Mark944na86

OK, I know the issue chipping for NAs has been debated many times before, but what I'd like is to get some kind of "survey" response from people who have chipped their 944 NA.

In particular, since their are so many different chips floating about these days, it would much more meaningful to get the brand of chip included in a response, and if you would speak from personal experience. "I heard of someone who chipped their car and it caught fire!" is not very useful. "I chipped my 87 NA with the autothority chip and immediately noticed more responsiveness" is what I hope to get.

The point is, I realize that people's chipping perceptions and expectations vary considerably, and I'm trying to concentrate the combined experiences to try to extract some signal from the noise. I think everyone agrees that a performance chip is not going to turn a NA into a turbo, but there are other dimensions to performance than raw HP.

Finally, I know that one thing that all these chip manufacturers assume is 92+ octane gas. Anyone had any problems with a chipped car on 91 octane gas? (91 is the rating for the "premium grade" available in CA at the moment.)

TIA

-Mark 86 944 NA

booster

There is a artical in Grassroots mag. i was reading last night at the bookstore (Books A Million) about chipping a 944 NA. I only glanced over it because I don't drive a NA but if you can find the mag. it looked worth reading for the NA folks.

Dave

Mark, We already discused my chip and my thoughts on it in the K&N thread, so I'll skip that part of the topic. I do feel it might be helpful to add this;
I normally use 93 octane premium fuel and am satisfied with how the car runs on it. A few months ago however, I ended up with a tank ful of 91 octane, the car DID NOT run as well on this tank. With this fuel the car idled rough, stumbled on acceleration, hesitated, and even had an occasional miss. After running on this long enough to get below a half tank, I added a gallon of toluene (see the "rocket fuel" thread) which raised my octane to 92.8 best I can figure. Within 20 miles the car was running smoothly again, and the other symptoms were gone in short order.
So...IMHO...Fuel does matter. I hear this is a problem in your area these days, I hope you can find a source of decent gas.
The only other input I would have regarding performance is to expect an improvement in 0-60 time. (I'm waiting for flames on this) NO there is not a huge increase in acceleration, but by raising the rev-limit, 60 mph happens in 2nd gear. That shift to 3rd is a waste of a half second, if you are into the numbers, add a FEW extra HP (mostly low end) andits a big improvement on paper. On the highway, you'll still have to put it in third at some point, but if you autocross it could save an upshift AND the downshift that goes with it.
Dave's 0.02

rfuerst

Mark I installed a Autothority chip to my 1987-944S and I am happy with the results,I do not have dyno results but the feel of the car is just better,seemed to idle better and sure feels like it pulls stronger.I only run 92 or 93 octane premium and have had no problems.Hope this helped.

GeoffD

From a roadracing perspective...when I pulled the chip out of my 88 924S (same motor as 88 944)and put the stock one back in, my lap times did not go down. This doesn't mean that the chip doesn't produce more HP, I would guess somwhere between 5 and 10 HP increase, it just means that with all the other variables (suspension, brakes, aerodynamics, tires....DRIVER!!!) a minor HP increase is not that significant in the track environment.

GeoffD

Whoops!! Imeant, in the last post, that my lap times did not go UP when I put the stock chip back in.

TimC

That's why there is an "edit" feature, which allows you to correct typos, etc. Just click the icon that looks like a pencil/paper.

T

John.

You will see little increase in power with a chip in a normally aspirated car. With the turbo cars, the gains can be huge, because the boost pressure can be raised simply by installing a chip. I would not waste the money chipping a N/A car.......it is well worth the money on a turbo car. Spend the money on a header pipe and a camshaft.

jim968

I dunno.. I put an Autothority chip in my '88 na soon after I bought it, and it made a noticable improvement, at least per the butt-dyno. Stronger mid-range, higher rev limit. Yep, required high-test, but gas mileage stayed almost the same (except when driven hard consistently between fill-ups).

I drove the car for another ~50K miles with no engine-related problems.

So I'll vote in favor...

Jim, Anybody need a few dozen bushels of oak leaves? Free?

TF

i also have an Autothority chip and am satisfied. It seemed to have a little mure power, sounded a little better, not sure why, and a term used is it has better driveability.

justin

Stupid qustion......I have 83'n/a and was wondering if it is possable to swap my DME for a 85.5,and still be able to chip it? No flames please.

scular

My 86NA has a chip in it(not sure the specs of it that is tomorrows project), also equal length header, ls-diff, test pipe, K&N cone filter, unfortunately the previous owner lost the original chip, as I wanted to goto the dyno; I still may if I find a cheap stock chip. Hint: Anyone in the Tampa Bay Area have one, that wants to go play on a dyno? Anyway as for Octane thing on my car at least, if I run 87 Oct. I get 23-26mpg, on 91-93 Oct. I get 29 to 33mpg. Like everything else, If you put garbage in you get garbage out. I know it is not the best performance comparison, but like every other vehicle I have had the higher the octane the smoother and more powerful(at least it feels like) the engine runs within certain limits.

For the speed/rev part, I have never hit the rev limiter, and I hope I never do because I don't see it as being very nice on an expensive 120,000 mile engine. As far as I'm concerned, my car may not be the quickest off the line or down a straight track, but give me some bends in the road and the others will be seeing my tail-lights.

Sorry for the length, but don't you (everyone driving a Porsche) realize that you are driving close to the best and finest cars of their days. NA's are not dragsters, they are incredible everyday drivers, and mild weekend warriors.

TP-944

Mark,

I chipped my '86 NA about three years ago, (32,000 miles), with an Autothority chip.

I too think it was worth the money based on the "seat of the pants" feel. Yes, I have to put in the premium fuel - (Shell - 93 oct.), but I don't mind. I think it's worth the better response I'm getting. I have not tried a lower octane so I can't comment on that.

The guys (or girls) who think an aftermarket chip in an NA is not enough of a gain to spend the money on wouldn't be satisfied until they got a 951 anyway.

Andre

I agree with TP i am one of those guys that thinks its a TOTAL waste. hey SCULAR if you have a chip then the fuel you use is important, but in any other low compression car like our NAs it will make absolutely no difference between octane levels. It wont make the car fast, better or smoother. Maybe its just the "feeling".

I am a skeptical guy.....can someone justify spending a couple hundred on a chip and then spending money on higher grade fuel and all for a better 0-60 on paper and maybe 10 HP?

get a throtle body and get the same seat of the pants "feeling" it wont be any faster, but it'll give you the feeling.

But like TP said, i wont be satisfied till mine does turbo times...........someday though. I'm saving up

Michael Stephenson

For what its worth, the following turned out to be a very good combination for me (OK, I have more valves, but it still an N/A):

Chip from Steve Russakov ( WYNNCLAIMS@aol.com ). cost: $150
K&N filter. cost: $45
Crane Cams Ignition & Coil (MSD would work as well). cost: $160
8 mm plug wires. cost: $200 (all S2 specific wires are real expensive)

I did all of theses pretty much at the same time, so I am not sure of the individual differences. I am very satisfied with the results. The car is much more driveable and has better performance throughout the entire rpm range. I use 93 octane, but the gas tank flap says that the car is supposed to use 91 octane anyway.

At last my DE event my instructor, who also has an S2, commented several times that my car felt like it accelerated faster than his. He kept watching my speedo as we entered straights.

Many S2 owners have used the chip from Steve Russakov and all seem very satisfied. I know that Steve also does a Turbo chip but I am unsure if he does a 8 valve N/A chip.

Anyone interested in chipping their car should drop him an E-mail to find out if he offers an NA chip - it is hard to beat his price.