http://www.gainmpg.com/performance-chip ... ki-kizashi
I've just been looking around online for things for my new car and I came across these. I've never really heard of it but I know tuning chips/computers are usually a lot more expensive. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this gadget? Is it legit?
Innovative Performance Chips
No, that's a resistor in a box that lies to your computer and fools it in to producing a little more power at the expense of emissions and or mileage. It probably hooks in line with the coolant temperature sensor, or maybe the intake air temperature sensor increasing or decreasing the temperature that is being reported to the computer.
The mixture being sent to your cylinders to be burned is a careful compromise between power, mileage, emissions, and reliability. There's a little bit of wiggle room near the perfect setting which can be exploited to get a smidgen more of one or two of those goals, but it's a careful balance which changes every millisecond. The engineers in the factory spend thousands of hours writing data tables for the computer to reference for every possible combination of temperature, altitude, humidity, engine temperature, rpm, throttle opening, fuel quality. To suggest that a barbaric hack such as this would do the desired thing in every circumstance is silly.
Claiming to increase performance and mileage is a bold combination, they usually cancel each other out. The only thing I can think of that would do both is to lean the mixture out a little bit. That little bit of extra richness is what the manufacturers use as a safety margin to keep combustion chamber temperatures from going sky high. Step a little bit over the line and you're melting valves. Even without going over the line, you're increasing NOx emissions drastically.
It's not a good idea to play around with these things unless you really know what you're doing, or have a shelf full of replacement engines that you're willing to use up in the quest for the best settings. But if you wanted to try, you could splice in a $5 potentiometer from Radio Shack and try different settings, that would be more sophisticated than this product.
The mixture being sent to your cylinders to be burned is a careful compromise between power, mileage, emissions, and reliability. There's a little bit of wiggle room near the perfect setting which can be exploited to get a smidgen more of one or two of those goals, but it's a careful balance which changes every millisecond. The engineers in the factory spend thousands of hours writing data tables for the computer to reference for every possible combination of temperature, altitude, humidity, engine temperature, rpm, throttle opening, fuel quality. To suggest that a barbaric hack such as this would do the desired thing in every circumstance is silly.
Claiming to increase performance and mileage is a bold combination, they usually cancel each other out. The only thing I can think of that would do both is to lean the mixture out a little bit. That little bit of extra richness is what the manufacturers use as a safety margin to keep combustion chamber temperatures from going sky high. Step a little bit over the line and you're melting valves. Even without going over the line, you're increasing NOx emissions drastically.
It's not a good idea to play around with these things unless you really know what you're doing, or have a shelf full of replacement engines that you're willing to use up in the quest for the best settings. But if you wanted to try, you could splice in a $5 potentiometer from Radio Shack and try different settings, that would be more sophisticated than this product.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Should be a convenience store, not a government agency
Should be a convenience store, not a government agency
Like the others stated, these things promise way too much and aren't exactly great for the engine. I'd stay away. If you want to increase the performance of your vehicle, don't make the common mistake of just focusing on the engine while ignoring the wheels and tires. I know you're looking into larger wheels so spend your money on those wrapped by high performance tires.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)