hypertech chip on my car - is it junk?

[RichMason]

Browsing through my service records I, it looks like someone put a set of hypertech chips on my 87 951 10 years ago. Any thoughts on whether I should keep them or are they old technology compared to the current chips available? I have the factory chips in a bag with the literature from the company.

[ronin]

I don't have any experience with them but I was interested in them a few years back. (about the same time as yours were installed) best way to know would be to do some comparative tests with the factory chips. check and see what type of claims the manufacturer makes and whether they stand up. if you have access to a dyno, check their performance versus the stock ones there. if not, you could start by doing a battery of tests for each set of chips (standing starts, timed acceleration runs, time to pass, etc.) and compare the results.

there is an interesting tech article on this site in the 944 section (I'd have to find it) that discusses a neat little program to calculate engine power output using a sensor and a PC sound card to "record" the engine noise and determine horsepower. I haven't used it yet but I'm going to give it a try. it might not be the most exact way to do this but I'm sure it would give you a good idea

[RichMason]

Thanks Ronin. The problem with looking at the company's literature is that they are American V8 only now, judging from their website. Seems like they left Porsche's behind long ago. The comparisons with the stock chips are a good suggestion. I'm thinking that upgrading to the latest chips and technology would be the best route to go. Maybe someone who has done chip comparisons will weigh in here at some point.

[ronin]

that's probably true. I do seem to remember though that the Hypertech ads claimed between 280 and 300 hp. (for 217 and 247 stock respectively) I guess it's all a matter of how hard they lied