To chip or not to chip???

[H22ACIVIC]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if any of you had much experience with chips on NA cars. I was reading up on powerchips website and their claims are pretty impressive, anyone know if their product backs up their claims??

[poid]

i wouldnt bother with powerchip, you will get better results with something that is tuned for your specific car and not a generic more aggressive tune. You can probably get most of the power gains by running 98 octane and advancing the timing on your dizzy without any other tuning, cos thats basically what the powerchip is doing


*note, dont try this unless you know what you are doing!

[bennjamin]

...advancing the timing on your dizzy without any other tuning, cos thats basically what the powerchip is doing


*note, dont try this unless you know what you are doing!
...Not only in a tuning sense with retarding and advancing your timing....more so for your personal safety - DO NOT grab any part of the car while adjusting the lead guide bolt , especially when the car is on ! *ZAPPPP* !

[SIKCVC]

I hope you ment ZZAAPPP in a non fruity way :| and yes its quite painful... to say the least... especially when its on your funny bone :|

[Weq]

wasite of money. the cash, u could prolly get a VAFC/emanage which will give u similiar gains with end user tunability.

[28RAG]

ive heard a VAFC is useless without some engine tuning

[bird]

id personaly save your money and do some more worthwhile performance upgrades

[28RAG]

ive heard a VAFC is useless without some engine tuning
can anyone clarify this for me please?:confused:

[vtc]

well by engine tuning do you mean tuning the Vafc? you cant simply install it and hope for it to automatically do everything for you. Its just like a computer, you can turn it on.. but now its up to you to change the settings and tweak it.

[BLKCRX]

Where abouts in Australia are you ??? who did ya conversion this could help decded where you go !! / what your best option is.

Regards James

[sivic]

can anyone clarify this for me please?:confused:
vafc IS for engine tuning. i think you mean is pretty much useless without engine modifications

[karbonphyber]

hahaha i reckon he might've meant it that way.


to the originator of the thread:

VAFC is also an Air/Fuel Controller as the name suggests.

if the set up of the vehicle is stock, there's no need to have a VAFC unit. nothing changed, nothing required to adapt.

[DynoDave]

can anyone clarify this for me please?:confused:You can always gain a power increase even in an unmodified car I have done this and also Toda AU and BLKCRX so as I always tell people do the ecu mod thing first then you can tune the best power out of any other mods you do.
Regards Dyno Dave

[Mr. Focus]

i lso had a look into these. heres some info they sent me:

Thanks for your email regarding the concerns that you had about the price of the powerchip.

Basically the reason we charge the price that we do for our upgrades is that you are getting the best possible chip available for Australian conditions and your car.

We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of continuous research and development to provide the best possible power, performance, throttle response, driveability and all round driving pleasure.
We need to recoup the money for these exercises and subisidise the cost over a 5-10 year period to try and keep the cost down to our customers.

When you consider the power and performance gains let alone the better driveability and throttle response that you will receive from the chip alone, you will understand why the chip is a great investment your driving enjoyment.

So if you want the best for your car and you want the best possible driving enjoyment, then the Gold Powerchip is the best solution for you.

[ProECU]

Chip It....chip It Good!

[dundas]

chip it-- hmmz wouldnt u wanna also tune it after u chipp it up?

[ProECU]

Whip it.... Whip it Good !

[poweredbyhonda]

I had a Gold Chip around 5 years ago in my N/A prelude. Tell you the truth, it did shit all! Watse of $600 bucks! For that money you're better off getting a VAFC/SAFC and retune as you modify you car.

[Mr. Focus]

i was thinking of getting an SAFC to tune my car but was told not to as im looking at boosting her soon. can anyone tell me why? or should i just go ahead and get one anyways?

[28RAG]

yeah im thinking of changing the ECU and getting a vtec controller soon after

[crx_16x]

i was thinking of getting an SAFC to tune my car but was told not to as im looking at boosting her soon. can anyone tell me why? or should i just go ahead and get one anyways?
If you are going to turbo charge your car do not bother with an SAFC as you will not be able to modify the ignition map.

[Mr. Focus]

yep, got it! what ECU would you recommend then? i'm leaning towards a GReddy e-manage ATM

[SINISTR]

yep, got it! what ECU would you recommend then? i'm leaning towards a GReddy e-manage ATM

from what im hearing the advantage of GReddy E-Manage over say VAFC is that it does ignition timing as said earlier. but its still just a piggy back isn't it or is it like the PowerFC?

if its a stand alone and it has heaps of options and tuning ability then its good I think! VAFC has proven itself well on mildly modified Vtec engines.

My friend here in Perth runs an AEM standalone computer, which he tuned himself (he has the knowledge) using a laptop and he swears by the results. The cost of such an investment is about 2K though - although its one of the TOP Ecu's.. ready to take care of every mod you plan.

[Jim80y]

- although its one of the TOP Ecu's.. ready to take care of every mod you plan.
I wouldn't call it one of the top ecu's a la motec and autronic.... but it's pretty darn good. The only problem with it is that it's built for a variety of different vehicles, so on plenty of occassions you'll find that there are a lot of redundant options which you don't need to touch. Features wise though its pretty good; launch control, internal/external datalogging, fairly fast processor, user definable load/rpm points, and lots of outputs.

[SINISTR]

I wouldn't call it one of the top ecu's a la motec and autronic.... but it's pretty darn good. The only problem with it is that it's built for a variety of different vehicles, so on plenty of occassions you'll find that there are a lot of redundant options which you don't need to touch. Features wise though its pretty good; launch control, internal/external datalogging, fairly fast processor, user definable load/rpm points, and lots of outputs.

Haha - its good - cos u know more than I do about :) but I know its good - launch control is sweet!!!! bah bah bah (revin) and no wheel spin... :)

[crx_16x]

Buy Australian................ Period.

[Limbo]

all aftermarket chips or ECU are only as good as the tune. But don't expect to make heaps of power without other mods. I've tried it before and ended up putting back in the stock ECU as the car was harder to start, sucked up more fuel and was louder. It did go faster though so that could be what your want but don't forget the other things.

I know now that mine was done bodgy and that was by a reputable installer/mechanic. Not all of them have the expertise you want. I'd prob. try some of the more well-known ones, who have a good track record. Rem you still have to tune the thing after you get it in.

Chips are good in that you still get your factory settings in majority but you won't make as much power.:cool: