Hey guys, new to the boards, i just bought a 2005 cobalt LS and i was wondering what the deal is with so called plug and play performance chips on ebay. most claim for 10-20$ you get like 25hp. i dont know much about the mechanical side of cars im a bodyman myself so i can at least change my oil and replace whatever parts.

SO yea just wondering if those things are just a scam or if they do work if they are safe. would be glad to get some input browsed around and couldnt find any info. And if it is a safe mod and actually does something without wrecking my car would be glad to know if theres a trusted brand.

Sorry about the noobish question but like i said im no mechanic. ;-)
thanks :ca:

scam

2 cent resistor that does nothing!!!

stay away from those tornado intakes also.

stay away from those tornado intakes also.


ahahah....i was waitein for somebody to say that!

Can't chip your OBDII computer. Sorry.

yeah, scam, you wouldnt believe some of the stuff people sell on ebay....i seen one of those electric superchargers with a BOV before....WTF!! lol

Do use them they destroy your motor all they do is make the computer think the air coming in is much colder than it realy is making it run rich this in turn gums up the motor and exaust system.

Hey guys, new to the boards, i just bought a 2005 cobalt LS and i was wondering what the deal is with so called plug and play performance chips on ebay. most claim for 10-20$ you get like 25hp. i dont know much about the mechanical side of cars im a bodyman myself so i can at least change my oil and replace whatever parts.

SO yea just wondering if those things are just a scam or if they do work if they are safe. would be glad to get some input browsed around and couldnt find any info. And if it is a safe mod and actually does something without wrecking my car would be glad to know if theres a trusted brand.

Sorry about the noobish question but like i said im no mechanic. ;-)
thanks :ca:

the redline chip that is on ebay works, its not a 2 cent resister either... its 1 1/2 inch by 2 inch black box w/ a circut board inside it, 2 wires a red and a black wire. the wires splice inline w/ your MAF/ATS sensor. The black wire goes to... you guest it black, but the red wire splices into the yellow wire... the things ive noticed was a better throtle responce, my mpg got better on the highway from 32mpg to 43mpg. I have an automatic and from a dead stop i use to just beable to squock the tires a lil bit, now they peal out more then just a squock and put a lil jerk on the steering wheel since its not posi or limited slip i should say... but as for the Tornado things that claim to spin the air and create power are crap, i got one of those too and all it did was restrict air flow and made my computer throw rich codes... when i pull back into home port ill take a picture of where i installed it on my car

Oh noes!

this can be said for ANYTHING that claims better power/mileage... if it seems too good to be true, it probably is... believe me, if dealers could take a "chip" that cost them a nickel and add 25 hp and 25 mpg over stock, it would be installed before you bought the car...

this can be said for ANYTHING that claims better power/mileage... if it seems too good to be true, it probably is... believe me, if dealers could take a "chip" that cost them a nickel and add 25 hp and 25 mpg over stock, it would be installed before you bought the car...

Believe me, they allways try to stay away from "more power", thats the reason why GM won't put stage kits from factory and that alot of dealerships won't touch GM mods. People want power but they don't want to pay for all the added support. Besides, more power is allways more trouble, no matter how good your setup is.

Back when my friend and I were 16 and stupid we bought one of those "chips" off of Ebay for $10 for my friends Jetta....After we put it on the car ran so rich that it stalled and we couldnt get it to start back up...took it off, got it started and the car ran fine again...JUNK

I heard a story of an LS in Longmont Colorado thats "Chipped". My friend who is new to cars and mods was talking to a guy with an LS that I have yet to meet. He apparently has I/H/E/cams + "many chips" and it got him to 312whp! haha, I laughed so hard I fell out of my seat. A built 2.2 with a turbo will be lucky to get 300whp. He also said he only ran a 14.1 @ Altitude with 312whp. lol

Moral of the story, Don't believe everything you hear!

Just pee into your gas tank cause it makes as much power as that "chip" does!

well i dont car what you guys say, i know what my info center says. the econ use to say 32.4 mpg after i put that chip in and drove down the eway for about 50 or 60 miles my econ mpg shot up to 43.3 and was still going up till i got off the highway then it droped to 28 in stop and go traffic

that guy you are talking about w/ the cams, he took a video and pictures of him installing the cams. the video is sweet, the car lopes like a hot rod. even my uncle was impressed that the kind of lope he was getting from a 4 banger.

oh the video is on the www......cobaltss........com forums

i could buy that... if i cruise on the highway, i've seen over 40mpg, but pull in the high 20s around town. i don't trust it at all.

well i dont car what you guys say, i know what my info center says. the econ use to say 32.4 mpg after i put that chip in and drove down the eway for about 50 or 60 miles my econ mpg shot up to 43.3 and was still going up till i got off the highway then it droped to 28 in stop and go traffic

Don't get all defensive. Its proven junk. Who cares what your meter says.

Instead of your info center try it on a dyno. Look I'm not flaming you its just I hate to see people taken advantage of and thats all these performance "chips" do. You do know that you can buy a pack of 5 10k ohm resisters at Radio Shack for $1.25 and thats all your "chip" is. ONE of a pack of 5 for a buck and a quarter! That breaks down to be .25 each resister in a little black plastic box with some wire soldered on the ends.

Thats what it is this is what It does, it tricks your ECM into thinking the incoming air temp is lower then it realy is. TA DA! Theres the big secret! So in turn your ECM sets itself to run the car like its winter time meaning more fuel.

Usualy these things cut your milage but if you say its working for you then more power to you my friend and best of luck with it. But I've seen them screw an engine up more often then help one out. Just be careful.

here is a couple of pics of the cams that were installed on that cobalt you were talking about
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02160.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02156.jpg

here is a couple of pics of the cams that were installed on that cobalt you were talking about
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02160.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02156.jpg


:wtf: And purple tastes best on fried footballs. See I can do it too!

Dude I think you maaaaaay have the wrong thread! :lol:

well i dont car what you guys say, i know what my info center says. the econ use to say 32.4 mpg after i put that chip in and drove down the eway for about 50 or 60 miles my econ mpg shot up to 43.3 and was still going up till i got off the highway then it droped to 28 in stop and go traffic


that's actually pretty normal for highway driving... if it shot up to 43 and then went back down to 28, i bet you reset the meter, and were driving extra "normal" to see how high it would go... i've had it up to almost 50mpg without a chip...

:wtf: And purple tastes best on fried footballs. See I can do it too!

Dude I think you maaaaaay have the wrong thread! :lol:

nope, if you read back a few posts someone was talking about a cobalt w/ the cams and a bunch of computer chip mods from colorado, well this is the cobalt they are talking about. the video is on the other cobaltss site. the cams sound mean as hell too

that's actually pretty normal for highway driving... if it shot up to 43 and then went back down to 28, i bet you reset the meter, and were driving extra "normal" to see how high it would go... i've had it up to almost 50mpg without a chip...

the highest i ever got the mpg was 34 when the car was brand new. so yes i reset the meter to see what it would do.

the highest i ever got the mpg was 34 when the car was brand new. so yes i reset the meter to see what it would do.


then it's normal, has nothing to do with the chip... gas mileage will always increase after a few thousand miles... you drove easier than normal, whether it was a conscious or subconcious decision, end of story... once you got back in stop and go traffic, it went down to where it should be because you coudln't baby it anymore. i'm totally NOT trying to knock you or anything, but the chip is worthless and if anything it's hurting your car

here is a couple of pics of the cams that were installed on that cobalt you were talking about
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02160.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/xCobalt05x/DSC02156.jpg

Haha! the funny thing is you all are wrong. This Guys name is Curtis who is in the picture you have. Hes one of my good friends and founder of Rocky Mountain Ecotec. His LS (Now his Wife's Daily driver) sounds bad ass with the cams and runs strong.

The Douche bag i was refering to works with a friend of mine and knows nothing about cars and shouldn't be allowed to spread lies about cobalts like he does. He claims 312 whp with only I/H/E/cams and "chips" from a 2.2! haha, no...

The "chips" do nothing and can be dangerous, but if anyone has tried them and somehow they miraculously (sp?) work than power to them, they wont be on my car...

nope, if you read back a few posts someone was talking about a cobalt w/ the cams and a bunch of computer chip mods from colorado, well this is the cobalt they are talking about. the video is on the other cobaltss site. the cams sound mean as hell too

I will agree, they sound bad ass. We love to try an trick people into beliveing its a small block at meets. Its awesome!

PS: Curtis (The one pictured) has never had any "chips" on his LS or SS/SC, You jumped the gun, This isn't the car I was talking about. This one is a million times better!

nope, if you read back a few posts someone was talking about a cobalt w/ the cams and a bunch of computer chip mods from colorado, well this is the cobalt they are talking about. the video is on the other cobaltss site. the cams sound mean as hell too

Oops my bad I must have missed that. Sorry.

I have one of those redline chips Ill take a pict of it cracked open.

Heres the redline power chip just cracked it open complete scam they say its a chip but its not its a resiter (as shown in the second pict) just like the rest of the resiters on ebay and destroy your engine heres your prof. And that vibration resitant special stuff to keep the so called chip safe from vibration is steel epoxy to make it feel heavy If you know some body who has this tell them to take it out.

http://cobaltss.net/gallery/files/1/0/6/1/7/PIC00114.JPG

http://cobaltss.net/gallery/files/1/0/6/1/7/PIC00115.JPG

I never installed this I got this for free from a friend because i covinced him to get a real tune.

i ve driven out to maryland and got close to 40 mpg with no mods (unless you count decals) on the interstate. the cobalt can get great gas mileage on its own with out any help for other "sources"

after I put the injen on my car I hit 51 mpg.

Who woulda thunk that my simple post would turn into a great big arguement? :lol:
Anyways thanks for the replies guys. ;-) much appreciated! wont be putting a resistor in this car. ;-)

Good to know That I smached that redline power thing up for a good cause.

Heres the redline power chip just cracked it open complete scam they say its a chip but its not its a resiter (as shown in the second pict) just like the rest of the resiters on ebay and destroy your engine heres your prof. And that vibration resitant special stuff to keep the so called chip safe from vibration is steel epoxy to make it feel heavy If you know some body who has this tell them to take it out.

whats the color code on that resistor and where is it connected? lets give the info and let him try it for .10 rather than $ 3-75 dollars on ebay.

Color codes doen't really matter. (Let me explain why) For GM cars whent he air temps drop the IAT increases the resistance to the ECM and thats how it knows it getting colder.
The higher the resistance the colder the ECM "thinks" it is. Now the lowest it can read is
to 10degrees below zero (if I remember correctly) The amounts of resistance vary widely depending on temperature thats why I say the color bands don't really matter. That and depending on what size resister you get the colors could be different.

All you need to do is get a pack of 10k ohm resisters, this will bottom out the ECM's temp settings as low as they will go. I tried this in my old Cavalier just to proove they don't do anything but suck down more gas and make your plugs foul quicker cause of the extra fuel. I did my tests and put them up on J-Body.org where they used to have a stickie for it. But I haven't been there in months so IDK if its gone or not.

I have a 07 cobalt lt and have found several air intake kits... for better sound and performance on the cobalt is it better to have short ram, cold air, or a full intake system. I'm not too concerned with gas mileage because it is already fantastic. Also, i noticed the IAT sensor hooked up to the stock intake is 6-pins. I am more used to using 2-pin on older cars. Can these wires hookup to most 2-pin intakes I have found on ebay or should I find a system with 6?

I have a 07 cobalt lt and have found several air intake kits... for better sound and performance on the cobalt is it better to have short ram, cold air, or a full intake system. I'm not too concerned with gas mileage because it is already fantastic. Also, i noticed the IAT sensor hooked up to the stock intake is 6-pins. I am more used to using 2-pin on older cars. Can these wires hookup to most 2-pin intakes I have found on ebay or should I find a system with 6?


Dude! Not to sound like a dick but haven't you read any of this post? Those things DO NOT WORK. In fact I even gave an explanation of how they work, what they do, and why they most certainly do not work.

Save your money my friend as this is a gimmick!

:lol: :twothumbs Just pee into your gas tank cause it makes as much power as that "chip" does!
:twothumbs :lol:

i would like to see this vid of a 2.2 running chips I/H/E with 312 hp....LOL

Dude! Not to sound like a dick but haven't you read any of this post? Those things DO NOT WORK. In fact I even gave an explanation of how they work, what they do, and why they most certainly do not work.

Save your money my friend as this is a gimmick!

I know that those resistors do not work. I'm talking about air intake systems... I wanted to know how the pins work for installing a retail air intake system not a stupid 5 ohm 1/2 watt resistor. So if you could please tell me how the 6-pin system works to install an air intake system (aem, injen, etc.)... thanks

I know that those resistors do not work. I'm talking about air intake systems... I wanted to know how the pins work for installing a retail air intake system not a stupid 5 ohm 1/2 watt resistor. So if you could please tell me how the 6-pin system works to install an air intake system (aem, injen, etc.)... thanks

Ok. I think your meaning how does it hook up to the intake right? If so the answer is that the intake tube has a hole cut into it and a bung welded on that the sensor fits into and then is screwed on to attach it to the tube.

You use the factory sensor in the aftermarket intake. Is that what you were needing?

Dude! Not to sound like a dick but haven't you read any of this post? Those things DO NOT WORK. In fact I even gave an explanation of how they work, what they do, and why they most certainly do not work.

Save your money my friend as this is a gimmick!

I say go for it and dyno it. We need to put this argument to rest once and for all.

They do work but not as much as they say and at a cost of serious motor wear and exaust damage. take your pick maybe 5 horse and posible motor damage or get a real tune and know you got more horse's with minimal engine wear take your pick.

The reason why ricers are made fun of and hated is the fact that most of the owners go as cheap as posible and end up f#^king there stuff up or looking or sounding like shit. dont turn a cobalt into a one it makes the rest of us look bad.

They do work but not as much as they say and at a cost of serious motor wear and exaust damage. take your pick maybe 5 horse and posible motor damage or get a real tune and know you got more horse's with minimal engine wear take your pick.

The reason why ricers are made fun of and hated is the fact that most of the owners go as cheap as posible and end up f#^king there stuff up or looking or sounding like shit. dont turn a cobalt into a one it makes the rest of us look bad.

5 is a very genorious guess. I'd venture more like a 1/4 to a 1/2 horse, maybe a pony.
But certainly not 5 horses!

Yah your right I typed to fast mabe 1/100Th of a horse:lol:

Yah your right I typed to fast mabe 1/100Th of a horse:lol:


Have you found the EDIT button yet? LMAO!!! :lol:

Yes I have but screw it Im lazy and also the cost of the 1/100 HP your loseing like
8 mpg:lol: