Help to identify Performance Chip
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 360
From: NZL
Help to identify Performance Chip
Hi,
2 owners prior to me purchasing my 993 1996 they installed a performance chip. 1 owner ago, removed it as he said the car never really idled smoothly and he had the standard chip re-installed. Above is all documented in the car's service history.
I am trying to identify what / whose performance chip this maybe.. picture attached, long shot, but if anyone has seen this chip before appreciate information...
2 owners prior to me purchasing my 993 1996 they installed a performance chip. 1 owner ago, removed it as he said the car never really idled smoothly and he had the standard chip re-installed. Above is all documented in the car's service history.
I am trying to identify what / whose performance chip this maybe.. picture attached, long shot, but if anyone has seen this chip before appreciate information...
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 8,634
Likes: 117
From: Boston, MA
It's a Cypress Semiconductors EPROM. That means absolutely zero, zilch, nada. It's a generic EPROM and every chip programming house could use the same EPROM. You can not tell who did what programming on that cheap unless someone like Steve Weiner can read it for you and perhaps tell you whose it is.
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 360
From: NZL
EPROM
Yes, I agree with you. The EPROM is just the tool. I might be best doing some research and going through the previous owners in an attempt to get information. I am a little reluctant to just install it and test it.
RL Technical Advisor
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 11,870
Likes: 75
From: Portland Oregon
Indeed, a generic 27c512 chip. 
One problem I see is a lack of a label over the window. This allows UV over time to erase the information flashed onto the chip. The other aspect is that all chip makers put their moniker and file numbers on that label so it can be ID'ed at a later date.
While that little window should be covered right after being programmed, the big concern is who made it and what programming values it has.
I would contact the PO to see where it came from since reputable chip makers label everything they do. The very LAST thing I'd do is install it without all the details about that.
One problem I see is a lack of a label over the window. This allows UV over time to erase the information flashed onto the chip. The other aspect is that all chip makers put their moniker and file numbers on that label so it can be ID'ed at a later date.
While that little window should be covered right after being programmed, the big concern is who made it and what programming values it has.
I would contact the PO to see where it came from since reputable chip makers label everything they do. The very LAST thing I'd do is install it without all the details about that.
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 8,634
Likes: 117
From: Boston, MA
Steve, I'm curious if a generic EPROM reader would pick up some sort of a header with a company name? Given that the code is still there and not erased by the light as you've pointed out.
RL Technical Advisor
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 11,870
Likes: 75
From: Portland Oregon
If its all in hex-decimal, its much more time consuming to read everything.
Trending Topics
Rennlist Stories
The Best Porsche Posts for Porsche Enthusiasts
Porsche's Top 5 Most Questionable Naming Decisions
Verdad Gallardo
Pogea Racing's 964 Porsche 911 Reimagination Stands Out in a Crowded Field
Verdad Gallardo
6 Convertible Top MYTHS Most People Don't Understand!
Michael S. Palmer
2026 Porsche 911 Club Coupe is Spectacular, And Everything Wrong with the Porsche Market
Joe Kucinski
Talos Takes Your 991 Porsche 911 GT3 to the Next Level for a Cool $1.13 Million
Verdad Gallardo
9 Vehicles Porsche Helped Engineer that Aren't Porsches
Verdad Gallardo
9 Features and Characteristics That Only Porsche People Understand
Verdad Gallardo
I've Written 500 Rennlist Articles: Here's How Porsche Has Changed Along the Way
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Unnecessary Porsches Ever Built (And Why We Love Them)
Verdad Gallardo
Race Car
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 4,248
Likes: 103
From: SoCal
"Most professional chip makers do that to help protect their IP."
IP (intellectual property) of "professional chip makers", that's a joke!
If anyone has rights to IP of a chip it's Porsche who designed the
operational code. The 'chip makers' just basically change the numbers
in a spreadsheet or some colors in a picture.
"There was a piece of masking tape over the window, I peeled it off today looking for clues."
"That's one sign of a home-made chip."
Maybe not!
And who knows whether there was an actual label, e.g. a Porsche label 126XXXXX,
there originally.
IP (intellectual property) of "professional chip makers", that's a joke!
If anyone has rights to IP of a chip it's Porsche who designed the
operational code. The 'chip makers' just basically change the numbers
in a spreadsheet or some colors in a picture.
"There was a piece of masking tape over the window, I peeled it off today looking for clues."
"That's one sign of a home-made chip."
Maybe not!
And who knows whether there was an actual label, e.g. a Porsche label 126XXXXX,
there originally.
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 360
From: NZL
I tracked down the previous owner. Nice guy, long chat. Yep a generic chip and programme, and it didn't perform well at all. And in his view the car ran much better on the standard factory chip.
Fin.
Fin.
