performance chip worth it??
Thread Starter
1st Gear
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
performance chip worth it??
'94, LT1, 6 speed, stock. a friend of mine has a '92. He said he put a "chip" in it and it really made a difference. A mechanic told me the same thing? where do i go to get one and is it worth the price? i see themon ebay from $19.95 to $300+. with claims of 22-35 horse power. will i really notice a difference? thank you,
Elite Torch Red Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 57,805
Likes: 23
From: Exit 89 GSP,Lakewood,NJ The Land Of Mojo
Cental/South NJ Events Coordinator
CI 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 Vet
CI-II Burnout & Drag Champ
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07
No chip in your car, yours as a programmable PCM vs the 93 and earlier with their ECM's which you can have a new chip burned. But for a stock car, not much is to be gained, why mess with reliability?
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: Palo Alto CA
For the 94 I'm not 100% sure, but I believe you need the programmer, and that is the $300 option. Mine is a 95 and I noticed a 'seat of the pants' difference. It really seems to flatten out the torque curve and I can scratch second gear with it. 
I've seen a lot of people really bash the programmers and chips and recommend going with a professional dyno tune, which depending on where you live could run $500-$900. I will certainly be going that route soon, but I have enjoyed my programmer for many years now.
I've seen a lot of people really bash the programmers and chips and recommend going with a professional dyno tune, which depending on where you live could run $500-$900. I will certainly be going that route soon, but I have enjoyed my programmer for many years now.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 754
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
So for a car realativley stock with say a intake, exaust, and maybe fuel injectors would not help? What about better gas mileage? What do you mean reliabliity?
Elite Torch Red Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 57,805
Likes: 23
From: Exit 89 GSP,Lakewood,NJ The Land Of Mojo
Cental/South NJ Events Coordinator
CI 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 Vet
CI-II Burnout & Drag Champ
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07
As for reliability, you can't beat what the factory gave you. Stock is reliable, modded not as much(depending on who did it and what was done).
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Sandusky Ohio
Cheap chip
I bought one of the 20$ ones for the Mustang I had before my Vette and all it did was convince the engine it was warmer than it really was, which meant the choke didn't work and it was undrivable in cold weather. Stay away!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Pro
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 732
Likes: 2
From: Baxter MN
I have the good fortue of living just about 1.5 hours away from Doug Ripey's Motorsports shop. I asked about the benefits of doing a "chip" for my mostly stock '91. The comment I got was that doing the chip right requires some time on the dyno to determine if a particular setting helped or hurt your overall performance. For the most part, the power is there to be gained primarily from settng the air/fuel ratio to an optimum level. The factory setting often favors a rich setting in order to protect the engine from detonation. Also, the chip can give a shift point for automatics more in keeping with the intended use of the car. This, then, gives a more appropriate seat-of-the-pants feel to the driver. Setting the fans to come on a at certain temprature is also useful if engine heat during idle is a concern.
At any rate, all this work would cost in the range of $550. to $600. to be done professionally. Potential gains in usable power would be in the 25 - 30 hp range - primarily from optimizing various settings.
Personally, I think this is pretty cheap horsepower. When I finally get my C6 his shop will b the first place I bring it.
Glen
At any rate, all this work would cost in the range of $550. to $600. to be done professionally. Potential gains in usable power would be in the 25 - 30 hp range - primarily from optimizing various settings.
Personally, I think this is pretty cheap horsepower. When I finally get my C6 his shop will b the first place I bring it.
Glen
Elite Torch Red Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 57,805
Likes: 23
From: Exit 89 GSP,Lakewood,NJ The Land Of Mojo
Cental/South NJ Events Coordinator
CI 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 Vet
CI-II Burnout & Drag Champ
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07
I don't know about cheap, maybe "easy" horsepower, but certainly not cheap.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 26,196
Likes: 0
From: Orlando FL
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Don't bother unless you start modding.
Mine was running rought after all my mods, but I had a new chip custom burned for it and it really opened the power up, plus it idles and runs much smoother now.
but for a stock Corvette... from all the posts I've seen, and reading I've done... it appears that GM engineered their C4's pretty well.
Mine was running rought after all my mods, but I had a new chip custom burned for it and it really opened the power up, plus it idles and runs much smoother now.
but for a stock Corvette... from all the posts I've seen, and reading I've done... it appears that GM engineered their C4's pretty well.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 5,214
Likes: 65
From: Queensland, AUSTRALIA
For the 94 I'm not 100% sure, but I believe you need the programmer, and that is the $300 option. Mine is a 95 and I noticed a 'seat of the pants' difference. It really seems to flatten out the torque curve and I can scratch second gear with it. I've seen a lot of people really bash the programmers and chips and recommend going with a professional dyno tune, which depending on where you live could run $500-$900. I will certainly be going that route soon, but I have enjoyed my programmer for many years now.
I've seen a lot of people really bash the programmers and chips and recommend going with a professional dyno tune, which depending on where you live could run $500-$900. I will certainly be going that route soon, but I have enjoyed my programmer for many years now.But the first line is 100,000% correct, any chip or reprograming that is not done especially for the car its going in its totally pointless and a total waste of money.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,146
Likes: 3
From: The Motor City
2 forum members used the words"realiabilty" and "generic" which I agree with, but I do think a reputable tuner putting your car on a chassis dyno could yeild some gains. Not sure you would see as big as 22hp @wot gain (as someone told you), for real numbers nothing beats real mods.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 5,214
Likes: 65
From: Queensland, AUSTRALIA
mate yeah, 22hp is a pretty big change, that would have to have been a pretty pitiful sort of a tune on there before it was done properly!! Its not out of the question to see it if the engine is internally modified and the whole tune is unsuitable, but i doubt youd see much on a stock engine.
