mr cribb, I don't know everything, nor would I presume to claim to. What I do have is a knowledge of basic physics and engineering principles, experience as a mechanic, and in tuning vehicles. Now, I do often times tell people their claims are BS, but generally speaking, if possible, I try and replicate their conditions, just so I can speak first hand as to the results. That is the reason I got the KKM intake on the explorer, despite knowing from other vehicles exactly what I would get, because there are sometimes odd or unexpected results from changes in some engines, and I wanted to be able to say, "No, an explorer isn't one of the few vehicles that comes from the factory with such a messed up intake box, you can find 15 horsepower hiding in it." Of course, once one examines those engines that give significant results from these types of changes, one can generally see why it happened, and could see if another engine is going to do the same kind of thing. I threw on the dynomax cat back, not just because Anime sings its praises to no end, but also because I ripped off my exhaust while I was trying to get down to some equipment (off roading fun!). Plus, the price was right to give it a shot. Most things on a 1st gen meet my expectations, and they should, the vehicle has been around for 20 years. Anyone who can do serious research and can filter out hype should never be surprised either. There are a lot of REALLY smart guys that are into this platform, and it has a huge following. No one is going to reinvent the wheel with an explorer unless they do something outrageous.
Chips.......I'm not a fan of them. I've played around with these in my vehicles, as well as been witness to friends who have used them.
I'm not going into it because there are some who swear by them, but from what I can see as well as some of these friends drawing the same conclusion, unless you really dig into an engine swapping pistons, cam/s, heads...the chips are basically lipstick on a pig. Now some of the programmers out there are a slightly different story.
There are some very well engineered units out there that do bring out the absolute best in an engine, but the key to these units is they can be adjusted on the fly to suit whatever driving conditions you're in.
well.... generic mail order chips.... they are junk... You can get more custom mail order tunes that are worlds better, and can, for some engines, produce amazing results. Of course, the best method is always with tuning for the individual vehicle using a dyno or other such scientific equipment
