Last week in Part 1 we looked at Wayne's automotive background, Powerchip's perspective on whether all chips work, and the company's long term chip testing. This week we move the discussion along to the thorny topics of emissions and guarantees. Again, this is a completely unedited transcript of the tape.
AutoSpeed: What happens when a customer buys a (Powerchip) chip and fits it - or has it fitted by an appropriate fitting station - and believes that it has achieved nothing. What recourse do they have?
Wayne Besanko: They provide the information of their testing and if the product didn't work we would give them their money back.
AutoSpeed: So they have to justify it with testing? They can't just buy the product, drive around the block as a normal person would do, feel no difference perhaps, and say "No, this isn't working and I'd like my money back". That's not an option that is available to them?
Wayne Besanko: We actually had that procedure in place between 1991 and 1993. What we found is that we had a return rate of about five to seven percent on our chips at that stage. When we enquired as to the reason that the people wished to take advantaged of our money-back guarantee, the vast majority of people returned it because they had no intention of actually buying it in the first place. They only evaluated the product without an intention to hand over any money. Of that large majority, more than half listed the fact that they were receiving unemployment benefits at the time, and that as a percentage of their disposable income it would represent about two weeks' worth of benefits. So that whilst the product worked - they were happy with it - they didn't have the capacity to pay for it.
AutoSpeed: How much is a typical chip?
Wayne Besanko: Our chips range from $340 through to $1350. The average price would probably be $450.
AutoSpeed: Let's go back a bit to a point that we covered earlier; that is, the development procedure. Does Powerchip own a chassis dyno?
Wayne Besanko: We've actually looked at the benefits of owning a dynamometer and we have made a business decision that it is better for us to simply pay for dyno runs on an ad hoc basis.
AutoSpeed: Has Powerchip ever had an engine put onto an engine dyno and done any development in that manner?
Wayne Besanko: No, we have never felt the need to dyno test an engine on an engine dyno. The logistics of removing an engine from a car would mean that the cost of our chips would have to double or triple to allow for that sort of development. We have found that for full-load, full-throttle testing, a chassis dynamometer is the most practical way of going.
AutoSpeed: Has Powerchip ever done a chip and then put the car through a full EPA emissions test. A full test, as in the SHED test, the whole lot.
Wayne Besanko: No, we've never done that test.
AutoSpeed: Do the chips produced by Powerchip therefore meet emissions standards, and, if you say that they do, how do you know that?
Wayne Besanko: Because we test the air/fuels on part throttle, and no changes are made to fuel with our chips on part throttle, and small changes are made to fuel curves on full throttle, which means that our chips therefore don't have a an effect on emissions on part throttle.
AutoSpeed: Are you saying that changes of timing have no effect on emissions at part throttle?
Wayne Besanko: Very little apart from hydrocarbons, but in terms of CO and the other gases it has very little effect.
AutoSpeed: Are you aware of Bosch literature which shows quite dramatic changes in oxides of nitrogen emissions with changes in part throttle ignition timing?
Wayne Besanko: We've found that the changes that we make to the car don't have a detrimental effect on NOx.
AutoSpeed: You have not put a car through a full emissions test - as is legally required before new cars can be sold here - but you feel that you can confidently state that?
Wayne Besanko: Yeah, because we have tested with five-gas analysis on the dyno and the changes that we make to timing mean that it hasn't had an effect on NOx.
AutoSpeed: But it has had an effect on responsiveness of the car and throttle response and power?
Wayne Besanko: Yep.
AutoSpeed: What do you think is your best chip in terms of the power gain on a naturally aspirated car?
Wayne Besanko: Porsche 911, which has the Porsche code 964 - so it's the model that was released between sixth month '89 and '93.
AutoSpeed: And what was the power gain on that vehicle, as a percentage?
Wayne Besanko: I'd have to look it up - I can tell you later.
AutoSpeed: And the worst response - it would be those cars that you mentioned earlier (in Part 1), the 3 litre BMW M3 and the other two?
Wayne Besanko: I'd say it would be the Porsche 993 RSCS, that's one of the most difficult cars to get power from on full throttle at peak revs.
AutoSpeed: Moving away from naturally aspirated cars to turbocharged cars, what would you say to someone who said "I have gained 15 or 20 per cent more power from my turbo car by the fitting of an exhaust and by the fitting of a simple boost control. I have had an air/fuel ratio analysis done on the dynamometer - the mixtures are perfect, the car never detonates - why should I have one of your chips?"
Wayne Besanko: That would depend on whether that situation would ever occur. A customer's never told me of such case happening.
AutoSpeed: I can now. I will tell you: I owned a car for five years where that was in fact the situation. It never detonated, it didn't run lean, it developed between 25 and 30 per cent more power with a bit more boost and an exhaust. It's now ticked over 210,000 kays with the standard engine and the standard turbo - it's never had a problem. Why on earth would I have needed to buy a chip?
Wayne Besanko: It depends on what you wanted to achieve. On a turbocharged car we look at a package of modifications that are complementary to what the customer wants to achieve. If your desire was to achieve - well, I guess the difference is that most of our customers don't know what air/fuel ratio their car is running. They want to have a safe, reliable, cost-effective way of improving their power and that they can feel safe in the knowledge that they have some recourse on the company that provides the modifications. So our customers feel safe knowing that if Powerchip was to offer a package that ever caused engine damage, they would have a means of a recourse to make us accountable.
AutoSpeed: So for the person who does pay the $50 for a chassis dyno run with a mixture analysis, and who has increased the boost for perhaps $15, and has perhaps paid $500 for a full exhaust on a turbocharged car, there is no requirement then for them to come to you and buy a chip because they will be getting nothing for it?
Wayne Besanko: It depends on what they want to receive in terms of their benefits. If their benefits are to have a smoother power delivery, to perhaps raise the rev limiter, to perhaps remove a speed limiter on a privately imported Japanese car, to have a timing curve or a fuel curve that matches the new level of boost - I could say that the majority of cars that are turbocharged that have a flap airflow meter require a Powerchip or a performance chip.
AutoSpeed: And those that have a hot-wire airflow meter?
Wayne Besanko: They have less need for a performance chip, depending on the car. The only way of knowing whether.... It depends on what benefits they want to receive from our product. If it is more power from simply putting a chip in on a forced induction car, then our product doesn't allow for that because our fuelling and timing curves are specifically designed for an increase in boost pressure which requires, at points in the rev range, ignition retard, and at points in the rev range on full throttle, a richer air/fuel ratio. So it depends on what the customer wants to achieve. If they want a speed limiter removed or a rev limiter removed then they may find the benefits of our chip worth going for.
AutoSpeed: Can just one part of the chip be modified? If you want to raise the rev limit, can that be done?
Wayne Besanko: On the vast majority of cars it is possible to raise the rev limiter by a safe amount. On a handful of cars it's just physically not possible to raise the rev limiter. And on a handful of cars it's possible but very expensive to raise the rev limiter because they need an external board.
AutoSpeed: If the chips do as you have said, how come over the ten years that I have been writing for magazines, I've never got into a car that has been chipped and thought "This is far better than the standard car". Why I am I so wrong for so long if what you say is correct?
Wayne Besanko: Because you have never evaluated a Powerchip performance chip.
AutoSpeed: I see - I've been using the wrong companies; that's it.
Wayne Besanko: Yeah it's like dishwashers. You can buy a Hoover or a Simpson - or you can buy a Miele. It depends on what you want to achieve from the results.
AutoSpeed: But they (all) wash dishes. My suggestion is that some chips do nothing.
Wayne Besanko: Well, some wash dishes more effectively and have more features and are better quality products that have better service, support, spare parts, back-up - and they actually wash the dishes better. Our range of chips are the most respected in the industry.
AutoSpeed: By whom?
Wayne Besanko: By people who know about our products and who have evaluated our competitors.
AutoSpeed: I haven't seen that done very often in a formal manner.
Wayne Besanko: It's not done formally. We pick up the distribution for our competitors, particularly with people who own dynamometers. We've distributors that have purchased our competitors' products in the past and who have decided to switch to ours. The best one that comes to mind is Redcliffe Dyno in Queensland that, prior to selling performance chips, purchased chips from the major chip companies in Australia, evaluated them, and chose our brand above all others.
AutoSpeed: For what vehicle was that evaluation performed?
Wayne Besanko: From memory, on a VN Commodore.
AutoSpeed: In summary, what would you say are the strengths of changing a chip and what would you say are the weaknesses in changing a chip?
Wayne Besanko: I'd say that the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses. The major strengths are the convenience of being able to able to change the performance of an engine quickly, simply and inexpensively and still have the car visually identical than before. It offers improved performance through being smoother, better throttle response, and better power delivery. It allows for rev limits to raised on some chips, for transmission changes to be made that on a Commodore makes the car behaves more like a HSV model. It offers the ability for cars to be customised - or chips to be customised to suit other modifications that are being made to a car that have an effect on fuelling or timing. It's a safe, convenient and cost-effective way of improving a car's performance and in most cases - in fact, in all cases that I can think of - it's the most cost-effective way of improving a car's performance.
AutoSpeed: And what are the weaknesses? Every product has weaknesses - surely this must have also?
Wayne Besanko: Our weaknesses are that the chip costs money, and requires to be paid for - and that's normally a few hundred dollars.
AutoSpeed: (You mean) the installation cost?
Wayne Besanko: No the cost of the chip on average is about $450 and that requires the customer to pay that money to us. Disadvantages of a chip...? (9 second pause) That's the only disadvantage I can think of.
www.powerchip.com.au
AutoSpeed Interview: Powerchip's Wayne Besanko - Part 1
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