor, now you can perhaps go 120Mph.

Of course, the higher octane fuel costs more, so what it boils down to is if you want more power you pay more money. There's no magic bullet here.

Ted