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

 

scam

 

2 cent resistor that does nothing!!!

 

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.

 

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...

 

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.

 

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

 

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

Dude I think you maaaaaay have the wrong thread!

 

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...

 

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