Performance Chip

[bartman]

I read a lot about performance chips for certain cars that can improve performance. Does anyone know about one for a 03 V6 Accord?

[BenjiBoy650]

I don't think that there are any out yet. I already checked Jet and Venom for you, they don't have anything that I can see.

I was looking for a chip for mine a few weeks ago as well. I looked at reviews and how they worked, etc, and my advice to you is not to get a chip. Import cars and their owners generally don't use chips for several very good reasons. The first is that everything on the car, including the computer, is tuned very well from the factory. If you try adding an exhaust or chip, you might get minimal horsepower gains if any, but your fuel mileage will drop significantly. This is a result of how they work, another big reason against using the chip. They claim to retune the A/F ratio, etc, but in reality, they just trick the computer into thinking you're applying full throttle when you're only at part throttle. This results in increased horsepower (maybe 5-10HP flywheel at most, not real noticeable), but also results in increased wear and tear, increased gas consumption, worse emissions, and lots of headache down the line. Finally, it will probably void your warranty.

If you want more power, ask your dealer what will and will not void your warranty. The V6 is an SOHC head, so you don't really have to worry about Platinum spark plugs or anything special. The ignition system on it is pretty advanced. See if your dealer will allow you to put on a CAI without voiding your warranty, because many new Honda engines have a restrictive intake tract. I've seen some AEM and private dyno's that show 10-20HP at the wheels from a simple $150-$300 intake, which is a much better deal than the chip. The exhaust might be another area to look at, but I suspect that you won't get as much bang for the buck, and it's probably going to be loud and expensive (dual exhaust on the V6, generally much costlier than an exhaust for the 4 cylinder).


See here for the 2003 AV6 dyno with CAI V2 http://www.aempower.com/product_intake_app.asp

There is a noticeable improvement, with torque gains of 10-15lb-ft at 3000RPM, and it gets better from there. V6 has restrictive intake, whereas if you look at the 1998-02 4 cylinder CAI V2, you can clearly see torque and horsepower are the same or even lower below 3000RPM. You can also look at the regular "Cold Air" intake, it won't produce as much power but also won't be so costly. Note though that the dyno for the 2003 AV6 with a Cold Air intake seems to be really really off. Honda engine's do not pull peak torque at 1500RPM and then drop significantly from there on out, so it leads me to believe that something was wrong with the car/dyno/etc. Good luck and sorry to be off topic! Just tryin to help ya get more power :)

[Bean]

Why mess w/ a good thing?

Our V6 has plenty of power, both passing and off the line.
Can't imagine why you'd need more...unless your at the track.

[Woodman]

Hey Bartman,

Do what I do. When you feel the need for more power, just have your wife and kids take the bus to where ever your going and meet them there. This way you'll have less weight in the car and can go faster!:) You should be able to beat the bus to the "get off point" and will have time to listen to XFM! The comedy channel's great!

Woodman

PS. I know Bartman and he knows I am joking, at least I hope he does. I hate for his family to have to ride the bus!:D

[Bean]

I may have to look into this XFM thing.
We only have XM radio. ;)

[Josephip]

It's not worth getting chips, ECU replacements, or piggyback units unless your car is heavily modded. If your car is stock, the stock ECU is pretty much tuned for optimum performance. Honda is a multibillion dollar company that spends millions on research every year. When they built the car, the ECU is tuned to match the specs on that car. Do you think any aftermarket company can better tune a Honda than Honda itself? Highly doubtful. The stock ECU will adapt to most bolt-on mods such as intakes, exhaust, headers, etc... Only when you start extensively modding the engine will you need aftermarket ECU upgrades. If you have custom turbo setups, high-volume injectors, fuel upgrades, etc... then the specs may be sofar off that the ECU can't adapt, and that is when you may need chip upgrades or ECU mods. Sure, you may see some improvements on a stock car, but not worth the money. You can see more gains with intakes, headers, exhaust, and those will not void any warranties :)

[BenjiBoy650]

I believe that some I/H/E void the warranty, and Honda is losing a lot of money from the trannies right now, so I wouldn't take a bet like that. I'd double check first. Still remember that even if the dealer says they'll honor the warranty, Honda may not want to help you once you're out of warranty. I've seen some transmission replacements out of warranty get picked up by Honda just for the sake of being nice. If you've got an I/H/E, they might say oh you've been racing, we're not helping you at all, and that'll be bad.

Also Honda tunes ECU's for a variety of reasons, mainly emissions and durability. Notice the "ULEV" designation on the 6th generation 4 cylinders come at the cost of a significant drop in low end power, most of it probably due to a retuned VTEC or fuel map. An aftermarket company really doesn't care about durability, so they can push the limit a little more. That's not always the best thing for your car though.

[04blkpearlcoupe]

the only chips really worth getting are hondata chips. hondata only makes chips for honda & acura. they actually crack the oem chips' program code, then re-write it for higher performance. the oem program is geared towards fuel economy, lower emissions and weak throttle response (for safety).

the real difference is that the guys who started hondata are actually computer geeks who used to race their hondas.

another advantage of hondata chips is that they are fully re-programmable. if you have a laptop, a dyno and a copy of their software you can dyno tune your chip yourself (although its better to have an expert do it).

right now the newest chips they have are for the K20 engines.

[BenjiBoy650]

But Hondata is so expensive :eek:

[04blkpearlcoupe]

Originally posted by BenjiBoy650
But Hondata is so expensive :eek:
yea true, but the other chips dont really do more than quicken the throttle response. there are also the AEM EMS systems which work well but are also very expensive.

another alternative is to have your factory ECU reprogrammed (re-chipped) by a shop like Inlinefour. its inexpensive, and probably works better than buying an aftermarket chip because they take your list of mods and re-write the program accordingly, but this service may not yet be available for the K24 engines.