Re: Performance Chip
I gotta chime in here. I burn my own chips and can say that you should be able to gain a whole lot more than 8hp with some careful and sometimes tedious work.<br /><br />I have an '88 K5 Blazer than has a 165k miles of a 350 with 3:42 gears and 33" tires, a Holley 670 cfm TBI and a free flowing exhaust. Yea I know that gear and tire combo sucks for towing and acceleration. But I've managed I've managed to knock off just over a second on my 1/4 mile times by careful tuning, not to mention much more torque in the lower rpm range. It's taken me almost six months and testing of over 100 different combinations of igination timing, fuel curves, power enrichment timing and WOT settings, not to mention frying more than a few sets of plugs because of too much timing or to lean of a fuel mixture to get where I am now. Another benifit has been picking up about 2mpg. The only drawbacks that I can see (aside from all that time in front of the computer) is having to run preminum fuel, and having to use a 170 degree thermostat to help control pinging. Not to bad for a 6000lb barn door with horrable gearing.<br /><br />Most commerical chips that don't void the factory warrenty are VERY, VERY conservitive. Usually they simply add a bit more fuel in the mid and upper rpm ranges and advance the timing only the tiniest amount in the safest areas to do so. It adds up to just enough additional power to be able to be felt....safely.<br /><br />Most people who were used to non managed engines are afraid to attempt to modify anything on a newer computer controled vehicle (with good reason). It's an intimadating process to learn and the costs can be high if you really screw things up.<br /><br />But if you invest the time (and a few $$ in equipment) in learning EXACTLY how your particular application works, and more time in making tiny changes, one at a time, and even more time in testing each little change, the results can be quite rewarding.<br /><br />I give the factories a lot of credit for obtaining as much reliable and efficant power that they have, but much more is available if you are willing to gain the knowledge and put a LOT of time in refining the factory code.<br /><br />Now it's pretty difficult to obtain the source codes for newer vehicles, but if you do as ZmOz suggested and find a Dodge forum and start asking questions, you can find out a lot.
