Page 1 of 1

OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:23 am
by consultant
This is a tough question as typically it garners responses that are mostly guesses without any real evidence one way or another. By evidence I mean, someone actually dyno tested the difference any chip might make in power and torque. Not, it "felt" faster, or "I heard these were a scam." It's widely known stock ECU programming is conservative. If you have a car programmed to take 87 regular octane it's common knowledge you can increase horsepower if you use higher octane fuel and advance the timing (and alter air/fuel mixture) as the higher octane fuel will not create engine knock when advancing the timing and you'll get more power.

Now the $20 chips on Ebay I would say, you get what you pay for (practically nothing) but what about the $100-$200 chips that plug into the OBD2 port? Are then really any different than the cheap Ebay models? I've also seen chips that plug into a sensor under the hood and others you splice in.

Wondering if anyone has found a brand that is reputable, producing products that actually give you some real gain in HP/Torque (like 7-10% or more) in conjunction with running premium gas. Someone that's either done a before and after dyno test or before an after with a performance meter like a Passport GT-2. Seems if you can't at lease see a reproducible difference on a performance meter before and after chip, the increase is then non-significant.

I'm not necessarily talking about a specific Miata application but more in general for the newer Mazda Skyactive 4-cylinder engines. Is there any conclusive evidence out there (where?) or is it all just subjective opinions based on butt dynos and heresay?

Re: OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:30 am
by Brian
We have yet to see a chip that works. Reflash of the ECU works.

Re: OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:50 am
by consultant
Ya I've done reflash on a couple cars in the past quite a few years ago. Both required me to pull the ECU box and FedEx it to tuner. I've got a 2019 CX-5 (non turbo) and would like to get a few more HP and torque for trailering my motorcycle and am thinking for that type of car, since it's not a sports car, I am going to be hard pressed to find anyone that has anything that works as typically mid-size SUV owners aren't looking for performance improvements like a roadster or sports sedan owner might be so too little of demand to justify the tuner spend time on the programming.

Re: OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:53 am
by consultant
After some more digging today, I'm guessing this is my best bet:

https://gbpperformance.ca/boutique/en/t ... azda-p600/

Oops, maybe not, farther down the page...

"The tuning service with MazdaEdit is NOT available remotely."

So this probably means what I want I probably need to find a local tuner.

Re: OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:20 pm
by Brian
I would check with Ecutek dealer like Mike at XeroLimit and Joe at Dynotronics. They charge less for bench flash, but can remote flash various Mazda Miata ECUs, might be able to do CX5 too.

Re: OBD2 Performance Chip - Any Of Them Worth The Money?

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:27 pm
by consultant
Brian wrote:I would check with Ecutek dealer like Mike at XeroLimit and Joe at Dynotronics. They charge less for bench flash, but can remote flash various Mazda Miata ECUs, might be able to do CX5 too.
Thanks. I put a message in to Dynotronics a couple days ago. Still waiting to hear back. I'll see what XeroLimit says.