[LuciusAelius]

Racechip S Amateur 0-60 Test Results

There are so many contradictory stories regarding Racechip and it pisses me off. So I wanted to settle it for myself and have some fun while at it.
These tests were done on the same section of an empty road (which was pretty flat), in the same direction, within a span of about 20 mins. I allowed my car to cool down for a few mins between each test.

Car: 2019 Camaro 2.0T
Racechip: Racechip S (settings options 1-5)
Mods: K&N drop-in filter, muffler delete
Measuring device: Chevy’s built-in 0-60 reader + Dragger app (Android)
Date: September 12, 2024
Air temp: 22 degrees celsius
Pressure: 100.9kpa
Elevation: 151m
1st pass: Traction off, Racechip Setting 3: 5.6s (Dragger 5.98s)
2nd pass: Traction on, Racechip Setting 3: 5.9s (Dragger: 5.99s)
3rd pass: Traction off, Racechip off: 5.8s (Dragger: 5.86s wtf!)

I’m going to focus on results from Chevy’s stock 0-60 meter for now.

I wish I did a fourth pass on Setting 5, but I had no time unfortunately. I did test Setting 5 back in late April of this year (air temp must have been around 10 degrees celsius) and got 5.3. Back then I did not have the K&N filter and the test was not done in the same location (but the elevation was the same -- 150m). This was an improvement over a prior test I did on the same road with no Racechip, wherein I got 5.5s. So April 2024 results were: Traction on, Racechip 5 - 5.3; Traction on, Racechip off - 5.5.

Not sure how much the April test can be legitimately compared to last weke's test, but one thing that seems to be evident in both tests is the Racechip got me 0.2s faster. I don’t know what results I would have gotten if I put the Setting on 5 in last week's test.

One question I have to ask, though, is whether the Racechip is even making any difference. 0.2s is not a very big difference, and I think such a variation could be achieved between multiple 0-60s runs on any stock car (prove me wrong though). Could I have done multiple attempts for 1st pass, 2nd pass, 3rd pass to double-check? Sure. But I’m not convinced that would have made much difference.

I read on forums that changing spark plugs to colder ones could help performance. Maybe I could try that. But Racechip doesn’t say anything about making such modifications. Also, a lot of people who ended up changing spark plugs did so because they were getting engnie knock due to running too hot. They also tended to have higher models of Racechip (RS, GTS). Anyway, my point is that I don’t believe that I experienced a 35hp and 26tq increase in power, as advertised. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe the 0.2s improvement IS +35hp/26tq. But it definitely doesn’t feel so.

Now, the results from Dragger paint a different pic. I was running off my phone, so there was no bluetooth connection to my OBD port. Purely GPS and accelerometer readings. And...Racechip was slower! I don't know why and wtf this means. Is this because the car was running too hot, making the ECU retard the timing? Not sure how that works. Maybe the app is total bs. This is the first time I had used this app so I cannot compare it with previous (lower air temp) 0-60 runs. I guess I could try testing again as we head into the fall and the temperature drops. But yeah…Dragger’s readings, unexpected.

The next time I do a test, I will use the same road as last week and will perform the following passes:

1st pass: Traction off, Racechip Setting 5 (x3)
2nd pass: Traction off, Racechip off (x3)

I will try to do that when the temp goes down to around 10 degrees celsius.

Thanks for reading!