Anyone have those aftermarket computer chips for cars/trucks?

[propellerhead]

You know... the ones that promise added performance.

I'm tired of hitting the top speed allowed by my Ford Ranger, which is 98 mph. I understand most of these aftermarket chips tweak the engine parameters and raise the rev & speed limiter.

Does anyone here have one of these in their car/truck?

Would you say it was worth it?

 

[radioouman]

I'd be very careful driving a pickup that fast. They aren't as controllable as cars, obviously. Do you have speed rated tires?

By the way, I've never used one of those chips, but I've heard that they don't do anything other than increase emissions.

 

[KC5AV]

I have a friend that put one in his 3/4 ton Dodge diesel, and he said the performance improvement was immediate, and very noticeable. It also increased his gas mileage by a few mpg. Well worth the investment.

 

[chin311]

my neighbor got one for his F250 diesel, he talks it up all the time, says it adds lotsa power, like 20% increase, and now he gets like 20mpg. sounds too good to be true, but hey, if it works.

 

[Marshallj]

I'd be wary of performance claims on a non-turbo car. You need to get more fuel and air in the engine to make more power. With an NA car you are limited to how much air you get into your engine.

On a turbo car, you can easily increase the boost to get more air into the engine, and all you need is the ECU to give enough fuel. Sometimes the stock ECU can compensate for the added air coming in, sometimes it can't.

I have a Jim Wolf Technology ECU in my car to prevent leaning out at higher boost levels. It also advanced the ignition and cam timing a little bit, to make the engine run a little more aggressive. It also removes the factory 155mph speed limiter and raises the redline to 7200 rpm. The added boost is where the power is really coming from, the ECU just sees to it that the engine gets enough fuel and doesn't lean out.

 

[Vic]

98mph is a little fast on the street for a Ford Ranger already, dontcha think?

 

[notfred]

They do practically nothing on non-turbo cars unless your car is pretty heavily modified and you get one custom burned based on dyno information for your specific car.

 

[propellerhead]

I'm not too concerned about increasing HP. My main concern is the speed limiter, or governor.

Relax, I don't speed on city streets. That's insane.

I travel between cities a lot and in between those cities when the road conditions are clear and traffic is fairly light, I like to open it up a bit. The majority of the traffic travels around 80-85 mph. If I pass someone, I don't want to stay in the passing lane too long, so I have to go about 90-95 mph. In some cases, I reach the speed limiter's setting and the throttle releases. Not good.

I've been doing this almost every weekend for about two years now. I'm quite familiar with this freeway.

So, does anyone have first hand experience with these chips on a non-turbo car/truck?

 

[slag]

Yes, I have a digital horsepower pcm for my 97 gtp. Cost was $299.99 and my car pulls much better now. Also, I have no knock retard whereas I did before.

Features:

Speed limiter removed
3-1 and 4-2 skip shifts (Active in performance shift mode only*)
Transmission line pressure increased (Active in performance shift mode only*)
Shift points moved (5800-6000rpms) (Active in performance shift mode only*)
Fan turn on points altered:
186 degree turn on
2 minute fan on at key-off (this feature activates when engine coolant is 179 degrees or greater)
MAF calibration adjusted for proper operation and year

Digital Horsepower Inc. fuel/spark adjustments:
En-richens fuel delivery for critical problem areas
Provides a consistent power gain across the entire power band
Reduces spark retard (knock retard)
Removes "40MPH WOT lag"
Dynamometer testing has shown up to 20 HP gain in 60 degree temperatures on a development vehicle.