[MDN_EF_5.0L]

I have a Ford Fairmont Ghia EA 3.9 Mpi and I have a 3 speed Auto I would like to know if the Powerchip are are any good I was look at geting the Gold Powerchip

This is the web link : http://www.powerchip.com.au/chips/chip.asp?cid=For0042

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Welcome to the boards mate!

Firstly, I think I speak for all of us when I say "forget the Powerchip - get a new exhaust / headers" :thumbup: You'll find that a Powerchip on it's own is highly unlikely to give you any noticeable gains in performance, and may or may not improve your fuel consumption.

IMO if you are after a performance gain, the first thing to do is ditch the standard restrictive exhaust / headers. These are a source of restriction which should be done before anything else. You will get noticeable and measurable gains by improving the exhaust, unlike just plugging in a Powerchip. Don't believe the hype mate!

As far as chips go, they only really start to come into their own when you've got a good flowing intake and exhaust, because essentially all the chip does is adjust your fuel and ignition parameters. And in this respect, something like a Unichip will generally perform better since it's tuned specifically to your car, in realtime, on a dyno. The Powerchip on the other hand is generally pre-configured, and therefore nowhere near as effective.

Anyhow, I'm sure there'll be some more words from those on here who have had experience with them both!!

 

[Martin]

Yeah forget the Powechip, throw a 5 speed in there and itll go like a stink, especially with an exhaust like Mike suggested.

 

[MDN_EF_5.0L]

Thanks for the advice will not be get a power chip now
Would you know how much it would cost to change the gear box from a 3 speed auto to a five speed And thanks for the Welcome to the form I was so pleased when I found this form about Australia Fords a place where I can ask advice about my car

 

[RATT]

I was going to get a powerchip on my SSS Pulsar last year but when I read about the sopposed power gains, a 12kw gain (flywheel) from the chip alone with standard exhaust etc. It just did't sound right.

I agree with the boys, get a manual tranny or buy a 5 speed Falcon and then do the exhaust etc.

 

[EA S]

5sp box is around $1,000 changeover (i.e you need to have one already to swap) in Melb, plus you'll need other bits like manual ECU, pedal box, flywheel, clutch, cable and ECU connections on clutch and trans. Cheapest way is probably to buy a whole 5sp car and swap the bits, then sell the donor car as an auto for about what you paid for it. Make sure you get T5, which is standard in EA onwards and some (?all) late XF's, not BW 0507 which is light duty and will break. If you're going to pay someone to do it all, you'd probably be better off swapping your auto car for a decent 5sp car - there'd be a few grand in labour and parts and you won't get the money back on a resale.

 

[WINGED]

get rid of auto

I previosly owned an eb1 3.9mpefi auto man swap was the biggest improvement .Also done exhaust and extactors (genie),cam (crow)and filter.
All mods were done by herrod and i had it dynod 93Kw not to bad for the mods that were done and that motor.Also had a shifter put in the box big improvement.

 

[EA S]

Winged

Those are a couple of mods I'm looking at and I'm interested in what happened.

Is 93kw the right figure? It's only about 7kw rw above stock. Would have thought there was more with cam, extractors and exhaust, but Herrod would have got max out of it.

Was it Crow 825 cam? What was compression / kms like on motor before mods? Was it K&N airbox filter?

 

[WINGED]

93kw at wheels my 185 el2 xr8 is 137kw at wheels so in comparison thats not bad. yes K & N filter in standard air box i would'nt put a pod filter on unless you run cold air to it which most people dont.Not sure on speck of cam i dident want it to idle like s*** so it wasent that lumpy.
Car had done 150.000klm doht know what comp was.

Talk to jeff at herrods about a cam,extractors, exhaust and filter package they will also dyno the car.

you will not regret it its such a diference the motor can finally breath.

 

[Martin]

93Kw at the Wheels from a modified EB 3.9L MPI Manual(??) is pretty piss poor IMO, that equates to a mere 133Kw at the engine, give or take a few Kw. Which is 6kw down on stock.

Even if that was an Auto id be still pissed, as it'll be only around 143kw.

What did it dyno stock?

 

[EA S]

93 kw still seems pretty low. Maybe it was low kw to start. I'd like to know pre-mods dyno too.

 

[WINGED]

marten
Sorry that it doesent meet your standard but i had it dynoed before and after and before it was 2kw shy of factory and as i dont have the dyno sheets because they went with the car i can only go by memory.
i know what the claimed 185kw figures are at wheels here is the dyno sheet and i have been told by a highly respected person in melb that is good for that car.
sorry i could not get the dyno sheet up it was around 137kw at wheels what would that be at fly.

 

[Martin]

Well your XR8 has closer to 195Kw if its a Manual and stock.

Or if it does have only a claimed 185Kw at the engine then it has only 26% drivetrain loss (30% is more accurate IMO, and 35% for Autos)

Now lets use the same 26% drivetrain loss with your EB and we come to the figure of just 126Kw at the engine.


Just the facts.....

 

[EA S]

Maybe part of the problem is that the manufacturer's claimed kw is not necessarily what the car actually puts out.

I can't remember properly, but I think it used to be that BHP ratings were the result of a stanard mathematical calculation used by all manufacturers rather than an actual dyno on a representative range of cars of a given model. Maybe claimed kw, like 139 for 3.9 mpi are same thing. Anybody know how they're calculated?

Doesn't alter the fact that I've seen a couple of dynos for 3.9 that get a lot more than Winged with same mods, which is why I'm wondering if he might have just been down on power to start.

 

[WINGED]

I think i got it wrong with my figures the car was definanitly no slug.
the xr8 figures are right i was told it was close to 200kw wich i am happy with as it only has miner mods and yes it is manual.got any idea of rough quarter mile times.

 

[IIV8II]

Yeah forget the Powechip, throw a 5 speed in there and itll go like a stink, especially with an exhaust like Mike suggested.

If you run the car around town a lot - no freeway (or not much) throw in a set of 3.23 diff gears. A complete second-hand ED or something axle might be the easy way to do it - bolt in and go!Think your car has 2.92 std.
Also, just by looking, I reckon there would be a fair bit of power to be had with intake mods. The outlet from the air cleaner box to the throttle body looks to be about 40mm diamter on a 3.9-4.0MPEFI car and the cold air intake from the rad panel to the airbox around the same - tiny. Can anybody else comment?