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Things to Know About Installing Performance Chips on American Autos
Performance chips are popular upgrade additions to many American vehicles, and have become significantly more commonplace in the past few years. However, there are a lot of misconceptions about the use of performance chips, and what types of cars can utilize their performance-boosting technology and which ones can’t. Below, we’ll work on breaking down some major areas of interest regarding performance computer chips for American vehicles, so you can get a better idea of whether or not a chip would work on your car.
What American models can benefit from a performance chip?
Pretty much any current American car can use a performance chip. The chip requires an ECU assembly for installation, and almost every car built nowadays has one. Americans tend to introduce vehicles that are larger gas-guzzlers (think of the American SUV surge of the 1990s), and since performance chips can provide 4-7mpg in fuel savings, it makes these kinds of vehicles prime for using the chips, in comparison to the smaller cars that are more common in Europe and Japan.
Can classic cars use performance chips?
This is a pretty common question. The simple answer is ‘no.’ The complicated answer is ‘it depends.’ In order to install a performance computer chip, the car, truck, or SUV must have an ECU installed. The ECU contains an intake air temperature sensor, which is the critical connection component for the performance chip add-on. ECUs didn’t become commonplace until the 1980s, though some 1970s American vehicles used them (including some from General Motors’ pilot program from the late 1970s). Unfortunately, older vehicles cannot be equipped with an ECU after the fact, as they are not fuel injected like modern cars are. So if you don’t consider cars from the 70s or 80s classics, then classic American autos can’t use performance chips.
What American vehicles would most benefit from the use of a chip?
As mentioned earlier, any vehicles where fuel expenditure is high can immensely benefit from the use of a performance chip. But performance chips aren’t used just for fuel savings. In fact, they can add up to 60 horsepower to a vehicle, making them useful to those drivers who want greater speed and power. A Ford Mustang, for instance, is a quintessential American sports car. Though it may not be as powerful as some luxury line sports cars,
this little booster can help close the gap, which makes Mustang performance chips great upgrades for their low price (around $50 often times). Other American sports cars from the 1980s and later can also take advantage of these benefits as well.
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