What Do Performance Chips Do? - Car Performance Boss

Every car comes with its own computer – configured with factory settings. These factory settings are designed to provide the best performance and fuel efficiency – while also following government regulations. 

A performance chip changes these settings with only performance in mind (Who cares about fuel economy?!). To install a typical performance chip, all you have to do is plug the performance chip into your car’s OBD2 port for a few seconds and simply restart your car ;). Every car comes with an OBD2 port – usually under the passenger dashboard. It’s a standard port, so don’t worry about it. 

History lesson: In the early 80’s installing a performance chip means replacing the existing chip with a new one – where the software is pre-installed with performance settings. With the introduction of standard OBD2 port in 1996, we just have to reprogram the existing chip. 

Below are the typically modified settings by a performance chip:

Raising Top Speed

For the driver’s safety and also to follow government regulations, a car’s top speed could be capped. For instance, all German cars are capped at 155 mph. A performance chip could remove this restriction with a simple settings change. Although this is illegal, if you promise to only go top speed at the track, then you should be fine… :).

Raising Rev Limit

The maximum rev on cars are usually capped to ensure the longevity of your engine. The higher rev you go, the more heat is produced by your engine. This can cause negative impacts such as horrible fuel efficiency and faster wear and tear damages on your engine. . To prevent this, car’s ECUs usually come pre-programmed to limit the maximum rev. Though not anymore – if you install a performance chip. 

Lower Air / Fuel Ratio

The air/fuel ratio determines how much fuel should be injected into the combustion chamber for a given amount of air. Remember, combustion is what delivers power into your car wheels – and a combustion requires both air and fuel. Lower air/fuel ratio means that you are injecting more fuel for an amount of air. This ensures all air in the combustion chamber is used up – which in turn ensures that the combustion is always at its peak. On the other hand, a lower air/fuel ratio will increase the amount of unused fuel after every combustion – resulting in a worse fuel efficiency. 

Lower Shift Times

This only applies to cars with automatic transmission. A performance chip could decrease the time between each gear shift – resulting in a much more firm feeling. This will not increase horsepower. But the driver will surely feel the car becoming more aggressive.