Hey Guys,

A good friend of mine last night called me asking my opinion on weather or not he should install this chip he bought on E-Bay the other day.
He claimed the chip adds 45HP and saves 12mpg all for the price of $8.29...
My inishal reponse was it has to be a scam as I know what custom tunes and chips cost and I can't believe $8 bucks gets you 45HP.
I really don't want to see my buddy screw up his new ride and do any damage to the engine so I was just wondering what some of the guys in the know here know about this.
Here is the link to the E-Bay site with the product.

http://stores.ebay.com/Tuned-Engineering-Motorsports

He wants to install the one they have for the Ford FreeStyle "thats the vehicle he owns" which the right ups for both are exactly the same and advertise the same HP gains and fuel saveings as the one they offer for the F-150.

Scam or no Scam guys??? Lets here some opinions...

 

Scam, link doesnt work.

 

Just put new link up as the orig link was typed wrong.

 

No opinions, just facts!!! They sold him a $.50 resistor from radioshack, that you install in the IAT, and It HAS NO EFFECT on anything good, as a matter of fact it will more than likely cause a decrease in mpg. If its to good to be true, IT IS!!!! See if he can get his money back, and then go get a burger and fry from where ever you like, it will add more Hp and MPG than that resistor!!

 

Tuning & MPG:

A:-A more efficient computer (tuned properly versus OEM) creates more power and requires less foot-in-the-pedal for your normal driving habits. A combination of AF ratios, timing, transmission shifting firmer (automatics), TPS voltage, among other things... various things for various vehicles.

B:-From the factory everything runs richer than the perfect ratio. The computers have several tables-idle, 30% load, 60%load, WOT, etc where air to fuel ratio can be adjusted. Leaning out some of the tables slightly uses less fuel and creates slightly more power.

On ford trucks/suvs, depending upon breathing modifications (intakes, exhausts, heads, etc) you can typically put your money on 1-3mpg. 1 almost being guaranteed, and 3 being a rare gain. All of these factors are dependent upon what else is done to the vehicle, current condition of the vehicle, and most importantly, driving habits. Can you get higher numbers by spending $1500 to tune your honda with hondata? Sure, you may get 4-5mpg increase... but we're talking vehicles that get high 30's stock. In my humble ignorance, I think a good figure is around 10% fuel economy increase for most vehicles which would put ford trucks/suvs in the 1-1.5 mpg gains... most people that have been tuned will probably chime in close results.

 

I know its a scam and would NEVER in a million years put this in my truck but my buddy seems to think he found some diamond in the rough and I am trying to show him he is makeing a mistake by installing this.

 

You do not have to fight for truth, it is self-sustained. Some people must learn the hard way.

 

very true.

 

Where is the smiley shaking it's head?

 

I think this on sums it up pretty well.

 

Let him install it, then let us know how it goes......hahaha

 

You might try this argument: "If a $8.29 retail device could do all that, Ford WOULD have put them on their entire fleet. Raising the MPG rating by 12MPG would easily make their trucks the most sought-after vehicles in the world. They'd own the market! But, since they didn't, it might just be that this thing is worthless or even harmful".

But, if this fails, I'll go with Josh's advice. Let him throw hiw money away.

You might also telll him to look for those fuel "atomizers" you put in the fuel line and for the magnetic fuel line device that "supercharges" the fuel too. Hell, if he used all three, he might get 60MPG!

- Jack

 

Tell your buddy I have some waterfront property on Mars that i will sell him cheap and when we colonize he can make a fortune re selling it to others.

 

Were these gains at the flywheel, or at the imagination?