Powerchip - Ford Forums

KJGH · 08-10-2004, 20:26

Hi all,

Has anyone purchased a powerchip for their Focus? I downloaded the datasheet for the Zetec with a claim it will boost it from 96kw to 107kw and torque from 178nm to 197nm using what they call a Powerchip 98 Gold at a cost of $890. The ST170 gets a gain from 127kw to 138kw and torque from 196nm to 213nm at a cost of $1,290.30. They also have chips for standard 1.8 and 2.0 engines.

Being non-mechanically minded, are those gains worth it?

KJ

melbzetec · 08-10-2004, 20:48

I had planned to put one in mine, but read a lot of negative stuff from a lot of the Falcon guys, claimimg it was all rubbish. I put one in an Audi A4 about 6 years ago and was reasonably happy. It didn't seem to give big power gains, but sure did smooth out the "driveability" of that car.

The difficulty always is that most of us rely on "seat of the pants" measurement of power gains, where you really need to look at dyno charts, and most of us don't have the readies to be doing dyno comparison product testing

I was all set to install a Unichip in my Focus, but am having second thoughts after being told by someone who had installed and dyno tested (and should know), that it wasn't worth doing.

So now I am totally confused. Chips make perfect sense to me, but want to see results on a Focus before I fork out the dollars

This whole area is a big question. But does anyone have the answers?

The UK is big on Bluefin, but again there are mixed reports (Plus I'm not that interested in the ability to dial in different states of tune.)

It would be nice if the likes of APS or Powerchip, could give some real world evidence to us (or better still give a guarantee of increased power and torque or your money back!)

Suth · 08-11-2004, 01:21

I dont like the sound of putting anything named after a tuna in my car. Hopefully it is dolphin safe.....

sniper545 · 08-11-2004, 03:35

power chips are worth it but only if combined with other mods, otherwise leave the zetec alone! a chip will do really well when you change the cams, injectors, maf, throttle body, and the exaust. it's kind of like do it all or leave it alone for the focus. Thats my experience anyway......