Performance chips sometimes called Superchips.
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Performance Chips for Trucks – Function
What does a performance chip do to your truck? Well, the name says the function of this thing. A performance chip will boost the performance of your truck. In addition, you may even get a better fuel economy! In short, if you are the type of person who loves to play along with his things, it is worth a shot to buy a performance chip.
Manufacturers don’t allow their users to get the full potential of the trucks. Well, that is why you are opting to buy a chip. They do it so that the trucks are safe to use even for a total beginner. That means if you are not quite acquainted with your truck and its functions, it’s better to leave it untouched.
There are several factors to consider before buying a performance chip. You don’t want to jump on loads of chips and buy whatever looks fancy. No, surely not. At first, you need to know what you need to buy for your truck. Otherwise, all of your money will be a total waste.
Types
There are two types of performance chips. Pre-set or programmed chips and programmable chips. The manufacturers set the tunes and fix them in programmed chips so that you won’t be able to change the tunes. And in the programmable chips, you are the boss. Whatever you want to do to your truck, you are in control of it.
Pre-tuned chips are better for beginners. Manufacturers set some of the best tunes in these chips so that the starters don’t have to worry much. Without any hassle, you will be able to install a programmed chip within around 25 minutes. The extra benefit is you can do it without anyone’s help by just following a manual.
On the other hand, if you are an expert, the programmable chips are there for you. As they are flexible, you can pretty much do anything with the performance chips. But never try a programmable chip if you do not know what you are playing with. Instead of boosting the performance of your truck, you may end up messing up everything.
Performance Tuners for Gas Trucks
Like the diesel trucks, you can enhance the performance of your gas truck too with a performance tuner. There are plenty of options in the market if you are opting to buy one. But before hopping into buying, there are some factors you need to watch out for.
Depending on the types, these performance tuners will improve fuel economy, boost engine performance, and even improve handling. At first, you need to determine the reason for which you are going for a performance tuner. A good choice will make your truck a beast. On the other hand, a bad choice will be a total waste of money.
As these tuners may seem a blessing for us, a question may arise in your mind. Why the manufacturers don’t put the tuners within the vehicles by default? There are various reasons for that. The first one is to ensure the safety of the driver that we have already mentioned earlier. Another reason is to increase sales.
Won’t a perfectly tuned vehicle sell more? It may seem awkward but it’s true. Manufacturers only produce a few engines so that for after-sell service, they can easily provide the necessary parts. That is why they don’t make pre-tuned vehicles.
However, even if all the pluses may convince you to buy a tuner, don’t jump into it. You must have to check the legality of the usage of tuners in your state’s laws. For example, in California, it’s not legal to tune your truck. So, you can’t miss this factor.
Dragon Works Performance Chips
DragonWorks performance chips are the products of a company named DragonWorks Performance. These chips are renowned for their balanced output in a decent price range. It will cost you from $60 to $100 to buy one of these performance chips. There is also an Elite Plus Edition which will make your truck an absolute beast on the road.
This performance chip has a fairly easy installation process. You will be able to install it quite easily by yourself. After the installation, it is time for testing. This chip is a real contender in terms of real-life gains. Many of the manufacturers will blabber about their products and in reality, you will find out that the outputs of their products are not what they promised.
But things are different for DragonWorks performance chip. You will start feeling the difference after only driving a few miles. You will notice the boost in performance and throttle response. The fuel economy will increase too, by around 5 mpg. Even the handling will feel a lot better with this chip.
Even if you only consider the pricing, the features every DragonWorks chip offers are a lot. And this performance chip can easily beat some of the prominent brands’ chips despite its low pricing. Hence, it is always a great deal to buy one of these chips.
Performance Chip Tuning
Performance Chip Tuning means tuning with a performance chip. We get that. But how does a performance chip do the tuning? It does not do any external modification. A performance chip optimizes the Engine Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle. Thus this whole process which is named “chiptuning” is often called software tuning too.
In this article, we are discussing everything about the performance chips. In simpler terms, what we are going to do with a performance chip is chiptuning. There are so many benefits of chiptuning that may be stated as follows-
1. Performance boost
You will feel the boost in performance almost right after the installation. Go for a drive, after crossing a few miles, you will start feeling the difference. The performance will enhance from 5% to 20% depending on the performance chip and its tuning.
2. Improved fuel economy
More performance means more usage of fuel, right? But how will you get economic fuel usage with boosted performance? It may not seem logical but with advanced technology, the tuners and chips are much more developed and thus works very efficiently. You will get around 5 to 15% improvement in fuel usage.
3. Better handling
Stiff handling is always a pain for the driver. You will not feel comfortable, even for a second. Some of the performance chips will improve the handling of your truck. Thus, chiptuning will allow you to drive comfortably on the road with your truck.
Jet Performance Chip
Jet is one of the popular names in the tuning section. This brand is famous for its reliability and value for money products. You can either buy a programmer or a performance module from Jet depending on your demand. Both these products have positive reviews among the users.
You can use the performance chips of Jet to meet a variety of ends. Whether you want to improve the performance for heavy towing or racing purposes, it isn’t an issue for Jet performance chips. This is another reason why the performance chips of Jet are so reliable to the users.
There are many types of Jet performance chips available in the market. If you are a beginner and don’t want to take any risk, you may want a Power Control Module from Jet. What will it do? It simply retunes the ECU’s signals to optimize tons of functions to boost the performance of your truck. And the installation process is super easy. Don’t forget, you are a beginner!
However, if you are a pro kind of driver and don’t want to go for newbie things, you can go for a Jet Performance Programmer. Now, you have the power to control the tuning of your truck. Besides, you can always use the pre-set tunes if you are not in the mood.
Due to the decent pricing and reliable performance, Jet is on top of the competition. From racers to casual drivers, whenever it is the call for a tuner, they never forget to consider Jet as an option. You can always put the Jet performance chips in your buying list at least for the sake of the reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Performance Chips Legal?
Yes, they are. As long as you are not interfering with your vehicle’s emission system, you will be fine. But the moment you put a hand on the emission system, you will be at risk of engaging in illegal activities.
There are plenty of performance chips in the market that guarantee not to interfere with the emission system. Thus, they are legal. So, if we want to answer the question, the answer will be both yes and no. You have to be a little bit more alert while buying. Just check whether the performance chip you are buying will do any harm to the emission or not. You will be fine.
Do Performance Chips Work on Gas Engines?
In one word, yes. The performance chips are evolving day by day. Manufacturers are trying to cover almost every vehicle available to keep their business ticking. If you find tuners or performance chips of every vehicle at one place, will you leave that place? No.
Almost every renowned manufacturers have performance chips for both diesel and gas engines. So, if you have a car that uses a gas engine to run, it won’t be a hassle to buy tuners for it.
Do Performance Chips Harm Your Engine?
Yes, they can harm your vehicle’s engine. But only in one condition. If you buy the performance chips from a cheap and unknown manufacturer, the probability is almost 100%. But the premium and brand products won’t do anything to your truck’s engine. Why would they destroy their developed business?
Do Performance Chips Damage Your Engine?
No. The performance chips don’t do any damage to your vehicle’s engine. The brand performance chips are very good at doing their jobs and competing with each other at whole another level. If there is any damage done to your vehicle’s engine, that’s most probably because of your driving habit. If you have a good driving habit, there’s nothing to worry about.
Do Chips Make Your Car Faster?
Yes, they do. From real-life experience and customer reviews, we can say that these performance chips boost a vehicle’s overall performance drastically. If you want to drive faster or tune your vehicle for racing purposes only, there are dedicated performance chips for that. These dedicated chips will boost the speed to an amazing feat! And you are going to love it.
Do Performance Chips Really Increase Mpg?
Yes. If you want to hear the real-life experience from us, that’s a big yes. We have tested the performance chips on various vehicles. In some of the models, the chips work better. Anyway, the numbers the manufacturers claim to provide, don’t believe any of that. Practical experiences are always different. However, you can expect around a 5 mpg increase with the performance chips.
Are Performance Chips Illegal?
Not all of them. It’s a mixed answer. Some of the manufacturers claim that their products are legally safe to use. If any famous brand claims this, this is most probably true. However, if the tuners or chips do anything to deactivate the emission system, you are screwed! You have a big chance of being caught in every sort of inspection.
What is the Best Performance Chip?
From our research, we have found out some of the best performance chips in the market. The list of the chips is below-
- Jet Performance Power Control Module
- Edge Juice with Attitude CS2 Programmer
- Edge Evolution CTS2 Programmer
- Jet V Force Plus Power Control Module
- Bully Dog Triple Dog GT Tuner
- DragonWorks Performance Chip
How Much HP Does a Performance Chip Add?
If you do not want to do any customization and just use a tuner or performance chip, you won’t get much out of it. You will get around 10-20 HP in a stock engine. As some of the vehicles fit the chips more than others, you may get better results than the provided figure.
Conclusion
So, we are at the end. It’s time to make a decision. Haven’t decided yet? There are two basic questions. Are you afraid of the legality? Or, are you afraid the performance chips will not work?
As we have mentioned several times in this article, some of the options will not throw you out of safety. You have to just check everything before the purchase. And now the second question. If the performance chips don’t work in real life, would there be an industry out of these products? No. Some of the chips are really cool and at the same time, some are not. Be a little bit more careful before buying, you will be fine.
