I am not a big fan of aftermarket "power chips" for several reasons:
1. The notion that such a chip will be superior to that provided by the
manufacturer is based on the idea that some outside tinkerer knows more
about the power train of the vehicle than the manufacturer.
2. American automakers (especially GM) have the most competent power train
computer programmers in the world. If you doubt this, I suggest that you
Google Cadillac CTS-V and play the You tube video of a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
setting a lap record for a production sedan on the Nurbring Race track in
Germany. The Caddie eclipsed the BMW record on street tires and with an
AUTOMATIC transmission. To date, and to the best of my knowledge, the Caddie
record still stands.
The CTS-V is also a VERY FAST accelerating vehicle - zero to 60 in just
under 4 seconds. Also with the automatic. A car aficionado magazine was
unable to beat the automatic in a drag race with a stick shift version of
the same car!
3. Note that as more is learned about the vehicle, the automaker can improve
the programming and make it available to its customers (via the dealer) at
very low cost. Such upgrades are now relatively common. Note that
automakers are highly motivated to improve performance and fuel economy.
Revising the program is a very inexpensive way to do this.
4. Yes, a clever re programmer could improve on some aspect of the factory
program. But at what cost?
Note that the automaker has to make his vehicle reliable under a wide range
of operating conditions - altitude, temperature, load, speeds, etc. On the
other hand, the reprogrammer could lean out the engine to improve fuel
economy under certain conditions while causing other undesirable
consequences. (for example, cause higher temperatures on the valves,
ultimately resulting in engine failure, or lower power under load).
A fellow Airstreamer had a Ford Power stroke Diesel (Navistar) pickup in
which he installed a "highly respected" aftermarket "power chip."
Subsequently, the turbocharger failed. I cannot prove the cause and effect,
but I would be highly suspect of the chip.
Many years ago, Smokey Yunick (the legendary racing mechanic) had a monthly
column in Popular Science Magazine. Readers would write in about problems
they had and the steps their mechanics took to remedy the problems -
typically to no avail. If you had to distill Smokey's response over the
many years his column ran, it would be, "Set the vehicle to the FACTORY
SPECS.!"
Modern computer managed power trains are far more sophisticated than those
of the past, and the likelihood of a "shade tree mechanic" improving on the
engineers who designed the vehicle is very low.
Oliver Filippi
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