When browing aound eBay, I foound a couple of gadgets that claim to improve the performance of your car at a budget price.

1. This is called a Tuner Performance Chip ($34). You can see it at:

JAGUAR Models OBD2 Tuner Performance Chip 1996-2017 MEGA POWER BOX SPEEDCHIP MOD

They claim that this gadget will improve the HP by up to 35% and give you up to 15% in fuel savings. Fraud??

2. The other is called a "D1 Performance Voltage Power Booster."

JAGUAR D1 PERFORMANCE VOLTAGE POWER BOOSTER ENGINE ECU POWER CHIP PWR BOOST | eBay

This one ($59) claims to improve the efficiency of the engine through the charging system. Fraud???

 

Yes??

Regarding the first item, while it is possible, on some vehicles, to reprogram the fuel maps and other parameters via the OBDII data link connector, the possibility that the same device can successfully improve the performance of engines ranging from a 1996 4.0L straight 6 to a 2012 5.0L V8 to a 2017 2.0L Turbocharged diesel L4 seems ludicrous. The engine management systems are entirely different.

Regarding the second item, one of the most common uses of capacitors in electronics is to smooth voltage variations in power supplies, so theoretically, adding capacitors to your system could reduce voltage sag under load. Folks who run silly-watt audio systems often add large capacitors (1 Farad or greater) to the vehicle's power supply. But unless additional load has been installed in the vehicle, there shouldn't be any need or any significant benefit of adding capacitors if the alternator, rectifier, voltage regulator, battery and associated wiring are in good order, because the AC ripple in a properly operating system is low, and the system is designed to automatically adjust for increases in load, such as engagement of the A/C compressor clutch, headlamp illumination, etc.

Cheers,

Don

 

They mainly work by transferring your money to them.

The devices are at best pointless and at worst cause engine damage. Avoid even if they were free.

 

These guys have been around for hundreds of years.

bob

 

Hey Bob and Don. Many thanks for your comments. I thought these things might be bogus, but was still curious.

BTW, I love the photo of the snake oil salesman.

 

This is why I stopped using ebay years ago, although I might price shop there. Why they even allow such snake oil salesman to sell there shows that they don't care. It's the wild west.

*I am certain that those performance modules will help your sex life though.

 

Do unicorns exist? Do'nt do it.

 

I actually found that the capacitors helped to lengthen the service life of my battery in my Mitsubishi 3000GT (battery in the engine compartment and not in the boot like the Jag). In my experience with engine bay mounted batteries of turbocharged cars, they fail around the 1.5 year point. The batteries don't seem to be able to handle the heat load from the turbos. With the voltage stabilisers, I could usually get about 2-2.5 years of life out of a battery. My Jag battery lasts around 3+ years, but I had the stabiliser fitted from the time I bought the car so I've got no reference point for rear mounted batteries.

 

They can increase power in some cars , however to both increase power and increase fuel economy defys the laws of physics. You can tell the boy racers who have had these fitted, usually emitting clouds of black smoke with the rear of the car covered in soot. Slightly better than a fuel pipe magnet i would say but I would stay away on both counts

 

That's terribly short. Any idea why?

 

I've no idea what the norm is I'm afraid. The last car I had with a rear mounted battery was a Lotus Elan +2S130/5 in the 80's. I vaguely remember it didn't last much more than about 2-3 years either. Maybe it's our high year round ambient environmental heat.

 

Combination of hot climate and high under hood operating temps. Older Muscle cars operated in hot climates suffer the same fate even with modern tech batteries.

The presence of the capacitor gadget of course has no effect on either factor.

 

As the saying goes, there is a sucker born every minute. That's what those devices are for.

 

May be it work for the lawn mower. 38% power increased? Even turbo or super charge can't get that much. You can't get more power with out spend lots of money, if it work car manufacturers used them on their car already.