PCM / Chip Upgrade?

u:

what year riv do you have? (please put this info into your signature so we can always see it when answering questions.)
if you have a 96+ then you can use DHP powrtuner to modify the pcm. if you have a 95 or later you are out of luck AFAIK.
more info here if you have a 96+

flyineagle96 wrote:

what can i do to the ecu for more power like tune or chips or is there none

There are no CHIPS, just re-calibration software available to change almost anything you want to the stock ECM.

it

th

Sorry, DHP won't work on a '90.

u

OH, Sorry, I didn't notice it was a 1990.
No sig at the time.

1

I would want to know exactly what the changes are. If it's more timing, you'll want to run premium fuel. 50 horses don't come out of nowhere...

t

i'd be surprised if it gave 5 hp on a s/c 3800 with their generic chip. expect less on a N/A motor.

If people could really get 50hp from a cheap chip, wouldnt they do that instead of spending $2,300 on an intercooler for the same 50hp?

If it sounds too good to be ture...

Edit- after looking at their site i see they advertise "up to 50hp" or something to that nature. it's not hard to get 50hp or more out of those turbo diesel trucks because they are de-tuned from the factory anyways.

s

I also find it funny they have the same "benefits list" for a 1990 riv as they do for a 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago. same price too.
They also group 1990-1999 Riviera's in the same category, not a good sign since 1990-1993 were OBDI , 95's had 1.5OBD, and 96+ has OBDII.

From what I've 3800pro, the stock cam N/A record (Series II) is 187 whp, if we account for ~20% drivetrain loss that puts it at ~234 hp at the crank. This is a built motor with headers, intake, all the bells and whistles etc. If the chip for your car is worth the true advertised 50 hp, you would go from 165 hp to 215 hp on stock exhaust, intake, etc which is impossible (especially since we're talking about a Series I here).

It's my opinion that SLR Motorsports is selling pure snake oil, plain and simple. It's marketed extremely well at their site, one of the best hoaxes I've ever seen - stay very far away from this product! They are using some reverse psychology to sell something worth very little for a lot of money:

SLR wrote:

Stay Away from Adjustable Performance chips

At SLR Motorsports we produce a real performance chip that automatically adjusts, and is not adjustable to the user. Unless you are spending $500+ on an adjustable performance chip, do not purchase that chip, those chips only fool your IAT sensor into thinking the air is much colder than it really is and those chips do not work and will cause permanent damage to your engine.... Another way to easily spot a fake performance chip is if you come across a performance chip that has a knob, buttons or lights. The SLR chip is a 16 PIN EPROM chip that adjusts based off of the information being sent from your ECU or computer system. Every SLR chip enclosure contains the 16 pin EPROM computer chip inside. To verify the 16 pin EPROM chip is inside, you simply remove the sticker and one phillips head screw and you will clearly see the 16 pin chip. Opening the SLR chip enclosure does not void your SLR warranty with us. We want you to be confident with your purchase that is why we allow our customers to open the SLR chip without voiding the warranty.

The idea of "adjusting based off information from ECU" is really twisting the facts, and probably a lie. They are acting like they don't have anything to hide, so it must be a legit deal. 16-pin EPROM chip... let's get real.

Basically they are sending you a $.25 resistor in a black box for $70. The resistor is packaged in an IC chip case so they can call it a "chip". But if you open the box, you'll see what a huge scam this is - these guys should be hunted down and thrown in jail - after some cruel & unusual punishment!

One of the 350Z forum members actually bought one and did some analysis: Link - Here's a few pics of what you get for $70:







What you're seeing here is a common (and very cheap) resistor arrangement built into a 16-DIP package, like this:



The circuitry inside the chip is very simple, just a bunch of resistors:



You can see how they wired the last two pins of the chip, ignoring the rest of the pins, so it tells us exactly what they are doing - selling a $ .25 "chip" for a lot of money. Their info and FAQ pages are composed of complete deception and total BS. Using lots of pretty graphics, and some clever wordsmithing, they are able to sell a few of these to the uninformed, probably making a margin % in the tens of thousands.

If I had nothing better to do, I'd find these crooks and make it my lifelong goal to see their business flounder, and make sure all of them, including their "team of programmers" were tried in court. It's people like this who make a mockery of those who sell good products at a fair price, and I'm sure they are making a killing from doing it. How can some people live with themselves?

Okay, so I read through this whole thing and agree that for $70 you can't expect much. After seeing the pics I can see that this SLR chip definitely isn't worth getting. I found a different chip that's $70 in which you actually have to put in the year of your car and everything. It to says up to 50 hp and 3-6mpg, but they're all gonna say that because it looks more appealing. After looking at the site, the chip looks more like a chip and not just a resistor. It mentions a knob to adjust from performance and fuel economy (not sure if I'd be a big fan of that), but is it possible that any of these chips are just updated software for the computer. I know they come up with updates for the cars all the time and it's pretty expensive to take the car in and have the computer flashed and the new software put back on. Do you think I would gain any from this chip, or is it also a complete waste?

here's the link http://www.performancechipsdirect.com/Buick/Riviera/

they also show this chart of "proven" results http://www.performancechipsdirect.com/unlock-hp.html

duster_do_little wrote:

Okay, so I read through this whole thing and agree that for $70 you can't expect much. After seeing the pics I can see that this SLR chip definitely isn't worth getting. I found a different chip that's $70 in which you actually have to put in the year of your car and everything. It to says up to 50 hp and 3-6mpg, but they're all gonna say that because it looks more appealing. After looking at the site, the chip looks more like a chip and not just a resistor. It mentions a knob to adjust from performance and fuel economy (not sure if I'd be a big fan of that), but is it possible that any of these chips are just updated software for the computer. I know they come up with updates for the cars all the time and it's pretty expensive to take the car in and have the computer flashed and the new software put back on. Do you think I would gain any from this chip, or is it also a complete waste?

here's the link http://www.performancechipsdirect.com/Buick/Riviera/

Dont waste your $70.

It's a complete waste and a scam.
There isn't a chip you can put in a RIV. Period.
If you want more power without doing much, get a PCM from Intense Racing or one of the other companies offering free horsepower for about $100.00
I thought you knew better, when did you forget the basics.

we are all blinded by good salesmanship from time to time.
Glad you asked us before you bought it though.

When you start to truly understand how our PCMs are setup and how to do a manual tune (like with a powrtuner) you will see these claims are not possible with just a plug in chip. Really not even possible for a stock riv to get that much change from a tuner either.