Another subject that doesn't come up in the searches.

Ebay has these chips with massive claims. some say a billion horsepower improvement while at the same time giving you 900 mpg. Has anyone tried these? I'm especially interested in mpg improvement. Performance, not so much.

Thanks.

 

I know what you are referring to, but those things are garbage and can cause more damage than harm. That's why you dont' see people in these forums using them.

But, it is a good question to ask

 

They are a waste of time and money like the aluminum Tornados that you put into your air intake and claim huge mpg improvements.

 

Wait they make great paperweights.

 

A few weeks, maybe a month ago - Fox News did a pretty in depth report on several MPG improvement items to determine their validity and the results were pretty fascinating. They looked at the Tornado, some Magnet you put on your fuel line, add on power chips, etc. Every one of them failed miserably. There were only a few items that actually made a difference. Changing all your fluids (oil, transmission, gears) to synthetic improved MPG by an average of 2% - 6% depending on the application but wasn't all that effective by a cost approach unless you did the change yourself to save on the costs of labor. The other item was a HyperMiling computer that monitored your actual MPG, it made you conscientious of how you drive and subsequently increased your overall MPG. If you have a Lexus, it already has a computer with a built in MPG actual. They closed the report with common sense information like keep your fluids up changed regularly, check your tire pressure regularly, and take a route that doesn't require so much stop and go traffic. Having said that, I wouldn't waste your money. Good Luck!

 

Those infamous "performance" chips are nothing but a resistor you can pick up @ radio shack for less than 2 dollars. All they do is fool the ecu by distorting the voltage reading of the maf sensor and try to force it into open loop.

 

Wait a second there, you mean my Tornado does nothing to my car
But the neat cartoon graphics they showed on TV looks so convincing.





Not

 

I changed all my fluids and then added a full bottle of Redline to an almost empty tank...the result? a regular 27.1 MPG from my 01 430 on a trip through France and back with a average speed of 54MPH which included 4 hours almost (but not quite) stationary in British traffic jams!

 

If we completely changed the car's ECU to something like the UltraMegaSquirt, we would have complete control over all the ignition maps. How can we tell if there actually *is* any more efficiency to be had from that engine and tranny?

 

Don;t buy those snake oil gadgets......I just inflate my tires to 35psi and always when going on long downhills and put the car into neutral. This brings mt mpg reading to 99 mpg and raises the all around mpg's by about 1-2 mpg's on fill up compared to having my car at 32psi and leaving the car in DRIVE when going downhills. Just my 2 cents. My fill up today costed my $92 with premium with a little under 21 gallons.

DanozLS430...