PlugChip.......Anybody know about this?

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NOpe...might be one of the first plug in chip power modules....before I think Unichip was only other one but it was a piggy back setup and was a proven performer. Our engines are never going to be anything to crow about as far as street performance. The Unichip is $600-650 for my 2000 LX470. If you find any reviews of it in other SUVs would be interested to hear them...or if you get it yourself.
 
super50 said:
This is a plug-in for the OBDII port...anybody have experience with something like this?
Thanks.

http://www.engineperformancechip.com/lexus-lexus-lx-470-c-22_441/plugchip-obdii-plug-in-chip-p-105
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I just bought one for my 2011 Toyota Tundra truck. Just got a large trailer and was having trouble towing it. I have the 4.6 l engine, duel exhaust and aired cold air intake. The PlugChip made a big difference in HP and torque. I was able to tow an 8000 lbs trailer 70 mph @ 2200 rpm. Couldn't do it before without going to 4000 RPMs. After unhooking I tested the MPG and I got 20.3 mpg whereas I was getting 15 mpg. I am very happy and you just plug it into your OBDii port. Couldn't be easier.
Hope this helps.
 
tektoneglm1 said:
I just bought one for my 2011 Toyota Tundra truck. Just got a large trailer and was having trouble towing it. I have the 4.6 l engine, duel exhaust and aired cold air intake. The PlugChip made a big difference in HP and torque. I was able to tow an 8000 lbs trailer 70 mph @ 2200 rpm. Couldn't do it before without going to 4000 RPMs. After unhooking I tested the MPG and I got 20.3 mpg whereas I was getting 15 mpg. I am very happy and you just plug it into your OBDii port. Couldn't be easier.
Hope this helps.
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You got a 5 mpg increase? I have used Unichips in other vehicles with great success, but I never got that much of an increase in mpg. I always had horsepower and torque gains, but the mpg increases were minimal (1-2 mpg) and in some cases it was worse. Now obviously there are a thousand variables involved, so its no where near apples to apples. Perhaps the chip you have is better than a Unichip? Would be very interested to see if anyone here has experience with these on a 100. If I could get 5 mpg extra on the LX I would buy one this second.
 
Me too as long as there are no significant downsides
 
Wow - a huge jump in horsepower AND a 25% jump in MPGs. You should tell Toyota about this - I'll bet their engineers would love to know they can pull the plug on all that R&D and just pop in a chip. They'll be so happy.
 
I guess I'm the eternal cynic but I have a hard time believing that the engineers at Toyota are leaving a 20%+ increases in gas milage on the table for any reason - especially with CAFE numbers being so important now.
 
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It shows as his first post, maybe works for their sales dept. :hmm:
 
Yup. I'm in the "Shenanigans" camp. Sounds like the Holy Grail. Free HP and Torque *and* a 33% increase in MPG. Snake oil. Not saying you can't wring a few HP out of a motor with remapping but those numbers are huge. IF there were provable, replicable and the part is plug and play, you would sell them by the 10s of millions. And no reason for a OEM not to include them in their factory rig.
 
. . . trolling.
 
Yep. Always spurious about these claims when talking about naturally aspirated engines. On forced induction engines, the differences can be profound.
 
Yep, gonna order one today along with the tornado for the air intake line, ion magnet for the fuel line, and some slick 50 to coat my engine internals with pure unobtanium - by the time I get all these on the truck I figure I'll have 1000+hp, be able to tow 100,000 lbs, and be able to drive on a single tank for at least a couple years. :bang:
 
super50 said:
This is a plug-in for the OBDII port...anybody have experience with something like this?
Thanks.

http://www.engineperformancechip.com/lexus-lexus-lx-470-c-22_441/plugchip-obdii-plug-in-chip-p-105
Click to expand...

@super50 like everyone else said this is usually BS... Here is a link from another member (Cant remember the thread it was in) that gives you some more insight

http://qcwo.com/technicaldomain/iat-resistor-mods-vs-performance-modules-vs-real-chips

Anything that is plugged into the OBD port is likely just some kind of resistor and nothing that is worthy of your dollars. If anything it could mess things up by telling the ECU that conditions are not what they really are..

With that said there are ways to increase performance, I have had good luck (have not done this in the 100 as I see no need) with a reprogram of the ECU. In my VW syncro i have a TDI conversion. First thing was to disable the immobilizer but while Rocket had the ECU they also added some performance upgrades. This first set of upgrades was not great over heating issues etc.. The tune I am running now is perfect EGR delete done HP matches the torque of the transmission much better top end speed and MPG are way better as well. This process and tuning ran me about $1,000 over the course of 5 years and several tunings. Also bought a second ECU as a back up for when i'm out on the road...

My point being that something that just "Plugs" in is rarely going to work well. I would bet there is limited difference across these different modules... At most a different resistor in the unit possibly.....
 
LockedNLoaded said:
You got a 5 mpg increase? I have used Unichips in other vehicles with great success, but I never got that much of an increase in mpg. I always had horsepower and torque gains, but the mpg increases were minimal (1-2 mpg) and in some cases it was worse. Now obviously there are a thousand variables involved, so its no where near apples to apples. Perhaps the chip you have is better than a Unichip? Would be very interested to see if anyone here has experience with these on a 100. If I could get 5 mpg extra on the LX I would buy one this second.
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It's all about physics and the laws of thermo dynamics. Most people when they get more horse power just want to go faster and feel the rush that the extra horse power gives. They put their foot onto the gas pedal and there goes the MPG. The science comes in that you are trying to move an object (car) from point A to point B either more efficiently or faster. You can't have both at the same time. With more horse power you can move that object without using as much fuel because of the added horse power. I have noticed that I can get my truck up to the desired speed without pressing on the gas as hard. Notice I didn't say I can get to the desired speed quicker. That can happen also because of the increase of horse power, but it requires that I give it more fuel. It's all about how you drive and what you want, speed or fuel economy. Most people feel those extra ponies behind the wheel and can't resist, but if you will drive in a normal fashion you will see greater MPG. Again I am very please with the PlugChip that I installed.
 
Manhattan said:
That's neat. So... why do you think the engineers at Toyota chose to program the lower horsepower and crappy gas mileage?
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Maybe so they could increase it next year and sell you a new truck....it's called marketing....dribble out new technology a little at a time so you'll keep coming back to buy the latest and greatest . The latest technology that any company is working on today will hit the market in 5 to 10 years from now. Sad but true.
 
tektoneglm1 said:
Maybe so they could increase it next year and sell you a new truck....it's called marketing....dribble out new technology a little at a time so you'll keep coming back to buy the latest and greatest . The latest technology that any company is working on today will hit the market in 5 to 10 years from now. Sad but true.
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So, instead of the VVT-i, they could've used this chip and skipped all those other pieces and parts.
I'm learning a lot. Physics, marketing... I like marketing.
 
sigh....
 
e9999 said:
sigh....
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Sorry @e9999 It's Friday and couldn't resist a bit o fun. We'll try to restrain ourselves in the future.
 
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