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Chuckles

I wish these people would just go away.
"Something for nothing" for only $7.99?

- Doug
 
Reading the negative feedback, it says the "Performance Chip" is actually a 4.7k resistor. For $7.99 and $6.99 shipping? Go to Radio Shack.
 
A total waste - but apparently only for guys who know what to look for ...

Look at his feedback: he's sold over 300 of those things! $8 + $7 s/h = $15. $15x300=$4500.

ack!

Over 300 people took the bait? yeesh ....

Tom (rushing out to buy thousands of resistors ...)
 
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time!! What ever happened to truth in advertising and fraud convictions?
 
I hear tell that if you measure the hp at idle, then add that fancy new "power booster" gizmo, then rev up the engine to 5000rpm - the hp really does increase!

Golly! maybe he's on to something ! :jester:

T.
 
P.T. Barnum would most definitely have <span style="text-decoration: underline">LOVED</span> the internet and eBay.

No doubt about it! :laugh:
 
Ummm. Being Toyota Hybrid Certified, and knowing what I do about those cars, I highly doubt that if a $5 resistor would do all that, that Toyota would have failed to already have installed it.
Besides, the gasoline engine on a Prius DOES NOT provide the majority of the horsepower on hard acceleration.
The usage of the gasoline engine is totally different from a normal car. Therfore I doubt that a chip that would work with the average cars computer would have any effect on a Prius, other than to set a bunch of codes in the HV ECU.
Definatly a good chuckle.
 
Well, if it uses more electricity, which gives more power than the gasoline engine, then it does exactly what he claims... faster response, more power and more miles per gallon.

Of course it doesn't say that you won't run out of electricity either...
 
eeeeeh... I just doubt that a resistor is gonna have any overall positive effect on a Prius. You may be right to a point Steve, but thier ad claims to give the gas engine extra power. On a Prius they'd have to do exactly what you said. Reduce the gas engines run time and rely more on the battery pack. Toyota closely watches how the car does that with the ECU. It also records data on how deeply the battery is being cycled and adjusts itsself to keep it within paramaters set by the factory to ensure longer battery life. (not to mention a warranty claim would look at all that data to see if someone had been in there messing with things.)
On this car, that chip would have to do the exact opposite of what it does on a standard car to accopmlish the same goal.
Also thay claim smoother shifts. Pretty impressive, considering Priuses have an CVT trans. (in otherwords, they don't shift)
 
Steve_S said:
I didn't see anything mentioned about the gas engine's power specifically.

OK - maybe I'm missing something. He's selling these things for just about every recent make and model of car, hybrid or not. Not just for Prius. Each one includes the following description (see below). So he says it "increases horsepower to the wheels". But it doesn't - unless the installation instructions also say "when you add this booster, you also need to remove all the seats to lower total weight".

So it's bogus. (right? ...)
 
Under "how does it work" his line is
"By dynamically adjusting your vehicles computer, we are able to unleash the extra performance that is availacle from your engine. By increasing the efficency and performance of your engine, our produce is also able to increas your MPG. By increasing efficency your engine will also last longer and run smother"
that's where I'm getting that they're talking specifically about the "gas engine"
On a normal car these claims are "miraculous" but they at least make sense. no so on a hybrid
On a prius there are two main ECUs. the engine control ECU and the HV (high voltage) ECU While fully integrated, the two are also seprate.
My point is that engine run strategy on a Prius is drastiacally different from all the other cars that this same chip is designed for.
I'm sorry, I diden't mean to start a discussion. I was just trying to add a little technical backup to the "chuckles" aspect.
 
Hi Ben - thanks for the additional info. Seems his entire sales blurb is just hype, whether it's for a Prius or any other car.

If he's really selling just a simple resistor, then his using the term "chip" is bogus as well.

Wonder if he sells bridges and oceanfront property too. :jester:

Tom
 
I didn't realize he had them listed for regular gasoline-powered cars. Technically he could increase fuel economy by using the gas engine less and electric motor more, but it wouldn't increase the engine's efficiency, just fuel economy overall. You're right that by stating "engine" he's referring to the gasoline part since the electric power comes from a motor.
 
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