Performance chips
 

Has anyone one installed a performance chip on their vehicle ? They advertise that they will increase gas mileage. I have a 1999 Dodge Ram with 5.3 v8 engine that gets terrible gas mileage, around 14 mpg. I have did all the basic things trying to increase the mileage, but nothing seems to make a difference. Thank you for any thoughts on this.

Hi welcome. I had a "piggy back" tuning box fitted to my previous car, increased the bhp by about 20% or so (135 hp to 170 hp) it did make a slight improvement to economy, although it was hard to measure as the car was a "hot hatch" and driven in a spirited manner ;)

In general though, the engine will have to work less hard, so economy should improve. There are all kinds of electronic improvements you can make to a car now, including power pedals, gearbox mapping for quicker changes etc (if applicable) but if you'd rather economy over performance, then you can opt for an eco map too, which is more likely to improve fuel efficiency.

You're not doing too bad..
I had a F250, 460V8, auto tranny... Other truck owners were stunned when I told them I got 15mpg on the hwy. I got 7 city.... Doh!
One guy put in a dual speed transaxle. Didn't help nearly as much as he had hoped.
What the heck..... try the chip... why not?

The chip that I am looking at getting it has a control knob. You choose better economy or more hp and
torque. It's suppose to improve mpg from 4-7 . I guess it's worth a shot. I was just concerned about any
issues with the trucks computer installing this.

My friend is in the tuning business and sells thousands of these every week. He has never had any issues with customers, cars are tuned within a saftey parameter for safety and warranty reasons, but truth is, the components can withstand way more stress than they are designed for. Give it a go and see what happens ;)

That would be great, but I live in the US. I don't know of any shops that do that sort of thing
here. The chip I was talking about it's suppose to really easy to install yourself.

What kind of chip is it? You have to be very cautious buying from the Web, make sure they are a reputable company with good reviews. I saw a company selling "performance" chips not so long ago, it was a connector going into a small plastic box, supposedly where the microchip/software was. When the box was opened, it had some sort of chewing gum putty in it haha!

There are so many different types out there, all different prices. To be honest, if you want to do a proper job, it's better to spend a bit more and get the real deal. The one I had plugged into the cars ecu and had its own database, it also plugged into the camshaft sensor and other places too. My friend is installing his this weekend and that one plugs straight into the injectors. The tuning market is vast, be sure you're know what you're buying.

I bought a Rover 75, that unbeknownst to me came with a hidden plugged in box, set for more power. It masked a series of other issues (which it may also have caused!) costing me a lot of money at specialist electrical mechanics. The head gasket went (the BMW 2 litre diesel engine) at 150,000 miles...makes me very sceptical about such things. The one other person who bought the same i20 as me experimented with a box and got no improvement (set for economy).
If someone could show a proven box to boost economy, without damaging warranty, I'm interested! Maybe i'll ask on the Prius forum,as there are millions of Priuses and about 379 1.1 Crdi Blue i20s...

The chip that I was interested in is from a company called PCD. (Performance Chips Direct)
The chip has a dial that you can adjust for better mpg or more power. It's supposed to increase mpg from 4-7. I would be happy with that. I just don't want to damage anything. I was hoping somebody knows about these chips, and give some advise on them.

Don't waste your money on that "chip". It's just a resistor to fool your IAT (Intake Air Temperature) sensor to "think" the intake air temperature is colder than it really is.
Buy a real power programmer from SCT, DiabloSport, SuperChips, HyperTech, or some other reputable company. It will cost you over $300, but it will make a REAL difference in power.
I have a HyperTech programmer for my Mustang. It didn't make any difference in fuel economy, but it made a noticeable "seat-of-the-pants" power increase. As always, YMMV.