Chip Or Tuner? HELP!!!

[CHEESYPOOFS]

Ok ive been told many different oppinions from alot of car guys (most of whom go to nascar tech here in mooresville) and i cant decide. what would i be better off doing... getting a chip and a dyno tune from a tune shop here or should i get a tuner and a custom tune from hensonperformance? now keep in mind i still only wanmt to use 89 octane fuel. 91 if absolutely necessary but ide strongly perfer not to. what should i do? i have a 98 ford explorer with a 5.0. it has the GT40-P heads and the cobra intake manifold. it also has a Mac CAI and exhaust. before i plan on the tuning stuff i plan on getting the torque monster headers and a shift kit from EE. so which would be better the chip or the tuner?

 

[techieman33]

I would get the tuner from Henson performance, a dyno tune isn't really needed for what you have, and it'll be a lot easier to change your tunes in the future if you make any more changes.

 

[CHEESYPOOFS]

yea ive been thinking about it all day probably going with that.

 

[celly]

You do realize that a "chip" and a "tuner" (flasher) are just two different ways of delivering the same thing, right?

I used to have a chip on my old Sport and used to suffer connectivity issues with it (i.e. it would fall off, causing my Ex to stall). A chip needs to be permanently mounted to your vehicle to work. Once I identified the issue with the help of Bamachips, the chip was fine. I liked being able to switch tunes on the fly with a "flip chip".

With a flasher, you are able to change tunes without having the unit permanently connected to your vehicle, but it's slightly more involved (albeit simple) to change tunes. Also, with a flasher, your tuner can deliver tunes to you via email if you try something different. With a chip, you'd need to return it to your tuner of choice to add new tunes to the chip.

All in all, I'd take a flasher any day over a chip, but that's me. Others may beg to differ.

 

[Cobraguy]

Regardless of which path you choose, a dyno session is always good...and it's mandatory if you're boosted.

 

[celly]

Regardless of which path you choose, a dyno session is always good...and it's mandatory if you're boosted.

I considered going the dyno tune route, but finding an AWD dyno facility in my neck of the woods was nearly impossible.

 

[aldive]

Regardless of which path you choose, a dyno session is always good...and it's mandatory if you're boosted.

I concur.

 

[CHEESYPOOFS]

Thanks for the input guys i really apreciate it. luckily im only 2WD and no boost but how much does a dyno run usually cost?

 

[aldive]

how much does a dyno run usually cost?

The price varies from facility to facility. Call and ask or do a search on the web forone near you.

Good luck .....

 

[Cobraguy]

There should be some pretty darn good shops in your area. Do some research, ask around, and get one with a great reputation. Most those shops also sell tuners and do the tunes themselves, so they can do the tweaking necessary right on the spot. You normally drive away with a great running vehicle.

Last time I had by Cobra tuned, it was $250 for the dyno time and his tuning expertise. I already had the hardware. He did several pulls to get it right. It was money well spent.