Ask an expert

How effective is Dyno tuning or having a chip put in a vehicle really? Will it help with fuel consumption and add power or are they just hype. Does the AA endorse either?

Stuart

Unless you are looking at the sharp end in terms of engine performance only, then you are really wasting your time in our opinion.

Anyone claiming to improve fuel consumption and performance in unison, without scientific prove that what they intend doing works, should be treated with suspicion.

The two simply don’t go hand-hand in an aftermarket sense.

Remember manufactures work extremely hard and spend millions of dollars to design engines which provide an even spread of power and economy over a range of different loads and conditions.

Sure, these claims may improve performance (which can stress the engine beyond manufactures recommendations) at some point in the engines rev range, but normally the engine suffers in the opposite direction somewhere else.

Variable valve engines were designed to provide the best of both worlds in terms of performance and fuel economy and to provide a smooth engine particularly at idle.

Costs to carry out some of these modifications can also be extreme and once the changes are made to the computer we doubt there is any turning back.