Ripoff Report - eBay Performance Chips

Alright, I feel that it’s my duty to provide a rip-off report due to the fact that I was ripped off by such a product many years ago when these first started surfacing.  The classic Jeep Cherokee Performance Chip.  Do a quick search in eBay on “jeep cherokee performance” and no doubt you will see the page littered with claims of ‘100 Horsepower’ and ‘+40 MPG’ all of which seem to be too good to be true.  And what’s your gut tell you?  Steer clear, but then the little performance hog in you wonders if it could actually work, even though the product is only $20.

Well your gut was correct.  These products are ripoffs.  Here’s how the creators of these high performance chips claim you increase your horsepower OR get better gas mileage:

“The way our Performance Modules work is by sending a modified signal through a factory sensor in the engine compartment, called the IAT sensor. This signal alters the computer and the computer then reprograms itself for a more efficient air/fuel mixture. Your vehicle from the factory may come too rich or too lean - meaning too much fuel (rich) or not enough fuel (lean). You may see cars and trucks on the road blowing a lot of black smoke out of their exhaust pipes. This means that their motor is running rich and they are throwing money away and wasting all of that gas and hurting the environment as all of that black smoke is raw, unburned fuel.

By modifying the air/fuel mixture to a more efficient mixture, you are tapping into hidden performance, and by gaining performance in your vehicle, you do not have to push the gas pedal down as hard to get up to speed, so therefore the fuel savings are enormous!” - mindblower_performance

Wow, that makes sense right?  Well don’t start typing your PayPal email address yet.  Let’s be honest gains of 100 horse power out of a $20 module are completely unrealistic.  And as I said before, I purchased one with the hopes that it just might work.  Well, I can reassure your gut instinct, these claims are 100% false.

Product Descrption:

So how does this high performance chip work?  It’s quite simple actually, actually a little too simple.  The ‘module’ wires in between the cars IAT or MAS sensor and the cars computer.  It ‘tricks’ the car into thinking it’s running too lean thereby adding fuel or ‘horsepower’; or into thinking it’s running to rich thereby using less gas or ‘improved mileage’.  So what is this absolutely amazing module?  It’s a resistor.  Yeah, like the ones you can buy at radioshack for a quarter.  That’s how it alters the signal, it adds resistance.  A simple trick into making your car run leaner or richer.

Will It Work At All?

It could possibly work a little, but you are altering a signal sent by OEM equipment.  You could possibly end up failing smog or ruining your engine.  If your looking for a performance chip look into JET Chips.  These are real performance chips, but not at the low low price of $20.  There are much better ways of increasing your horsepower.  Take a look at my article that deals with exhaust and intake modifications.

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