[TribecaAussie]

anyone ever experience about the chip selling on e-bay ? Just about a couple of bucks and they said it can increase HP/saving mpg, is it true ?
Link here : http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUBARU-B9-TRIBECA-2006-2007-PERFORMANCE-CHIP-36-HP_W0QQitemZ290090637659QQcategoryZ33597QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Peaty]

Stay far away from that. As usual anything that seems too good to be true is. It fools the car into thinking it's running cooler than it is or something like that. Worse than fuel magnets

 

[[email protected]]

wow. sadly, there will be someone buying this chip.

 

[webslinger]

well there are sold valid ecu chips out there somewhere, arent there?
has anyone ever tried it before?

 

[snork]

Yes, there are real ECU chips...but they will be sold by a "real" performance parts company, ie: Cobb, AEM, Injen, etc. They are also usually quite expensive...at least a few hundred dollars minimum.

There are no Tribeca specific performance parts unfortunately...the market is just too small for any company to spend R&D to develop a specific product. As far as I know, the only thing you can really add is probably a cold air/short ram intake since they're fairly generic and your just removing/replacing the intake box.

 

[Magic Marker]

Yes, there are real ECU chips...but they will be sold by a "real" performance parts company, ie: Cobb, AEM, Injen, etc. They are also usually quite expensive...at least a few hundred dollars minimum.

There are no Tribeca specific performance parts unfortunately...the market is just too small for any company to spend R&D to develop a specific product. As far as I know, the only thing you can really add is probably a cold air/short ram intake since they're fairly generic and your just removing/replacing the intake box.

Agreed. True performance parts are not cheap. So if you want cheap, do some exterior mods, b/c going cheap on the engine is a mistake.

As for an intake, all you're going to do is make noise. There will be no noticable difference in power gains if any. Take the B9 for what it is. It's Subie's flagship that is fairly powerful as is and offers a comfortable ride.

 

[webslinger]

Hey thanks Snork, great info!

I can definitely afford a few hundred dollars for modding my new Tribeca.
I also have a 2002 forester and have had some fun with that as well.

do you have any recommendations for a place I should buy an ECU and or an
cold air intake? I dont know any reputible stores.

is that a photo of your car there on the left?

-RIck Morgan

 

[HB_Dad]

The only performance increase I got on my '06 Tribeca was a K&N Air Filter, and yes, the increase in power is noticable when you first install it.

 

[webslinger]

filters

really? I am surprised an air fitler makes a noticeable difference.
must be air flow restriction or something like that.

do you recommend a reputable seller?

 

[Magic Marker]

The only problem with K&N filters is that you have to clean and re-oil them. It's not hard, but a pain.

 

[webslinger]

hmm good info, so it is better to go with an aftermarket cold air intake or to simply use a K&N Filter in the stock intake system?

 

[snork]

Nobody makes a cold air intake specific to the Tribeca, best you can do is buy a generic one and custom fit it or go completely custom. Wouldn't be too hard if you have some mechanical skills to get a generic one and cut it in, otherwise I wouldn't recommend it.

Also no manufacturers make a drop-in ECU chip for the Tribeca like they do for WRXs and STIs. If you wanted one, you'd have to go custom and have it dyno tuned/tested. To make a one-off custom ECU you're talking hundreds/thousands of dollars mainly for development of the programming. The chips themselve aren't that much.

I guess I was kind of misleading that they are a few hundred dollars...that is only the case if you have a mod friendly car (ie: WRX, STI, Honda Civic, 4-banger Accord, Acura TSX, Mitsu Eclipse, etc.) which has a large aftermarket demand and you can buy the performance ECUs "off the shelf" retail.

 

[TskubaB9]

hmm good info, so it is better to go with an aftermarket cold air intake or to simply use a K&N Filter in the stock intake system?

The K&N Filter should be sufficient, unless you are going for a true Cold-Air intake and move the air filter element outside of the enginebay, i.e behind the front bumper.

K&N claims a believeable 8-15% Increase in MPG's and a 7-12% Increase in HP. If you use a tru Cold-Air system you could expect these numbers to increase by 3-5% based on R&D Dyno's testing. Of course never expect it to give you the Higher number unless you have a complete exhaust system and ECU tuning.........

 

[y1der]

actually there is a company that does make the chips, o2 sensor kits, cold air intakes specifically to the tribeca...
http://www.engineperformancechip.com/subaru-performance-chip-subaru-b9-tribeca-2006-2008-c-36_736y
all the chip does is modify the signal to make the car think the intake temp is warmer than it is there by making the ecu lean the fuel map, colder requires richer mixture, with the chip you will get about 2-3 mpg in the colder temp area, not much different in hotter climates, it is because it is not an adaptive chip but a preset eprom chip

 

[mic414]

going back to the original question (ebay resistor tuning chip), they do work on some engines. I for one installed it on a PT Cruiser and it did improve performance quite a bit (much more than a KN filter).

You shouldn't totally discount this "tuning" chip. It is not a tuning chip of course, it's only a resistor that makes the ECU thing the air is cooler, therefore richer in oxigen, therefore will pump more fuel. Essentially your engine will run richer. And depending how your engine is tuned to start with, this can improve performance, worsen or do nothing. All I can say and I say it from experience, that it did help the PT Cruiser, it has become much more responsive at all revs.

 

[Tribeca_06]

those Ebay chips are SCAMS...its like the same chip for every scam car lol

 

[mic414]

the fact that it's the same for every car doesn't make it a scam. The "chip" is nothing else but a resistor whose sole purpose it to increase resistance and that's a pretty simply thing, doesn't have anything model specific.

It's a simple trick that works on some engines. If you're familiar with how fuel mix works, then you probably know that for mileage purposes most cars run a lean mix when not under heavy load. In lean mix you have less fuel than what's needed for max performance. The resistor simply cheats the thermometer into believing that there's more oxygen in the air (colder air has more oxygen) and therefore the ECU will mix more fuel therefore the mix will be richer, leading to better performance. Your mileage will likely suffer though.

If you have an engine that is tuned to high performance, it will likely not run
lean to start with and therefore this trick will not work.

 

[STi Mikey]

OH man...

I'm about a month too late. You can tune a stock tribeca!! I picked up ~ 17whp / 16 wtq in some areas. Check out my thread!