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Old 10-17-2018, 07:18 PM   #1
b0bsaget007
 
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New tuning option available: RaceChip

*NOT SPONSORED*

Hey guys. I just wanted to bring awareness to a new tuning option for our cars, courtesy of RaceChip.

https://www.racechip.us/shop/chevrol...-292lb-ft.html

It is a piggyback system that connects to various sensors to increase output and efficiency. 3 different models to choose from, with varying levels of power and functionality (the top end one you can control with Bluetooth).

You can also right now get $100 off the top end model with promo code CAMARO-TURBO.
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:50 AM   #2
RobertAvitia
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Interesting
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Old 10-18-2018, 07:06 AM   #3
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racechip

does anyone know anything about the racechip, sounds to good to be true.
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Old 10-18-2018, 08:24 AM   #4
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anything that uses the term "chip" in 2018 should be suspect of a scam.

if there was 20% fuel economy left on the table, the OEM would have taken advantage of it.

this company posts HP gains on their website/product page, but when asked on social media for dyno sheets, they wont post them with some excuse about a dyno not being an accurate representation of how the product works (i forget their exact wording)

im assuming it is a fancy throttle controller (increases throttle pedal input signal..basically floors the car at partial throttle input) and it likely plugs inline with the MAF and coolant temp, or IAT sensors, skewing those signals enough to trick the PCM to add a little ignition timing, or boost.

They are suspiciously secretive on all of their social media posts. do your homework, or get a real tune.
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Old 10-18-2018, 08:41 AM   #5
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This looks like a fancy version of wiring in a resistor to alter IAT signal.

$700 bucks is a lot to spend on manipulating signals..
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Old 10-18-2018, 09:02 AM   #6
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Looks to be German based. That said, there are a bunch of German OEM's that have their ECUs locked or otherwise encrypted, making piggyback's the only solution. Burger is the go-to piggyback in the USA for locked ECU BMW's, for example. The way they get more boost is to intercept and manipulate the MAF, MAP, and RPM signals sent to the ECU. Yes it's "tricking" the ECU, but the ECU is still running it's own original code. The snag is when the piggyback tries to send implausible signals and forces a limp-home or low-boost mode, which would be going too aggressive with the signal manipulation. It's a fine line.

In the application case of the Camaro, it's a tough sell since there are the mainstay tuning options that reflash the fantastic stock ECU. I suppose if you deliberately choose to limit yourself access to the many flash loaders and aftermarket calibrator options the Camaro has in the USA, then a piggyback is an easy plug-n-play answer. It's just not an ideal one.

A significant downside is the piggyback offers no adjustability for your particular mods, so your car has to be 100% stock or no dice.

Looking at a few applications in RaceChip's site tells me they're being very optimistic. The Fiesta ST and Focus ST for example already have the stock turbo near it's max flow rate from the factory, there's safe room for about 20 and 30 more HP respectively. These guys are claiming way more power (+55HP and +66HP respectively) which is way more than what's even possible with the stock turbo. So right there they're full of crap. Buyer Beware.
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Old 10-18-2018, 09:24 AM   #7
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Those HP numbers are at the crank and not at the wheels. Here is a dyno chart. Also, they have 7 different settings pre programmed ranging from stock to aggressive to dial in your particular car. PM me if you want the $200 off code.
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Old 10-18-2018, 10:30 AM   #8
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Yes, as a rule European ECU solutions are quoted in crank. The irony is that graph you posted clearly states "wheel". Percentage wise, it's way down on Trifecta's basic 2.0T tune, with a much narrower RPM band of gains. Something I find particularly amusing is the stock and modded torque plots basically overlap over 5500 RPM, yet magically the RaceChip shows more power. That's not how math works. 100% BS, that graph is done in Excel and then they photoshopped a Dynojet logo on it.

As for the "7 different settings", how it works with piggybacks is each setting adds gain to the signal manipulation, and it's up to the end user to determine whether it's too much gain and puts the car into a low-boost or limp-home mode, then back down the setting to one that's functional.
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Old 10-18-2018, 10:52 AM   #9
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I saw this sponsored on Instagram yesterday and I was curious about it too.
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Old 10-18-2018, 11:08 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryephile View Post
Yes, as a rule European ECU solutions are quoted in crank. The irony is that graph you posted clearly states "wheel". Percentage wise, it's way down on Trifecta's basic 2.0T tune, with a much narrower RPM band of gains. Something I find particularly amusing is the stock and modded torque plots basically overlap over 5500 RPM, yet magically the RaceChip shows more power. That's not how math works. 100% BS, that graph is done in Excel and then they photoshopped a Dynojet logo on it.

As for the "7 different settings", how it works with piggybacks is each setting adds gain to the signal manipulation, and it's up to the end user to determine whether it's too much gain and puts the car into a low-boost or limp-home mode, then back down the setting to one that's functional.
Yes, that graph result is from a dyno pull measured at the wheels. Sorry, should have clarified that.
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:08 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Start The Machine View Post
Yes, that graph result is from a dyno pull measured at the wheels. Sorry, should have clarified that.
Except it makes no sense mathematically, unless they're using different scales for the before and after plot. You can't have the same torque at the same RPM and get a different answer for HP. That's not how algebra works.
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Old 10-19-2018, 02:34 PM   #12
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So I'll jump in here as I have been running a test unit for about a month now.

While the dyno graph shown may be questionable, I know that the RaceChip works as advertised, but can't confirm actual hard number gains at the moment.

My thoughts on it are this: It's not going to be for everybody, it's not for the guy that wants to go to the dragstrip that wants to run a 10 or 11 second 1/4 mile pass, you want to do that, you're probably gonna need a tune, and going to have to drop a few thousand dollars on upgraded parts. BUT where it does shine, is for people that are stock, or maybe have a few minor bolt ons that want more power they can feel in the seat of their pants without having to worry about the possibility of sacrificing their factory warranty with a "real tune".

The one I am running is the GTS black, and has the 7 settings to choose from. They say depending on your bolt on modifications, you may need to run on a lower setting to keep things happy. I was advised not to run setting #7 as I only have 91 octane fuel easily available to me, so I run it on setting #6, (w/ a catless downpipe, performance recirculation valve, and a K&N drop in filter, no real cold air intake here yet *cough*zzsteve*cough*)

You can definitely feel it, and it will set you back in your seat. I've been running on the stock ECM tune for a few months now, and just recently got back from a 200 mile twisty road, road trip. I ran it on setting 6 on the way to the destination, and setting 0 (runs as stock would) on the way back. I can say that it was immensely more enjoyable with the "chip" on on these twisty roads.

They have a separate product that modifies throttle response (ie: throttle controller), which I also have, but have not tested yet as I wanted to test both products independently of each other. Does it work on the same principal? I suppose. As it intercepts sensor signals, and modifies the values before sending them onto the ECM.

When I received it, I disassembled the harness to see exactly which sensor values where being changed, has the MAF sensor handles several different readings, including IAT, and the boost pressure sensor (t/map), also reads charge temperatures post intercooler. IF it had modified ANY of the IAT/TEMP readings, I would have just sent it back and kindly declined to test it, but it DOES NOT alter temp readings, which means it does not add timing based on IAT multipliers, which I took as it was probably safe to run, and not like any of those old school ebay "chips" you used to buy dirt cheap that claimed added horsepower, but simply just changed IAT readings in an attempt to add more timing.

Now I'm not gonna pretend to know exactly how it works, but I can speculate. I figure it modifies the pressure sensor valves to get the ecm to increase the boost, and it modifies the MAF air flow sensor value to modify the fueling to keep things safe.

I have experienced no ill effects from the product, and I only have only good things to say for ITS INTENDED MARKET, as I mentioned above. I can not comment on the increased fuel mileage claim, as I personally have seen a 10% fuel increase on my daily commute while running one of my performance recirculation valves, so perhaps that is negating the potential fuel savings of the chip (law of deminishing returns, you know?), that said, I have not seen any further improvement over the initial 10% I gained from the other part. Will I run the RaceChip forever? No. I plan to to turbo upgrades, run meth injection, and just all around make my car faster than the RaceChip can support. I went mostly back to stockish at their request just so I could test this.

This is not a paid review, although they did sent me the parts to test for free, but I was asked to return them when I was done. I believe anything and everything that's new to the market, regardless of how questionable it may seem should receive an honest chance to see if its worth while. If this was junk, I would tell you, it definitely serves a purpose and fulfills that purpose well, but like I said, it's not for everybody, but there are a lot of people out that that will like it and it will serve them well.

That's my .02.
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Old 10-22-2018, 06:53 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason@JacFab View Post
So I'll jump in here as I have been running a test unit for about a month now.

While the dyno graph shown may be questionable, I know that the RaceChip works as advertised, but can't confirm actual hard number gains at the moment.

My thoughts on it are this: It's not going to be for everybody, it's not for the guy that wants to go to the dragstrip that wants to run a 10 or 11 second 1/4 mile pass, you want to do that, you're probably gonna need a tune, and going to have to drop a few thousand dollars on upgraded parts. BUT where it does shine, is for people that are stock, or maybe have a few minor bolt ons that want more power they can feel in the seat of their pants without having to worry about the possibility of sacrificing their factory warranty with a "real tune".

The one I am running is the GTS black, and has the 7 settings to choose from. They say depending on your bolt on modifications, you may need to run on a lower setting to keep things happy. I was advised not to run setting #7 as I only have 91 octane fuel easily available to me, so I run it on setting #6, (w/ a catless downpipe, performance recirculation valve, and a K&N drop in filter, no real cold air intake here yet *cough*zzsteve*cough*)

You can definitely feel it, and it will set you back in your seat. I've been running on the stock ECM tune for a few months now, and just recently got back from a 200 mile twisty road, road trip. I ran it on setting 6 on the way to the destination, and setting 0 (runs as stock would) on the way back. I can say that it was immensely more enjoyable with the "chip" on on these twisty roads.

They have a separate product that modifies throttle response (ie: throttle controller), which I also have, but have not tested yet as I wanted to test both products independently of each other. Does it work on the same principal? I suppose. As it intercepts sensor signals, and modifies the values before sending them onto the ECM.

When I received it, I disassembled the harness to see exactly which sensor values where being changed, has the MAF sensor handles several different readings, including IAT, and the boost pressure sensor (t/map), also reads charge temperatures post intercooler. IF it had modified ANY of the IAT/TEMP readings, I would have just sent it back and kindly declined to test it, but it DOES NOT alter temp readings, which means it does not add timing based on IAT multipliers, which I took as it was probably safe to run, and not like any of those old school ebay "chips" you used to buy dirt cheap that claimed added horsepower, but simply just changed IAT readings in an attempt to add more timing.

Now I'm not gonna pretend to know exactly how it works, but I can speculate. I figure it modifies the pressure sensor valves to get the ecm to increase the boost, and it modifies the MAF air flow sensor value to modify the fueling to keep things safe.

I have experienced no ill effects from the product, and I only have only good things to say for ITS INTENDED MARKET, as I mentioned above. I can not comment on the increased fuel mileage claim, as I personally have seen a 10% fuel increase on my daily commute while running one of my performance recirculation valves, so perhaps that is negating the potential fuel savings of the chip (law of deminishing returns, you know?), that said, I have not seen any further improvement over the initial 10% I gained from the other part. Will I run the RaceChip forever? No. I plan to to turbo upgrades, run meth injection, and just all around make my car faster than the RaceChip can support. I went mostly back to stockish at their request just so I could test this.

This is not a paid review, although they did sent me the parts to test for free, but I was asked to return them when I was done. I believe anything and everything that's new to the market, regardless of how questionable it may seem should receive an honest chance to see if its worth while. If this was junk, I would tell you, it definitely serves a purpose and fulfills that purpose well, but like I said, it's not for everybody, but there are a lot of people out that that will like it and it will serve them well.

That's my .02.
This is an awesome review Jason. Well done. Although I did not have any plans to buy this before clicking, I am glad I read this.
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Old 10-22-2018, 07:30 AM   #14
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There are people with legitimate tunes from reputable tuners on basically stock cars that are losing engines. I just don't think a piggyback "chip" is a wise choice knowing the dangers out there and how sensitive the engines are.
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