After-market computer chips for cars

[XMan]

Are these worth the money? Any concerns with warranty violations? Realistically speaking, how much extra "oomph" can you get?

 

[tweakmm]

Does the car have a factory turbo?

 

[XMan]

Hmm, it was more of a general question, but to get specific . . . no.

 

[CraigRT]

depends on the car..
they don't make one for my 2k1 neon, but they make them for 95-99 Neons and they are nice cause they bring the rev limiter up to at least 7,600 and change the fuel curves and things... you can definitely feel it.

a 300ZX twin turbo ECU from Stillen nets about 80 HP, as an example.

 

[EyeMWing]

If your car is still under warrenty, then yes, you will be violating it - it's essentially overclocking. And depending on the vehicle and the factory settings, you can get anywhere from A CRAPLOAD to NO performance increase. Crown Victorias, for example, have two different factory chips - one for civilians, one for police. The police chip provides a lot more performance - and if, god knows why, you want your Crown Vic to perform better, a police chip is a simple, cheap, but very effective upgrade. Turbocharged vehicles will, on average, see a lot more benefit than NA vehicles due to the turbo being tweakable.

Also, you will induce more wear and tear by running with more agressive settings.

 

[OS]

Hondata makes a crazy ECU for the RSX. RSX-S makes 200+ axle HP with just the flash and intake. Stock is about 170 axle HP.

article

I'm in contact with some guy, there might be a hondata application for my 2003 4 banger accord.

 

[MustangSVT]

do you just exchange the computer chip or after exchanging it , do you have to dyno it and tweak it accordingly?

for example, after i get the chip, do i just replace it and go or do i have to tweak it @ dyno?

 

[RU482]

A buddy of mine had a Silverado with a Duramax TurboDiesel and Allison tranny. He bought a computer mod kit (I think it plugged inline with the truck's wiring harness)

It made the truck run like a raped ape!! I think he said he was getting 2-3MPG better mileage also.
When I was working for Allison Transmission, I think I heard that the Duramax engines performance was degraded for the sake of the other drivetrain components and warranty issues.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
do you just exchange the computer chip or after exchanging it , do you have to dyno it and tweak it accordingly?

for example, after i get the chip, do i just replace it and go or do i have to tweak it @ dyno?

For the hondata one, you pull out the ECU, send it in with a car key and they flash it and return it to you. Imagine if a bios flash update on computers costed $600. :Q

They're located in torrance, hopefully the guy will get back to me and I can just roll over there one weekend, flash and be running again.