Steve Wong Chip Vs. Autothority Chip

EMJ · 01-02-2008, 10:22 AM

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season...

I've recently caught the Steve Wong chip bug as all I've read are nothing but very positive posts and testimonials on those chips and Steve himself. I have an '88 Carerra with the Autothority chip, Mass Flow Sensor, and a B&B dual outlet exhaust. The car is very responsive throughout the powerband, but I keep reading that the SW chips are superior than all others when it comes to low end torque and top end speed. The car is my daily driver and I intend to do some autocross events this year, maybe some DE's (Obligatory pic's below)

.

Couple of questions:

1) Has anyone upgraded from the Autothority chip to the SW chip, and was there a significant difference in power gains?

2) Any potential issues with combining the SW chip with the Autothority MFS? I don't believe it's a problem but am trying to confirm.

I appreciate your help.

BTW, I searched the site for this topic but got a lot of 951 Autothority chip hits.

Thanks for your help!

sjanes · 01-02-2008, 12:49 PM

I used to have an Authority chip and I switched to a SW chip. Lap times and data logger (long g) showed no improvement for me. My engine is a 3.4L though, so not stock.

EMJ · 01-02-2008, 01:13 PM

Thanks, sjanes. Any difference in low end torque? Throttle response?

sjanes · 01-02-2008, 01:22 PM

I noticed no difference. I should dyno the car though to get AFR readings and send them to Steve to see if he can tune it more.

EMJ · 01-02-2008, 01:28 PM

Thanks, sjanes. I sent Steve Wong a PM for his take on dyno differences between the two. The car rocks with my current application, but you know how it is -- can't ever have enough power!

ianc · 01-02-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

BTW, I searched the site for this topic but got a lot of 951 Autothority chip hits.

You can narrow your search considerably by only searching on the 911 tech forum rather than the default of all forums. Use the advanced search to do this.

I won't comment on the original question except to say that Steve is aces.

ianc

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Customer service is also on a better level with Steve. He will actually TALK to you....

don911 · don911's Garage

I think the biggest benny is the A/F ratio. I have an AutoT MAF as well and the dyno showed it was running too rich. Steve told me it was typical for their generic chips. I had Steve do a custom chip. I have a cat bypass with stock muffler.
Here are my dyno's before and after. After I dyno'd with Steve's chip, Steve tweeked it a little to get a little better A/F.

Also, with the autot chip, my car was missing at the top of the rpm range I think loading up with too much fuel. You can see the dips in the dyno curve. With Steve's chip, it revs smooth to red line.

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Rich is a whole lot better than lean. You can get sued if someone burns up a motor. Tuning a chip to an individual motor is what Steve does....AA's chip is does the job but leaves a lot on the table.

Tweaking will get you the extras but AA won't do it as other chip manufacturers as the costs are too much. Steve being a small one man shop can do that while the corporate types won't do so....

don911 · don911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikez

Rich is a whole lot better than lean. You can get sued if someone burns up a motor. Tuning a chip to an individual motor is what Steve does....AA's chip is does the job but leaves a lot on the table.

Tweaking will get you the extras but AA won't do it as other chip manufacturers as the costs are too much. Steve being a small one man shop can do that while the corporate types won't do so....

I agree

Also along these lines, Steve wants a dyno (or did when I did my chip) to see how the motor is running before making the initial chip.

EMJ · 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by don911

I think the biggest benny is the A/F ratio. I have an AutoT MAF as well and the dyno showed it was running too rich. Steve told me it was typical for their generic chips. I had Steve do a custom chip. I have a cat bypass with stock muffler.
Here are my dyno's before and after. After I dyno'd with Steve's chip, Steve tweeked it a little to get a little better A/F.

Also, with the autot chip, my car was missing at the top of the rpm range I think loading up with too much fuel. You can see the dips in the dyno curve. With Steve's chip, it revs smooth to red line.

Don,
Thanks a bunch for posting the dyno results. Very helpful. At the top of the RPM range my current application revs nicely but I've always felt some power was being left on the table.

Thanks for the great feedback. Looking forward to the new chip!

EMJ · 01-03-2008, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikez

Rich is a whole lot better than lean. You can get sued if someone burns up a motor. Tuning a chip to an individual motor is what Steve does....AA's chip is does the job but leaves a lot on the table.

Tweaking will get you the extras but AA won't do it as other chip manufacturers as the costs are too much. Steve being a small one man shop can do that while the corporate types won't do so....

Mike,
Sent a PM to Steve last evening and he's already responded with the recommendation of the Stage II custom chip for my current application. Talk about a speedy response!

Don,
What's a dyno gonna cost me? Haven't had the car dyno'd before. A 1/2 hour labor, an hour?

Thanks!

EMJ · 01-03-2008, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianc

You can narrow your search considerably by only searching on the 911 tech forum rather than the default of all forums. Use the advanced search to do this.

I won't comment on the original question except to say that Steve is aces.

ianc

Thanks ianc.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by EMJ

Mike,
Sent a PM to Steve last evening and he's already responded with the recommendation of the Stage II custom chip for my current application. Talk about a speedy response!

Don,
What's a dyno gonna cost me? Haven't had the car dyno'd before. A 1/2 hour labor, an hour?

Thanks!

Depends on where you go, but for 3 pulls it's any where from 70-110. Could be a tad more or less. Takes around an hour.

EMJ · 01-03-2008, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobluforu

Depends on where you go, but for 3 pulls it's any where from 70-110. Could be a tad more or less. Takes around an hour.

Excellent -- thanks, tobluforu!

dsmeyer · dsmeyer's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by EMJ

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season...

I've recently caught the Steve Wong chip bug as all I've read are nothing but very positive posts and testimonials on those chips and Steve himself. I have an '88 Carerra with the Autothority chip, Mass Flow Sensor, and a B&B dual outlet exhaust. The car is very responsive throughout the powerband, but I keep reading that the SW chips are superior than all others when it comes to low end torque and top end speed. The car is my daily driver and I intend to do some autocross events this year, maybe some DE's (Obligatory pic's below)

.

Couple of questions:

1) Has anyone upgraded from the Autothority chip to the SW chip, and was there a significant difference in power gains?

2) Any potential issues with combining the SW chip with the Autothority MFS? I don't believe it's a problem but am trying to confirm.

I appreciate your help.

BTW, I searched the site for this topic but got a lot of 951 Autothority chip hits.

Thanks for your help!

My '86 had an Autothority chip, a cat bypass pipe, and a single in, single out Monty sport muffler. It always ran rich and I had to put the stock cat back on because otherwise it would "backfire" when shifting from 1st to 2nd at high RPM. Autothority blamed the "backfire" on the exhaust and was no help after the sale.

Years later after reading all the great reviews on Steve Wong's chips, I installed one along with a Fabspeed premuffler to replace the stock cat. Steve's chip made the throttle more responsive throughout the entire rpm range. Steve's chip also seems more sensitive to input from sensors. I had to replace an old O2 sensor and the head temperture sensor to get the mixture to adjust correctly. Steve was very patient, replied quickly to all my emails, and helped me make all the adjustments to get my car car running better than it ever has.

I also had a unique problem with the idle control switch switching on at the wrong time. This one took a while to figure out and at one point I put the Autothority chip back in to compare. With the Autothority chip back in the throttle response felt numb. The Autothority chip also ran too rich, start up was rougher, and the high RPM "backfire" was back.

Because I was busy with work and other projects, it took me a long time to sort though the adjustments needed to get my car running just right. (my fault, not Steve's) At one point I even had to store the car for the winter, and work on the idle control switch problem in the spring. Steve continued to help me sort though the issues of a 20 year old car until his product was working the way he designed it to work.

The car is much more fun to drive now and it even gets better gas mileage. The time spent sorting things out and getting it all right was well worth it. I can't remember ever having such good customer service during and after the sale on any product.

EMJ · 01-03-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsmeyer

My '86 had an Autothority chip, a cat bypass pipe, and a single in, single out Monty sport muffler. It always ran rich and I had to put the stock cat back on because otherwise it would "backfire" when shifting from 1st to 2nd at high RPM. Autothority blamed the "backfire" on the exhaust and was no help after the sale.

Years later after reading all the great reviews on Steve Wong's chips, I installed one along with a Fabspeed premuffler to replace the stock cat. Steve's chip made the throttle more responsive throughout the entire rpm range. Steve's chip also seems more sensitive to input from sensors. I had to replace an old O2 sensor and the head temperture sensor to get the mixture to adjust correctly. Steve was very patient, replied quickly to all my emails, and helped me make all the adjustments to get my car car running better than it ever has.

I also had a unique problem with the idle control switch switching on at the wrong time. This one took a while to figure out and at one point I put the Autothority chip back in to compare. With the Autothority chip back in the throttle response felt numb. The Autothority chip also ran too rich, start up was rougher, and the high RPM "backfire" was back.

Because I was busy with work and other projects, it took me a long time to sort though the adjustments needed to get my car running just right. (my fault, not Steve's) At one point I even had to store the car for the winter, and work on the idle control switch problem in the spring. Steve continued to help me sort though the issues of a 20 year old car until his product was working the way he designed it to work.

The car is much more fun to drive now and it even gets better gas mileage. The time spent sorting things out and getting it all right was well worth it. I can't remember ever having such good customer service during and after the sale on any product.

Thanks for the info. Glad things worked out. Slick ride, BTW.

sjanes · 01-03-2008, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikez

Customer service is also on a better level with Steve. He will actually TALK to you....

+1. The reason I bought a SW chip was that Steve was very responsive to emails/calls. He suggested I get the car dyno'd with the new chip and send him the results for an update, but I never got around to it.

matt911 · 01-03-2008, 04:12 PM

Replaced an Autothority chip in my 84 Euro recently with the 911chip. Instant improvement in idle. Don't know if the Autothority chip was for a Euro " they didn't respond to my e-mail". Steve was more than responsive.

You have to wonder about vendors that hide from customers!

No real driving experiences yet as the weather is foul but was worth the money just for the idle improvement.

Autothority chip is for sale if anyone wants it, make an offer.