Im not really disagreeing with anything other than the predictions of the chip itself. If i am please show me and i will correct it. I fully agree with you guys, the AP will get me further overall, it has other things like throttle mods ect. It's mandatory for the real leaps forward like bigger/better turbos.
The RaceChip is just a quick shortcut to some real power gains without any long term cost other than $250. I would spend a lot more than that and it would take much longer the other route. There's no guarantee when i'll find an AP and there's no local shops that will install a FMIC. I just wanted something fun up front while im getting the other mods done over time. Again the only thing i disagree on are the skeptics when they say the chip won't work, mind you without any personal experience with it.
It would be different if several people here actually used one on their FIST and could give first hand accounts. But that's not the case, it's just speculation based on nothing. Everything else nearly everybody here has advised, i will do as my next 2 or 3 steps. So no big deal, think of it as me doing exactly as everybody else is except im trying one little experiment most others don't.
Look do what you want. A lot of us come from tuning and playing with other cars over the years. Its not our first Rodeo, Chipping cars with chips has been around since the late 80’s and 90”s aka SuperChips.
There is a reason those faded out and most people in the U. S. are now using Cobb AP’s. It is because in modern cars there are more parameters one can address electronically and they need to be fine tuned for the engine. Its no longer a primitive piggyback a chip on the ECU situation that sometimes did lead to more problems with the persons car.
The advice here is why spend $250 on a chip that for all intensive purposes is a primitive stab at getting more power when you can spend $50-100 more and get an AP. One technically does not need anything else besides that to tune our engines the factory setup is not bad. There are some shortcomings but from what you described yourself they should not be an issue.
No one directly said you must get an intercooler before using an AP. We did advise it was wise as its a known weak point.
I have an AP on my car and am just now getting around to installing my aftermarket intercooler. . I am currently on a stage 2 custom tune with only a crossover pipe and intake tube and ST200 airbox. Nothing else. Intake tube and crossover pipe were $250 for the combo. Just for example.
I also watch the ambient temperature I run the car in and avoid spirited driving in the midday heat. Its either early morning or later evening.
At Octane Academy they limited us to 20 minute runs with cool down periods so as to not heatsoak the intercoolers.
Literally do yourself a favor here and spend your money wisely is all we are suggesting. I know return polcy blah blah blah. Why even waste the time with it. Do it right the first time and don’t have to back track.
