There seems to be a bunch of cheap "add XX HP" to your Crossfire chips all over ebay. I've been around the block once or twice so I believe these are all placebo items designed to separate money from a wallet. But does anyone know if these do anything at all- good or bad to a car?

Guy

Here is one example-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/20HP-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I checked the sellers feedback and almost all positive, but only one person said they felt a difference. It is a resisstor and not a chip. Most all ECU upgrades get most of thier power increases by leaning the mixture. If this thing acutually works it would have to be a resister that fools the computer into leaning the engine a bit.

 

You can do this for about 50 cents. Go to Radioshack and get some resistors.

What they do is go inline with IAT sensor and fool it (thus the resistor) and makes the engine run richer.

This works if you have a lot more airflow but not on stock enignes, it will just waste more fuel.

Also, the ecu compensates for it after a while since the 02 sensors are reading that it is runing rich plus so it leans it back out.

 

juuuuuuunk lol i got one of these when i was 16 for my first vw emailed asked it it would, he said im positive, i ordered read the directions realized the iat and maf sensor were the same piece and if you unplug the iat you unplug the maf no maf no run no refund and after i left negative feedback cause it wouldnt work and he wouldnt respond to e-mails he left me negative feedback too lol wow im getting old that seems like forever ago. but yeah dont buy any of that $hit from ebay its all snake oil and yes it is made to seperate money from your wallet, that is its sole intended purpose lol

 

We've been down this road before. There are previous threads regarding these.
The Bosch ECU in the Crossfire is pretty sophisticated and adaptable. It will try and maintain a fairly lean 14.7:1 AFR under most conditions. These resistors cause the air temp sensor to tell the ECU that it is cooler than it really is. So for a while, the ECU will run richer. But after enought time in "closed loop mode" the O2 sensors will sniff out the over-rich condition and bring the AFR right back to where is was. After enough start/run cycles the ECU will think the Temp sensor is bad/out of spec and probably "throw a code" and light the dreaded "Check Engine" light.

But for a really short term use, like a few runs at the local dragstrip or a Auto-X event on a hot day, You might actually pick up a little extra power in the short term.

But I'd be willing to bet that after 15-20 miles of normal "closed loop" non WOT driving the ECU would simply adapt and You'd be right back where you started.

Slim