Do performance chips really work?

[MasterC]

I drive a 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage, and it seriously needs help in the horsepower department. Don't laugh, but it has 92HP. :( I wanted to purchase a performance chip because I have to drive up several hills on the way to and from both work and school. Taking the hills with my car is a chore because I basically have to floor it, and it still has trouble getting up. I just want to add a little more power that would hopefully make this easier. Here's the chip I was thinking of. Thanks in advance, guys!

[Vettetech]

I have been a automotive technician for GM around 17 years now. The best performance any car can gain is let it breath. More air in and more air out will help alot. Not much you can do for 92 HP. That performance chip I never heard of. Better off with a name brand like Hypertech. Go to Jegs.com also. Install a K & N air filter will help alot. Open up your exhaust to 3" also. It all depends on money. More money= more power. My 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO makes around 300 stock. I spent around 5k so far and now I am kickin about 400 HP.But honestly speaking I have never heard or seen that chip you linked to.

[MiG-]

most of the time, these chips just change the air/fuel ratio and increase it. This at first, can give you morepower, but the result is that your car runs rich, and damage to components can occur. More power would mean adding an intake, exhaust, possibly better cams and a new manifold, then getting a full remap of the ecu. Wouldn't expect morethan 20hp tho LOL.

[Whiffle]

Running rich hurts power...it doesn't help it.

I'd say it depends *alot* on the vehicle. Some vehicles can see ridiculous gains from computer tuning alone (diesel pickup trucks), and then theres my '94 blazer that might see 10 hp from a tune. I'd look around for other people with the same vehicle (maybe a mitsubishi forum?) and get their opinion on what works and what doesn't for your vehicle.

[gigapixels Veteran]

92HP :|

I thought I had it bad at 120HP on my Civic HX.

I'm sorry.

[Whiffle]

My girlfriends '74 beetle has about 48 if i remember right :)

[funkymunky]

It all depends on your car type and the chip.

I can't give you a definitive answer here but some work.

Mine cost ?500 for the "chip" and it has a proven increase of over 30bhp and a LOT more torque. The mpg has also improved.

Next step once I have all my mods done will be to get it "live mapped" specifically for my car and the map loaded onto my "chip"

Is there no Mitsubishi Mirage forums you can join and ask the people who may have already done this to their cars??

I'm a member of the RS owners club forum in the UK and everything I've learnt about my car has been through them:))

[panicswitched]

couldnt you down shift to 2nd or 3rd it would in theory help, i have to do that every now and then in my ion on some of the steep hills around here

[MasterC]

couldnt you down shift to 2nd or 3rd it would in theory help, i have to do that every now and then in my ion on some of the steep hills around here

Would that work even though my car's an automatic?

Thanks a lot for the help so far guys. I never though of asking a Mitsubishi forum about this. After reading some of your answers, I'm kinda concerned about adding the chip because of what you guys said about damaging the engine. I don't really have a lot of money to work with currently, so some of the more expensive options I'll have to wait on.

Because of that, what is the first thing you guys would recommend doing that isn't too expensive? From reading your responses, I think I should go with an air filter or a cold air intake. Thanks so much for the help so far!

[Shibby]

Give it a good service, plugs, leads, oil and filters. Should make things slighty easier.

As for getting up the hill, your automatic should have some gear you can select. Normally they are 1 2 and 3. Some automatics have a mode that changes gear at higher revs, so you get the most out of that gear.

An air filter would make a difference and worth the few dollars.

[MasterC]

Give it a good service, plugs, leads, oil and filters. Should make things slighty easier.

As for getting up the hill, your automatic should have some gear you can select. Normally they are 1 2 and 3. Some automatics have a mode that changes gear at higher revs, so you get the most out of that gear.

An air filter would make a difference and worth the few dollars.

Thanks a lot for the tips. I looked up the price of an air filter for my car (K&N) and it's only $63. From the reviews people have posted on various sites, it seems that it increases MPG and helps with acceleration. Sounds like it's exactly what I am looking for! Thanks again guys. ;)

[Head Hunter 4.0]

As mentioned by vettetech, improve the intake and exhaust. chips and stuff can't make power unless you've got good airflow

start with the intake side- cold air intakes or cone filters work good- k&n makes both types and might have a setup for your car. you have to be careful with a cold air intake though cause if it mounts low on the car and you hit a puddle you could suck a lot of water into your engine.

if that's not enough power for you, go to the exhaust. contact magnaflow and see if they have an exhaust kit for your car- expect to pay around 300-400 for it. you could go cheaper and get a good muffler shop to make an exhaust for you for around 150 or so.

you only need to go to 2 inch or maybe 2.25 inch maximum diameter for the pipe. do not put 3" unless you're putting a turbo or supercharger on it and planning for at least 300 horsepower- 3" pipe on that car with a stock engine will make your low speed acceleration suck not to mention trash your mileage. get a good muffler like magnaflow or flowmaster. stay away from the 'ricer' type / pep boys / kragen / APC whatever mufflers. they're mostly glorified glasspack mufflers and aren't worth the money.

after the above, you'll probably end up with between 10-30 more horsepower depending on what you did, and a bit more torque

that may be all you need. if it's not enough for you, then you can start looking at chips, which really aren't worth the money in my opinion. they can and most likely will cause you to fail smog tests here in california since almost all of them are not legal for on-road use here. but if you must, they can get you a little bit more power. if it were me and I was after extra horsepower, I'd do the intake and exhaust and have the cylinder head ported. if that wasn't enough I'd change the cam and go for a programmable fuel-management system instead of just a 'chip'

[Logie]

www.mitsubishi-forums.com Try asking on here, They should be able to give you some more detail. Like exactly what size exhaust, chip, cam etc give the best results.

[Darconf]

Turbo charge it or trade it in for something more powerful. :laugh:

My lug nuts require more torque then your car makes.

[Yorak]

Turbo charge it or trade it in for something more powerful. :laugh:

My lug nuts require more torque then your car makes.

Lol! Yeah, you aren't going to find a miracle chip that will give you much more horsepower. Save up for something new like a Civic base model. Good luck.

[Head Hunter 4.0]

...

My lug nuts require more torque then your car makes.

probably not, but that was funny

:laugh:

Edited October 6, 2007 by Head Hunter 4.0

[Darconf]

120 ft lbs

[Head Hunter 4.0]

120 ft lbs

that's quite a bit. what do you drive?

i thought about it and went to look here.

Performance

Base Number of Cylinders: 4 Base Engine Size: 1.5 liters

Base Engine Type: Inline 4 Horsepower: 92 hp

Max Horsepower: 5500 rpm Torque: 93 ft-lbs.

Max Torque: 3000 rpm Drive Type: FWD

[Darconf]

that's quite a bit. what do you drive?

i thought about it and went to look here.

2003 dodge QC 4x4 3/4 ton :laugh:

[popsmear]

Some chips can do WONDERS for a car. These cars are Subaru's, certain VW's, Audi's and other high performance cars.

With your car the ONLY thing you can do is get a different car. Be happy with what you have for now and save for something better.

Please do not waste any money on modding your current car. Honestly you will not be pleased with any results and it will only hurt the resale value. 92HP is nothing. You are not going to squeeze anything out of that other than a ton of cash.

Save up for a cheap, manual car. What you could buy depends a lot on your budget.

A Probe GT or old Fox Body would be very cheap and much better for what you are looking for. If imports is your thing go for a 2nd or 3rd Gen eclipse or even a turbo Plymouth laser. A honda, while fun to rice, just makes you look like a douche bag.

[MasterC]

Turbo charge it or trade it in for something more powerful. :laugh:

My lug nuts require more torque then your car makes.

I would love to turbo charge it, but I don't have the money currently, and I'm also starting to think about trading it in. But your second statement made me laugh pretty hard. :laugh:

Some chips can do WONDERS for a car. These cars are Subaru's, certain VW's, Audi's and other high performance cars.

With your car the ONLY thing you can do is get a different car. Be happy with what you have for now and save for something better.

Please do not waste any money on modding your current car. Honestly you will not be pleased with any results and it will only hurt the resale value. 92HP is nothing. You are not going to squeeze anything out of that other than a ton of cash.

Save up for a cheap, manual car. What you could buy depends a lot on your budget.

A Probe GT or old Fox Body would be very cheap and much better for what you are looking for. If imports is your thing go for a 2nd or 3rd Gen eclipse or even a turbo Plymouth laser. A honda, while fun to rice, just makes you look like a douche bag.

Thanks for the advice. What I want to make clear though is that I'm not trying to "mod" my car in the sense of making it into a ricer. I just want more power to make driving easier. That being said, the Eclipse's look pretty cool, but the money issue is still in the way!

[Moustacha]

Gee, you're car has more power than mine an even I can get up hills (without passengers mind you). Got a PITA 5 Km hill to go up at 80km/h on the way home. My car has 59kW (79HP) and 120 Nm (88.44 lb-ft) and gets up the hill. Maybe you should ditch the auto and get a manual. Autos+small cars=baaaaad.

[popsmear]

I would love to turbo charge it, but I don't have the money currently, and I'm also starting to think about trading it in. But your second statement made me laugh pretty hard. :laugh:

Thanks for the advice. What I want to make clear though is that I'm not trying to "mod" my car in the sense of making it into a ricer. I just want more power to make driving easier. That being said, the Eclipse's look pretty cool, but the money issue is still in the way!

I understand your goal and I assure you that you will notice NO difference without spending a lot of money. You simply need to wait.

If I thought your goal of modding your car was to "have fun" and "tinker" then sure by all means waste your money on "performance parts". I understand you want more power. You are not going to find it in that car.

[hymneforthedead]

well, if you're willing you can drop a used 1.8 L 113 hp I4 motor in it...I think you can still get those at junk yards...

if its just to get around that should be fine right? :)

Source

[popsmear]

well, if you're willing you can drop a used 1.8 L 113 hp I4 motor in it...I think you can still get those at junk yards...

if its just to get around that should be fine right? :)

Source

Humorously enough this would be the only "mod" that would get you anywhere. An engine swap.