Steve Wong did it again

[jkarolyi]

>Maybe once a year we should put the old chip back in so that we can appreciate how good life has become.

I put my stock chip and cat back in to pass smog a few months ago...felt like I had big Aunt Bertha in my passenger's seat.

>I'm not sure I understand the claim of more performance AND better fuel economy?

I don't know *how* he does it, but supposedly he optimizes the mixture during part throttle cruising for fuel economy and optimizes heavy throttle for power. Whatever he does, it works.

[gpm0414]

Just finished upgrading my '86 with Steve's chip, Fabspeed cat bypass, and M&K 1in/1out muffler. Very pleased with the quality of the products, performance, and sound.

[wm711]

Steve, if you are still out there, going 1 3/4" euro headers with megaphones w/noise suppression in a 3.6 72. K&N cone AF. have you a chip for this setup? thanks-Bill

[Steve W]

Absolutely - the chips developed for the 3.6 964/993s make just as great an improvement as they do on the 3.2s. Just recently, we pulled 253 rear wheel HP on Tyson Schmidt's '94 C2 on a Dynojet, which assuming a 15% transmission loss factor, is 297 HP at the engine. This was on 91 octane pump gas, with just a cat bypass and open airbox cover. Really noticable is the increase in low and mid end torque - a crack of the throttle will induce tire spinning throttle oversteer in turns.

We also chipped his friend's '93 RS America with equally impressive results. Belonging to Matt Lowell of a Matt's Greenwood Autocare in Seattle, a modified exhaust system with headers from a 993 was installed and the car was baselined on both a Dynojet and Mustang dyno and measured about 220 hp at the wheels. A rechip optimizing the fuel and ignition for 93 octane, the engine redynoed at 273 rwhp on the Mustang, that's a 54 hp gain at the wheels. Correcting for a 15% transmission loss, that would be 321 hp at the motor. YMMV, but the transformation to this car was amazing.

[911 in SC]

Originally posted by M491driver
Uuuuh, a month of not driving the Carrera? You might need some kind of half-way house or step down clinic. This is not the kind of thing you can go cold turkey on.
See you when you get back.

Yeah, tell me about it! I'll be driving her to work and back on Wednesday and Thursday though!

Steve W, I have an '84 RoW and plan to install a Fabspeed pre-muffler, and M&K 1 in/1 out exhaust. Do you have something specific? Also, what is involved in chipping it in my '84? I'm not a total newb when it comes to chipping cars (owned an '00 GTI 1.8T and a '99 Audi A4 Avant 1.8Tq), but have read where there's an extra wire that needs to be ran for 'early' 3.2s. Is this true?

Thanks,
Mike

[lateapex911]

Originally posted by Steve W

a modified exhaust system with headers from a 993 was installed and the car was baselined on both a Dynojet and Mustang dyno and measured about 220 hp at the wheels. A rechip optimizing the fuel and ignition for 93 octane, the engine redynoed at 273 rwhp on the Mustang, that's a 54 hp gain at the wheels. Correcting for a 15% transmission loss, that would be 321 hp at the motor. YMMV, but the transformation to this car was amazing.

Did I read that correctly?

The baseline was done AFTER the exhaust install? Was there a baseline done before it?

Then the chip alone produced the results?

Without the exhaust, would the gains be the same? Or did the chip help get the most from the new exhaust, and vice versa?

I guess what i'm getting at is that often its a combination of thigns...a synergy, that yeilds the best results.

And...do you do 944S2 s??? (probable SCCA IT race car)

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by livi
We need some modulation here - where is Loren ?

Hoping that this does not happen!

[jkarolyi]

>I guess what i'm getting at is that often its a combination of thigns...a synergy, that yeilds the best results.

Yep. I did the mods one at a time...first one was the cat bypass and sport muffler, then the chip. Both of them made a big difference separately and together. The chip is a part of the complete package as SW will tell you...

[PatrickB]

I see there is a different chip for stock vs. modified exhaust... Is there more chip modification to be made if a cone filter, or K&N filter with the cover modified?

I'm running a stock muffler, but with the cat bypass/pre-muffler. Also a K&N air filter...

'85 3.2

By the way Steve, Happy 4th to you!

[Steve W]

Thanks Patrick - happy 4th 2 u also! The difference with air filter mods are so subtle, there is point in chip mods for such. There are greater variations between car to car just in the motor itself.

Originally posted by 911 in SC

Steve W, I have an '84 RoW and plan to install a Fabspeed pre-muffler, and M&K 1 in/1 out exhaust. Do you have something specific? Also, what is involved in chipping it in my '84? I'm not a total newb when it comes to chipping cars (owned an '00 GTI 1.8T and a '99 Audi A4 Avant 1.8Tq), but have read where there's an extra wire that needs to be ran for 'early' 3.2s. Is this true?

Thanks,
Mike

With ROWs imported into the U.S. often times the DME and chip was changed out with a U.S. version and the wiring tampered in an attempt to implement an O2 sensor. Some were done correctly, and some were half ass. There are programs for either, but I'd need to know what the numbers are on top of your DME box, and if you can, the numbers on the chip inside. The original ROW box should have 0 261.200 051 printed on top. If it is a U.S. box, I'd need to know if you see an O2 sensor in your exhaust, and if so, how it is wired in.

Originally posted by lateapex911
Did I read that correctly?

The baseline was done AFTER the exhaust install? Was there a baseline done before it?

Then the chip alone produced the results?

Without the exhaust, would the gains be the same? Or did the chip help get the most from the new exhaust, and vice versa?

I guess what i'm getting at is that often its a combination of thigns...a synergy, that yeilds the best results.

And...do you do 944S2 s??? (probable SCCA IT race car)

That is correct, baseline was done with the exhaust already completed. I don't know what it baselined with the original 964 exhaust, but Matt says that there was a noticeable improvement in throttle response and torque after the install just from the exhaust, and his car was no more weaker or stronger than any of his customers' 964s. Afterwards, baselines (dotted lines) were done with original RS chip and redynoed with the revised chip (solid lines). Seems hard to believe and I don't guarantee these kind of results in most cases, but that's was achieved in this particular one. I may work on 944s in the future - it's something that Tony at Callas Rennsport and I discussed at length a while back, but it will have to be when I have more time, which is very lacking for me at the present.

[PatrickB]

Thanks for the reply Steve!

Those numbers above are impressive.
I've been running another aftermarket chip for almost 5 years. Performance improvements were impressive, but my MPG has suffered, even when trying to drive a couple of tank fulls with economy in mind... I've been thinking of trying your CHIP, as I've read that many people see even improved mileage over the stock CHIP?

I just popped in the OEM CHIP for kicks, to see if mileage would improve. I've only driven a half a tank, but it looks as if I will get an extra 100 miles out of this tank than normal... Also, I've noticed that the car seems quite sluggi

[PatrickB]

Ooops!

Sluggish. Performance difference between the 2 CHIPS is dramatic....

I guess I'm looking for the best of both worlds... Performance when I want it, and good MPG when I choose to drive like a sane person...

I do have the 24 pin chip, so is there any real advantage to the different mod you have for upgrading to the 86-89 model? Mine is an '85.

Thanks again!

Patrick

[Steve W]

Patrick, fuel economy varies from car to car in as much as cars with stock chips can vary their fuel consumption from 17 to 24 mpg. The chip is more efficient at converting fuel into energy, but it also unlocks the potential to produce more throttle response and acceleration power, and if utilized increases consumption by a proportionate amount. MPG is like going to a buffet, given the choice a person might tend to overeat. Generally, low speed stop and go city driving can be anywhere from the same to about 2 mpg less if driven more aggressively. On the other hand, high speed driving, even at 80-90 mph with lots of acceleration bursts, fuel efficiency normally increases by 2-4 mpg over stock because of the more efficient energy extraction. Really depends on one’s driving style, but best way to summarize it is that the more high speed and or steady state your driving conditions are, the greater the increase in mpg you'll gain over the stock chip.

For U.S cars, there is an advantage to the 4k programming over the 2k chips that have traditionally been sold for 84-86 cars. 2k programming has tight limitations on how much power and throttle response is achievable. A 4k program makes significant improvements in low and mid end torque, idle quality, and eliminates the sub 4000 rpm lag, with power coming on as soon as 1500 rpm, that is not possible for a 2k chip to replicate. All 84-86 chips I’ve provided in the past few years have been 4k, and as such may require a 4k jumper mod to the DME if not already enabled. You are welcome to try it and compare it to your chip for a while. To date, it seems everyone who has, has not gone back.

[PatrickB]

Thanks Steve!

Exactly the info I was looking for... My work commute typically occurs during off peak traffic hours. The majority of my drive is an easy steady freeway cruise at about 80mph. With the other chip, I struggle to hit 20 mpg. I believe with the stock chip, I'll be hitting 22-24 mpg. I would love to get close to that with your chip, and still have the performance enhacements when I jump on it. Do you include some thorough instructions for making the mod? Even with my large fingers, I have the skills to remove the chip with no problem. Is it a just a simple soldering job for the 4k upgrade?

Thanks!

Patrick

p.s. I was with the SOCG caravan up to the Ventura Show, and met you for the first time. You were gracious enough to take the picture below with my camera! I'm the third large guy from the left...

[lateapex911]

Wow..that is a staggeringly impressive plot. If it were anyone else, I'd be suspicious!

I think I'll be converting a 944S2 into a race car next year. Would love to see the same chip magic!

[Wavey]

Originally posted by livi
We need some modulation here - where is Loren ?

Driving a Carrera with a Steve Wong chip is NOT as good as doin' it with Halle Berry. Or so I've been told. But I imagine it's a close second.

[911 in SC]

Originally posted by Steve W
With ROWs imported into the U.S. often times the DME and chip was changed out with a U.S. version and the wiring tampered in an attempt to implement an O2 sensor. Some were done correctly, and some were half ass. There are programs for either, but I'd need to know what the numbers are on top of your DME box, and if you can, the numbers on the chip inside. The original ROW box should have 0 261.200 051 printed on top. If it is a U.S. box, I'd need to know if you see an O2 sensor in your exhaust, and if so, how it is wired in.

Thanks so much for the info Steve! The conversion from RoW to US spec was done by Brumos in 1985. I haven't owned it very long (a couple of months now) so I'm really new to it. However, I will certainly keep the info you asked for, and will check it out before I order. Thanks again for the info. Very much appreciated.

I agree, the numbers look very good. Very impressive to me. Hopefully, I'll be able to do this in a month or two...

Later,
Mike

[Steve W]

The 4k mod is very simple, requires you to clip off the old jumper and solder in the new provided jumper. Illustrated instruction are included, however it's mostly the 84s that need the mod and chances are good you don't need to do it. By 86, almost all the DMEs were already 4k enabled.

4K mod instructions

[PatrickB]

Mine's an '85... I'll take a closer look tomorrow...
So if I wanted to take advantage of the 4k program, I would also order a 24 pin chip for '87??

[rusnak]

I've been seriously considering buying a SW chip. To me it's an issue of whether it'll damage my engine in extreme conditions, which the factory had to take into consideration when designing their setup.

Honestly, some of you guys with the breathless claims and lack of information are making it somewhat difficult to cull through the BS that surrounds most chip claims. In the world of automotive aftermarket equipment in general, most of the stuff is worthless if you know what I mean.

Um, and Halle Berry is a freakin awful actress. Great lookin lady, but she can't act.