computer chips

[alan6272]

Do these computer chips really help?? What do they do and are they here for the 1983 944 N/A ?? I have seen something somewhere and I am trying to find it again, about this.. Thanx ya'll

[flash968]

that is an extremely polarizing question, and one that has been asked and answered 100 times

i would highly recommend putting in some effort and doing some searching and reading

[alan6272]

I have done some reading but I guess what I really should have asked "has anyone tried a chip and how did it do"?

[flash968]

again, there are a number of chips, and a boat load of threads about them, with opinions ranging - some of these threads are recent

a search here will turn them up and answer those questions for you

you can always contact the manufacturers and get dyno charts

[Kiwi944s2]

Well according to my vastly experienced Porsche Mechanic. No they don't all you need is a clean fuel filter a clean air filter and good high octance gas (98+)

[alfadoc]

When I bought my S2, it had an Autothority chip in it. The car was non-running when I bought it (broken cylinder head). The new head that went on had some light porting work, and we had to shave it .008" to clean it up. Admittedly, I can't be sure it hadn't been shaved before. Once I had it together, the car had profound detonation issues. It was almost as if the Autothority chip is programmed to disregard input from the knock sensors. Non-ethanol 98 octane fuel plus 104 octane boost still wouldn't solve it. Ended up putting the stock chip back in. No more knock.

There's my whole experience with chips.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Kiwi944s2

Well according to my vastly experienced Porsche Mechanic. No they don't all you need is a clean fuel filter a clean air filter and good high octance gas (98+)

For his car, a '83, that bit about high octane gas is some pretty bad advice - it won't do anything for him as his car cannot adjust timing for the higher octane gas. If he wanted to run on higher octane gas he would need a chip programmed for the high octane gas only.

I'd say leave it stock and do not worry about a chip. As a standalone mod you won't get much from a chip unless you plan on limiting your car to high octane fuel.

I will likely be chipping my '84, but that will be be because I would be installing a MAF instead of the stock AFM, the MAF would require different programming, hence the chip combined with it. I have not yet picked what MAF kit out there I'm going with.

[flash968]

chip programmers frequently adjust the timing maps to add advance, as that is where a lot of the power comes from - that is why you would need higher octane fuel to avoid the knock

[HondaDustR]

The 944MAX chip woke mine up noticably, and requires high octane gas, but I always ran 93 anyway. The factory part throttle maps on the 8v NA are kind of soft in comparison. It does not increase top end hp much at all. Throttle response and low/midrange torque jumped up a bit.
The 83 DME has hardwired chips and are not really upgradeable. You'd need a late DME and a late AFM to go with it.

[alan6272]

Great advice thax to you all. I will leave it stock as a DD I may change the muffler for a deeper sound "maybe"