Is it junk or not?

[Mike O'Toole]

I think i have seen threads on here before about performance chips but I was wondering about a product from Redline Performance that claims their chip will give a 50 HP increase and a 15 mpg increase. All for just $10 plus shipping as sold on ebay. Is this just more smoke and mirrors or is there some validity to it?

[dfwise5]

Originally Posted by Mike O'Toole

I think i have seen threads on here before about performance chips but I was wondering about a product from Redline Performance that claims their chip will give a 50 HP increase and a 15 mpg increase. All for just $10 plus shipping as sold on ebay. Is this just more smoke and mirrors or is there some validity to it?

That's a bunch of crap. The only way you'd be able to get 50 more horses out of these engines would be forced induction or one extreme (expensive and unstreetable) build. If you want that much of a power boost you might want to look into an engine swap. HP costs lots of money not $10.

[Mike O'Toole]

I guess the addage still holds if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

[keithert]

Aren't these things usually a resistor that causes the fuel injection to squirt a bit more fuel thus giving a perceived boost.

[Richard Craneum]

Originally Posted by keithert

Aren't these things usually a resistor that causes the fuel injection to squirt a bit more fuel thus giving a perceived boost.

No, that is not.

What you mentioned is a resistor that fools the PCM on the Air Temperature Sensor that tells the PCM if the air is thin or dense. Depending on what you want, it will make the engine to pulse less for fuel economy or richer for lets say forced induction.

With leaner conditions, it will run hotter and burns the valves and the Catalytic Converter quits working. Richer Mix foul plugs and Overheat the Catalytic Converter. Either way will destroy the catalytic converter.

Today's cars has to be treated as a system than just a nuts and bolt thing. Once you change a parameter, others changes. Therefore you are going to chase your tail trying to figure out why is not running right.

Beside that, the amount of HPs that you are going to get for the amount of money that you are going to invest is no that great.

In the old days of the Carburetor... Was easy to slap a high lift/duration cam, a 4 Barrel Carb, high riser manifold and a header. Instant 150Hps or so. But that huge Big Block output now is like 300 HPs or so. Now day, half of the size of the engine can produce that. That tells you, that is pretty much all you can do with a street engine.

Beyond that, is impractical.

[Bex]

Every time someone posts about these chips, the advice of all the knowledgeable people here say to stay away from them. That's good enough for me.

[d-civic]

never trust ebay......................in fact ,you have to pay arround $3K to gain anohter 30 horsepower, lets say every horsepower cost 100 to 150 dollars. that is fair amount unless you can do all mods by yourself ......

[Moose08]

my friend chipped his engine and gained like 2 hp on his tracker engine similer thing from ebay so id say shit , nothing like an edge tunner like i have for my f150.

[kick-fix]

snake-oil
IAT:
The intake air temp, sensor on 16v, is only a fine tweak of air density, in fact some 92 , are missing it completely.
On TBI IAT is very effective ,and vary effective at killing close loop. and the gross effects of that.

next is the ECT, but car goes to closed loop and runs there, as ECT reaches over 150F should enter closed loop no matter , unless WOT.
That leaves only 2 more devices.
THE MAF and the o2.

the o2 liar box is complex, most cars will reject any liar box that does not look like a swinging O2 sensor sig.
(the out put of the sensor must not go to high. it must not go to low and it must react to the the ECU AFR changes, if it dont the ECU my reacted in strange ways (89-95) it may slam rich or too lean. (bad design, it should go to intrinsic mix, like other cars)
on the old kicks it may go gross rich or lean and will not even realize ,why it can not adjust mixture properly , dynamically.

the maf sensor liar box ( offsettiing device ) works in WOT only, if you move it too far and the motor cant enter closed loop.
the new cars fail with DTCs if you do this old kicks it looses control and slams to fully rich or lean. depending on your actions.
WOT ,cuts O2 usage on all motors.

so the only truly effect mixture fooling device is the O2.
( i wont discuss fuel pressure, as that too will make CL fail)

the only trick then is to make a device that shifts the O2 sensor , to lean or rich and only tad.

You Tube

here is the basic idea.
not saying this works, there are way to many to evaluate.
but it is possible to offset an O2. and it must be done very carefully.
no guarantee the ECU dont dump this device and throw DTC codes or go crazy, (railed AFR)

i like his honesty on how hard it is to work on obd1.

[Bex]

Such effort for 2hp. Who would notice the difference?