Chip or no Chip

[Ethan]

chip or no chip

Hey no problem we are just here to give out options. I myself have used a Jet chip in my 91 Z28 I had but did not notice any improvement at all so I dont know what to tell you the only other chip I have used has been the fastchip and for my purpose it has been great but it is not a off the shelf upgrade it was custom burned for my car.

 

[Drewser]

Mod vs. Stock

I think that makes all the difference. Mine is mostly stock, only real mod is dynomax exhaust. If I had a buncha mods, I would get a custom burnt prom, but for my purposes the hypertech stage 2 is sufficient.

 

[CSM87]

Thanks for the input and guidance. It sounds to me that a Fastchip will fill my needs... I'll let you all know how things work out.
John

 

[Edmond]

John,

Welcome to the CAC!

Let me know how that chip works out for you, if I get the chip before you, I'll let you know how it works. You have an 87' and I have an 88' both with the Z52, so our cars shouldn't be very much different.

 

[boblx2a]

Chip or no chip

I have mentioned this before in another of these threads. Back in my Fiero days we dumped the data from a Hypertech chip and the only table that was different was that the Hypertech advanced the timing at WOT. Therefore you had to run 92 octane gas or you would get detenation at WOT.
I have a Hypertech chip and a prom burner and I am planning to compare it to the stock '85 but have not got around to it yet. I will be very surprised if there is any differnece since the 85 Fiero and 85 Corvette take the same chip.

Hope this helps..........

 

[fast90]

I went with the Fastchip from Ed Wright that requires the 160* tstat. Before I purchased it, I called Fastchip and spoke with one of their representatives. He explained to me the difference between their chip, Hypertech's chip (stage II) and the stock chip. He claimed that Ed Wright's Fastchip with the 160* tstat will claim 10-12 more horsepower over the stock chip. He couldn't say what Hypertech would do over the stock chip, but said the Hypertech chip is good for 2 things. First, it tells the fans to come on sooner. Second, it "kicks in" only at WOT. The Fastchip from Ed Wright turns the fan on sooner and it's "always on"...not just at WOT.

Will you notice a difference? Kind of depends on the rest of your setup. If you have no other mods on your car and you drop in a new chip and tstat, I doubt you'd notice unless you took it right to the track or a dyno shop (in other words, only noticeable on paper). Also, it might make a difference depending on whether you have automatic or manual transmission. I had an 85 vette with automatic transmission, put a Hypertech stage II chip in and I noticed that it changed the shift points. I now have a 90 vette with 6-speed and I really didn't notice a change. However, I feel it will contribute to the overall performance of my car after I'm done installing all the minor mods to it. What really helped me notice any difference with both of these cars is that I had a mechanic who knows these engines better than anyone else I know. After all the mods that I had were installed, he put the chip in, adjusted the timing and the fuel pressure for optimal performance. To this day, I'm very satisfied with it and for the most part would recommend anyone do this...especially if you or someone you know understands how to set these engine up to run optimally.

Just my .02 worth...hope it helps

 

[vms4evr]

Ok here's the deal so far. Saturday I did a full cooling system flush, added the Fastchip, and 160deg stat.
Took it for a small ride Sunday. Drove it to work now for 3 days. Mostly highway. I disconnected the battery so the computer has to relearn from scratch. For whatever that is worth.

I noticed no performance gain which is not a surprise. It's arguable as to whether you can SOTP feel 10hp. What I did notice is that the engine idles smoother and it reacts really smooth from idle to 4Krpm. Haven't actually buried it yet to see how high it will rev. No full on burnouts yet. The fans come on at just over 180deg and go off at 170deg. My oil temp has dropped from about 220 down to 200 for the same trip. So i dropped 20deg on both cooling and oil.

Ed Wright changes the fuel curve from off-idle to redline. In about 400rpm increments. On the auto trans cars he also changes the spark retard. This supposedly distinguishes him from other companies. He also changes your upper RPM limit and your top speed cutoff. A couple of them do that. Then the cooling fans that almost all of them change.

As far as an auto trans shifting smoother or differently is a mystery to me if you have a 700R4. Seeing as the TV cable is actually controlling the shift point. Not the computer chip. Maybe having the engine run smoother makes the shift less erratic. Not really sure on this part.

Graham