Well i have had a Venom 400 Performance chip for my 1989 Iroc Camaro for a long time now. I've always woundered if it atctually helped me out and did what they claim ( up to a 25% increase in power ). Well today at school we put it on the dyno to see what it really did. Well we did two runs to get a base line without the chip. Then we did a run with the chip and it really did work! In total i picked up 20ft /lbs of Torque and 15 HP AT THE WHEELS! Not to bad for a chip. They are expensive ( when i got mine they were $300 ) but the prices are coming down, and very few camaros have these. I hope this info is usefull so we know the chip actually works! Alan http://http://www.importperformance.com/venom/400.html

Nice to see someone actually post dyno numbers. The gains are pretty good, though not even close to being 25% more. I am sure it will get mention soon enough, so I will be the first........Custom tuning is the way to go. The equipment is not expensive and will allow you to maximize your mods better. Thank you for posting those numbers though, they are better than I would have expected

maybe this is a stupid question but what do you mean by custom tuning? injectors,gear ratio, exhaust ect ect.. ??? is that close? I am looking for a tpi setup for my camaro prefer a 350 tpi setup i have a 305 tbi and at 170 horse i am a little embarrassed to actually try and race even my 01 cavalier with the 2.2L..I am also planning on changing the gears from 3:08 (stock 5 speed) to possibly 3:73 and need to know if this is possible with only changing the ring ad pinion or is there more i need to change? ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED thanks

By custom tuning he means making your own chip. Programming it to your car, instead of what companies like venom "thinks" should be in your car. Look in the DIY PROM section of this board for more info.

Will do that thanks for the info

that is impressive for an "off the shelf chip". If the price were alittle cheaper i would consider one....

I wonder what kind of gains it would yield on a 305 TPI

I looked up my GTA. I wonder why they start with the 88 model year? 87 is no different than 88 or 89. They are still MAF, same injectors, etc.

Well IIRC they switched to the serpentine system in '88. That wouldn't affect it directly, however maybe there was a subtle ECM change because of that.
Either that or venom just knows that you have an 87 so they didn't want to make a chip for it

They all used the same '165 ECM. The 1989 $6E is the MOST defined of the MAF eproms and typically when people get into tuning their own eproms, that is the calibration they go with.

To make a 1989 memcal work on a pre-89, all you need to do is disable the Cold Start Injector (9th injector). The 1989 just added the fuel in the cranking tables; and eliminated the the Cold Start Injector all together.

But, why wouldn't the 88 PROM work on a 87?

The 1988 should work in an 1987. People prefer the 1989 (on DIY Prom) primarily because the 1989 is better defined. But, if you want to keep your CSI, then go with the 1988.

CSI?

cold start injector..

I want to buy the software to burn my own cheap but I am afraid of screwing up my engine big time and cause major damage. What is the worst that can happen by being a newbie to custom cheap burning?

You could post this question on DIY Prom and we would be happy to go into detail.

But, for a quick response: we always recommed getting a second memcal (as a spare). Tyically, if a change screws something up either the engine won't start or it runs poorly and you get the SES light. You typically go back and immediately restore your previous version OR you re-adjust the eprom as you most likely know what change caused the problem.

But, I have had a few times, where I made a change, everything seemed fine and then started to drive around only to get the SES light come on 30-60 minutes later (while driving). That's when you install your spare memcal.

That's the "most inconvenience" you can do to yourself. As for possible engine damage, about the only way that will happen is if you get TOO AGGRESSIVE in the spark advance and blow a hole in a piston. But, you will most likely have ample warning with audible detonation occuring EVEN when you run the highest grade of gas possible.

Again, you just take out your spare memcal and quickly swap it. You would have to ignore the problem and keep driving around before you would cause serious engine damage...and if you are ignoring the problem (and don' swap in your spare memcal)...then you asking for trouble.

Thanks for letting me know about the memcal. Next time I need a tune I will diffenitly look into buying the software. Thanks for your help.