Has anyone used one of the power chips available as an aftermarket add on? Are they worth the $24.98 asking price? Claims 10 - 22 hp and 2 - 7 mpg increase.

they are junk. They just lie to one of the sensers to make the car use more fuel. They can burn out your catalytic converter.

Ditto. Although.... depending on year, make and model... whether it's a prgrammer or a chip there are some that actually work. Almost all of them run some risk of damaging the cat or motor depending on driving style. They either fake the motor into open loop, drop the reading of the ECT or fake the MAF/MAP reading. All of that just adds up to dumping more fuel in. Programmers actually re-write the factory settings on spark and fuel (and a few others depending) taking it outside of EPA specs and can result in more power or better mileage but usually never both. Chips = round file.

all it is is a $.45 resistor you can get from radioshack. it will damage your car, dont waste your money.

Subaru's run rich anyway, so makeing it run even more rich will worsen the problem and make it run even more out of tune.

If they ran rich they wouldnt pass emissions, they actually run lean like everyone else does. Thats why we have so many questions on ping in the warm weather.

 

nipper

The only chip is MegaSquirt:banana:

out of curiousity. where does that resistor go?

IIRC the "chip" just spoofs the Coolant ThermoSensor (CTS) reistance value, making it seem like the engine is cooler than it is, so ECU richens the mixture.

 

Snake oil.