Microtuners - Horsepower and Torque

Computer Chips and Programmers

Looking for extra performance can be confusing to say the least. Every company claims to have the best on the market. They are all basically the same. They are intended to raise your performance, delete the rev-limiters and speedometer limiters. But there are differences when it comes to what set up in a chip or microtuner you buy.

A standard chip has a basic program set up. It will increase horsepower by increasing air/fuel mixture, deleting the rev-limiter and speedometer limiter. If your just looking for some added performance and getting rid of the limiters then a standard chip will do the trick for you.

If your wanting something to fit your specific needs then you need to look at custom tuned chips. These chips are program off of information you give the programming company. They take information such as:

Do you have a cold air intake?
Do you have a supercharger?
Do you have under drive pulleys?
Etc, etc, etc.

Any addition you have made to your vehicle is programmed into the chip to take full advantage of the modification you have made already. Custom tuned chips are good for people that are wanting to get every bit of HP and torque they can find. You can get chips with two, three or four banks. Some even come with as many as 6 banks. Banks are set programs in the chip that you can access with a switch. Each program is for different conditions. You can have towing programs, Hp programs, fuel saving programs and many others. It’s up to you on how you want them set up.

Microtuners, in my opinion, are the best of many worlds. They can be used just like a chip but each time you want to change the program you must plug the programmer into the computer data port and upload the new program into your computer. They store the factory stock program so you can re-install it anytime. They also double as a code reader. Your vehicle is set up to “throw” codes if something is wrong with the system. Without a tuner you are stuck going to a shop or the dealership to have the computer read. A microtuner will tell you exactly where the code is coming from and will allow you to delete the code. You can then fix the problem yourself or go to a mechanic and tell them exactly what you want done.

Computer chips and Micro tuners are a large investment. Average cost is between $299 and $400 depending on what you go with. So thinking of the future modifications are a good idea.

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