What is this on ebay?

[Dillinger]

What is this on ebay? i have messaged the seller and got no responce, but i have messaged some one who has purchased it and he says its ok.

it claims to boost the hp by 15 but i cant understand what it is.

i havnt gone soft, i still think all these widgets are crap, but i cant understand this one.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2401866122&category=14767

Dill.

 

[Anonymous]

Uh huh...

So you get more power, same MPG, no extra wear to your engine for £5.


All parts are INCLUDED with easy to follow step by step instuctions. This do-it-yourself kit takes no knowledge of cars and is extremely easy to install. This is a resistor chip that will modify your AIR/Fuel ratio and slightly change your engine timing to run stronger and with increased power.


Wanna bet its something you put in line with the lambda to make the ECU think its running lean and dump lots of fuel into the engine? There is an easier way to do that, just buy a Fiat

 

[Lee S]

Not too sure what it is, but it works if the car has multipoint injection, will it work on a Bravo??

 

[Dave]

Just to let you know!

I went and had a look to see what it was he was selling, and i have to say that even though there is so much writing, he doesnt explain exactly what it is.
So, i took my intiative and e-mailed him to find out.
He replied by telling me it is a small resistor (16mm x 5mm) that fits into you air intake/temperature sensor. So, i went ahead and bought one. How wrong can u go for a fiver!!!
Wont get it for about a week, but i will let you all know what it is like when i have tried it out!!

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Just to let you know!

Its going to fake the signal to the ECU and make it add more fuel.

Bet you your MPG gets even worse!

 

[Dave]

You are probably right, but..........

I dont care!
When i first got my 1.4SX i was getting 220 to a tank. The i bought myself an Ecotek valve which took me up to around 280 a tank. Then i got myself a K&N performance air filter which improved it to 300 average on every tank. So, if it burns more petrol, but my car goes alot faster, then i ain't bothered!!!
Anyway, will just have to wait and see!! who knows what it will do. Also, if it is crap, ro burns so much petrol, i can just remove it and all i have lost is a fiver!! No great loss!

Dave

 

[Jon]

Re: Just to let you know!

This page should give you a bit of an idea what the resistor does:

http://rogueperformance.com/IntakeAir.html

Jon.

 

[Big Al]

Re: Re: Just to let you know!

Keep us posted Dave...could be interesting to see the difference..

Big Al

 

[gcol]

another mug!

The saying "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" springs to mind.
And to think after all these years people have been spending hundreds of pounds on performance mods to give an extra 15hp - when all they needed to do was buy a 5 pence resistor for a couple of quid and hey presto!

WHAT A LOAD OF ********!!!!!!!!!!

regards,

 

[Anonymous]

Re: another mug!

5 quid will seen very cheap when your engine pinks itself to death and you need a new one

There is a reason why your ECU is set the way it is and thats cos Fiat have done thousands of hours endurance testing and picked those settings to give you the best life. You mess with it and you will dramatically shorten your engine life.

 

[Rich]

Re: Re: another mug!

Big time BAD IDEA if you ask me.
So, you've fooled the ECU into thinking the incoming air is cold. wow....
That means that you will have slighty less dense air than the ecu thinks you do, so will have the wrong AFR (slightly rich), and get better performance (possible)
There are some possible issues with this:
1) the lamnbda sensor fitted to you car wonders what the fu*k is going on , and the ecu puts less fuel in to compensate for a rich mixture.
2) if 1 does not happen, and you are driving along happily enjoying the 'rush' of performance ?! and you are on the motorway, everything is nice and hot (incl catalyst), but the only problem is that you are dumping much fuel into the cylinders. This might lead to slight issues for the catalyst.
3) the exhaust port temperatures may already be marginal for this engine (how would you know otherwise - were you there on the test bed doing the calibration?), and you making them a little hotter could lead to valves melting. Sounds expensive.

And on the subject of calibration. Why would FIAT bother to spend millions of EUROs working on the calibration, if there was extra 'power' to be had for free....

There is an argument that there is some slack 'built in' to the calibration for poor fuel, and engine to engine variation etc. This is partly true. However, how do you know that your engine is perfect? How do you know that the fuel you use is the optimum? If you have a 1.8 or 2.0 engine youhave selective knock contol anyhow, so the engine will adjust around KBL for itself, so the fuel grade will be automatically compensated for.....

Anyhow, please go ahead and fit this device, and let me know if it works. I just hope that you have plenty of money to spend on the new parts that you will need, or don't intend on keeping the car for long.

BY the way - resistors of the type you have bought for £5 can be had for about 4p each from an electrical store. It seems that the only one getting a performance upgrade will be the guy who sold this to you ----- in his bank balance.....

PS. Most diesel 'tuners' use little boxes with resistors in them to alter the engine performance. Some even have the cheek to say that they can 'adjust them' to suit the car (variable resistor then...).
Then they charge the customer £300 to £500 for it....

 

[Chris B]

Tuner

I can vouch that diesel tuners do work. I've had around a 25bhp increase since fitting. I'm not sure about the adjustable boxes as I don't have one, but there are plenty of press releases from reputable car magazines to say that they work.

The ECU sets the parameters for the power output. Tuning boxes simply widen the parameters - but still within the tolerances of the engine.

Yes, you have to pay a few hundred for them; but few engine modifications which give you this kind of power increase are available - and certainly not cheap.

 

[Dave]

Now u all got me worried!!!!

So everyone,

what do u think? should i fit it or shouldnt i?

The fact is, the guy who is selling it has written confirmation on the ebay site to say that it does work, and it will do no damage to car.
Fair enough that if it does do some damage i probably cant sue him cos i did it at my own will, but would you really sell something on ebay if you knew it would cause damage? I would say that the resistor would probably blow out before it got to do any damage to the engine.
I think i will email this guy and get more info from him. The more i can get out of him, the more i have to sue his arse if anything goes wrong. Im sure there is a law about selling dodgy goods. Also he would be using false advertising, as he states that it is "100% safe, 100% legal".
And "Will this hurt my car, motor, computer etc.???", to which the answer he gives is "NO this will not hurt your car or have any negative effect on your motor, computer whatsoever. It is impossible to damage your engine with this mod... In Fact this mod will actually work with your car the way it is designed. Use premium fuel for best results".
So, i really cant see it going wrong!

 

[Dug]

Re: Now u all got me worried!!!!

The resistor will not 'blow' to protect your car: the damage will arise from incorrect mixture and timing, which can cause detonation.

I'm sure this device won't work, but I'm not sure it will cause damage. I wouldn't risk it, though!

You're being a bit niave, I think: the guy's not going to get far by selling his 5p resistors for 5 quid if he says: "Product may damage your car. Results may be hugely disappointing."

 

[rich]

Re: Tuner

Exactly how do you know that the 'widened' parameters are within the tolerances of the engine?
Do you not think that if for example, VW could sell their 130TDi engine for the same price, but actually produce 185Bhp without causing any product damage they would not have done it.
Articles in magazines - especially in Diesel Car are suggesting that all is well if you give the engine massive power and torque gains. I agree that some performance gains could be had by running less or no EGR (only required for Nox emmisions - not tested at MOT), and you could run closer to the smoke limits, so there is some performance there that the manufacturer is forced into removing, but this not of the order of what is offered by 'tuning' companies.
The usual trick with modern diesels (Common rail) is to put a resistor in line with the rail pressure sensor to fool the engine into thinking the pressure is lower, so it actually increases the pressure and as the opening duration of the injector is the same, you get more fuel, and therefore more power. Simply 'tune' the resistor to limit visible smoke, and hey presto £500 in your pocket sir, minimal outlay for parts.

VP44 and PD engines can use different tricks but they are mostly similar ideas.
Companies that actually chip cars just do this at the maps in the engine, in the same way that the calibration engineers will have done when they had the engine on a test bed or were doing driveability work.

My question to you is - If such power was available with out any side effects (such as gearbox/engine durabilty) why on earth would the manufacturers not sell the cars like that in the first place???

 

[Chris]

Re: Re: Tuner

only read the first paragraph but no they wouldnt, they would get 185bhp out of the same engine then sell it for 3 grand extra.

 

[Chris B]

Unit

The answer is down to cost. The unit works to individually optimise each vehicle and engine. Every engine has different characteristics. When the manufacture receives the engine management software for a new production car, the components are bulk programmed in batches to a given tolerance and not prepared to each individual car, treating each car to an optimum and individual adjustment would increase production costs and time for the manufacturer.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Unit

Engine to engine differences are not that great. Things that do vary, such as injectors, and that is already taken car of on the line, as they are batched and programmed for each ecu.
Doe it not strike you as a lucky coincidence that EVERY single person who takes their car to a chip shop can get performance gains? Surely there are some of these 'weak' engines out there that you speak of.....
Chip tuning will most likely show it's ill effects when it comes to the overall life of an engine and transmission. Luckily for the chip shop owners most people do not keep their cars for long enough to find out what damage they have done, as before tune up it may have done 200000 miles, now, only 130000 etc...
The most likely thing to dramatically fail (unless you spend all your time on the autobahn at max speed, ie. full load) is the drivetrain when doing performance starts. If you are carefull and only use the extra power/torque when you are already moving, say 30+mph, then hopefully it will all be ok....

 

[Chris B]

Re: Re: Unit

Power starts in a diesel? No-way matey. You'd need some serious power for that!

If every car was produced to maximise power from an unmodified engine then any after-market modification would be putting excessive strain on engine components. There has to be some margin, although how large will vary between make and model.

I estimate that I get around 130bhp from my 1.9 turbo diesel engine. It's around a 25% increase which may sound a lot, but it doesn't make a massive difference. Even if over time it did damage the engine, it will probably be in a breakers yard long before...