Pro-max ECU Chips

[awattam]

I've been looking at these on the pro-max website. Does anyone have any experience of adding one to an otherwise standard S2? It claims pretty high increases in both power and torque but I know sometimes these figures are given for a car with other mods.
How much messing about are they to fit? Do they replace an existing chip in the ECU using a socket or do I need to get a soldering iron out?

 

[Peter Empson]

I had one and liked it, definately improves driveability, so I can highly recommend it.
No soldering required, but a static wrist band is a good idea (inexpensive, available from PC shops, Maplin and so on). The first time you do it probably takes about an hour, getting the ECU open is a bit of a fiddle but time consuming rather than difficult.

 

[ChasR]

By fitting one of these devices on, how much is MPG hammered and can it only be ran on V-Power etc.? I know with most of the Superchips maps, cars pink like anything unless ran on 99RON.

 

[dlknight]

I had a Promax chip in my old 944S, I found the same as Peter that it increased driveability and smoothed out my powerband. I used standard unleaded when I was feeling poor and treated the car to optimax/ultimate periodically.

Dave K.

 

[Copperman05]

I also have this upgrade on my S2 and fully recommend it. You could use 95RON but you'd probably only see performance gains using super unleaded, 97RON and above, I find it works well with V-power or Tescos 99RON.

The chip does seem to iron out a slight flat spot and definately improves throttle responce and overall eagerness of the engine. I also changed my air filter for a K&N one which I think adds 3-4hp, not masses but it all helps.

Overall a nice upgarde from which there is a noticable (if not massive) difference.

 

[Peter Empson]

I've always had a slight improvement in mpg with chips when driven around town, I believe this is because the car becomes smoother to drive on part throttle, meaning you're not kangarooing on and off the power as much.

The S2 has knock protection so shouldn't be a problem if you put poor fuel in, but I don't believe 95 ron would trigger this (I certianly never noticed this and never had any pinking), but i've always preferred 98 anyway, the car feels better and I get more mpg too.

 

[xenon]

It may improve drivabilty (I noticed no difference) but any gains made in absolute power are negligeable and unnoticeable. Would you notice an extra 10bhp (at best) when added to the 211? Nope, no way.

 

[Copperman05]

I disagree with that, gains at maximum power are minimal, but where these chips seem to give the most improvemt is in the mid ranges and I have seen before and after dyno results that have shown a 10hp increase here.

Would you notice a 10hp increase at midrange power making say 120hp = 130hp? Probably yes...

Edd

 

[xenon]

Well I guess you might. Ultimately, you're happy with it and that's all that matters. I fitted one to mine and I decided my initial favourable response was simlpy auto-suggestion and in actual fact it made no difference whatsoever through the driver's seat that I could determine. Remaps on turbos are one thing but it made no difference to my S2.

 

[AntB]

Is there such a thing for the 2.7 lux?

 

[awattam]

Hmmm, food for thought. Sounds like it may be worth it for £100. I don't think peak BHP/torque is particularly important, mid range power and smoothness would be more important to me. I don't like the idea of having to use 98+ octane fuel all the time though.

In terms of what's noticable, I'd always worked on the rule of thumb that you need a 10% power increase to be noticable. Other things such as full/empty fuel tank, air temp, passengers can easily make as much difference. Would be interested to see some proper before/after dyno graphs to see where the power's added (same car, same day, same rollers, more than 1 run in each condition). Anybody got such a thing?

There seem to be chips for all engines, website here - http://www.promaxmotorsport.com/

 

[dann944]

failing this, whip the engine out, bang an S2 one in and slap on a honking great big supercharger....

 

[Diver944]

There are dyno charts for a number of cars with and without Promax chips here:

http://www.cannell.co.uk/944%20UK%20League.htm

Several were all tested on the same day 04/10/07 and in general, all the S2's with higher figures had a Promax chip (apart from Olis coz he uses special Vauxhall oil [] ). These chips are mapped for 98RON fuel, so to get the best results you should use it or the ECU will detect knock and retard the ignition and lose you power

 

[awattam]

ORIGINAL: Diver944

There are dyno charts for a number of cars with and without Promax chips here:

http://www.cannell.co.uk/944%20UK%20League.htm

Several were all tested on the same day 04/10/07 and in general, all the S2's with higher figures had a Promax chip (apart from Olis coz he uses special Vauxhall oil [] ). These chips are mapped for 98RON fuel, so to get the best results you should use it or the ECU will detect knock and retard the ignition and lose you power

I've had a quick look through the list there. I'm impressed how much power the S2s still make considering most are over 100k. I think the lowest is at 197 bhp. Can't say I can see much of a relationship between the promax chip and higher power figures but then I wouldn't expect to if the chip is aimed more at the midrange.

I think it's something to consider, and for the money it's got to be one of the cheapest ways of getting more power. You can pay £100 for a fancy air filter these days!

 

[Peter Empson]

I really think it's a mistake to think about the peak figures, as others have mentioned it's the area under the curve that's important (mine felt much more potent in the mid range with the ProMax chip). However the great thing about them (much like the MAF) is that it makes the car feel years younger by being more eager to react and smoother on and off the throttle. It may not reduce your lap times, but it will make the car a much nicer place to be, and for me that's worth it.

 

[sawood12]

Another vote here for Promax chips. For an off the shelf product they do what they say on the tin. Installation in the ECU is easy though the trickiest thing I found was separating the circuit boards as they are connected by plastic spacers that you have to unclip and pull apart to open the two circuit board out like a book. However all that is needed is patience.

Not sure if they are available for the 2.7 - depends if it runs off an EPROM based ECU.

I guess is is relatively easy to extract some power out of stock mapping. Manufacturers need to map cars with many considerations - emissions, fuel economy, resistance to poor quality fuel so compromises are made. So it doesn't surprise me you can release some horses by specifically mapping for power using decent fuel, but often these claims are pretty optimistic and if proven are probaly proven in ideal conditions on a car with a nice tight engine.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: awattam

  I'm impressed how much power the S2s still make considering most are over 100k. 

You have to take the peak figures from a Dyno with a pinch of salt [:-] . The important thing is the top seven S2's were all measured on the same day so a good comparison can be made between them. If you look at the individual charts and compare the graphs you will see that all the chipped ones make a noticeable extra amount of power further down the rev range regardless of their peak figures

 

[pauljmcnulty]

At last, Diver has an avatar that fits the name! Seriously jealous...[&o]

I'd echo comments here, and I'm sure that the Promax boys would agree. The S2 chips, and the de-cat package, aren't meant to release massive horsepowers, but improve the driveability of the cars. I need to look and see what I have fitted, as there's no appreciable "step" in the power with my S2. I'm assuming it already has a chip, but would like to find out for sure.

They should have no negative effect on fuel consumption, engine reliability etc. Porsche designed the 944 to perform in every market they were selling in 25 years ago. The decent chips merely tailor performance to the UK modern fuels, and should, if anything, improve MPG.

 

[Suffolk944]

Looks like the Chips are available for Luxs too but only from 1985 model year onwards. From the site ;

"IMPORTANT: Only applicable to cars from the 1985 model year onwards (oval dash 944 models). Early 944 models had a soldered in DME EPROM ('82-'85), hence they can not be upgraded. If you have a 924S or 944 2.5 N/A please check what ECU you have before ordering "

 

[xenon]

As a bit of fitting advice it is worth getting some spare plastic circuit board spacers from Maplin before you begin. As Scott says, the boards are separated by spacers and, in my case, heat and age had made them brittle and they snapped. Only a few pence but easier to have at the start than after.... []