Haje’s Brain

Quite frequently, when I search for parts for my car on eBay, I come across auctions for power boosting chips promising the world. Based on the description, however, it becomes quite clear what it actually is, and what it does:

you would be buying a Performance Boost Resistor, which would add 5-20 BHP to your engine. it will fit any fuel injected vehicle that has an ECU, but not turbo or diesel models. it takes about 5 minutes to fit, and can be removed without any adverse effect to your engine. so you can put it in your next car.

This Performance Boost Resistor is, in fact, just a plain old resistor, which you can buy for less than a quid from Maplins, Radioshack, or any other electronics store. Not only that, but the information is freely available on the internet. All you’d have to do is to replace the temperature sensor with this resistor, which fools the ECU into thinking that the air outside is warmer than it is (and hence less dense and less oxygen-rich), so it compensates by injecting more fuel into the mixture, which gives you a couple of extra horsepower - at least in theory - against a higher petrol consumption.

It doesn’t quite make me angry that people are doing this (the gullible want to be fooled), but the fact that they are charging such an extortionate sum for a sheet of paper and a 99 pence resistor.

Come to think of it, perhaps I should get into this business… Hmm…