I have a 2.8 and am looking for more pickup. I have heard a lot about performance chips. How much of a difference will it make?

 

Unfortunately most of the "over the counter" chips don't really do jack. They will turn fans on sooner, and maybe delay your converter lockup to above 40mph, oh and remove a speed limiter. Just ask the guys in the DIY prom burning forum they'll tell you the same. Someone actually posted a chart of the stock chips program and the aftermarket, I can't remember the brand. All it did for overall performance was add a degree or two of timing at high RPM.
You may have some luck putting a chip in a V-6, but IMHO it's not worth the money. From what I've been told for about the same price you could get the hardware and software and learn to burn your own. That's what I plan to do.

 

Youre not going to see a big difference in an over the counter chip. I bought one for my L-98 ($240.00) before learning you can burn one yourself. I know it made a difference for my L-98 but was definately not worth the money. Read Traxions DIY PROM, I'm just about to get started myself!

 

None, or min at best.

BUT, if you do your own there are gains to be made. I have a thread going on the DIY PROM board about my results with a stock application. When I got my truck a year ago, it got 9 MPG, now a year later and many chips, I have 20K more miles of wear and tear, and just broke 15 MPG. Not even factoring in better engine life, I've paid for all the hardware, just in gas savings, not to mention when I have 5K#s of trailer behind me, I can run along much better then the stock calibration allowed.

Results will vary, yada yada.

 

Is any one brand of chip better than the other? Hypertech, Jetchip, Fastchip?

 

hypertech, jetchip, fastchip, tpis and all the many others out there all are chips that aren't worth much more then your average paper weight. my hypertech stage 2 which cost 240, i sold it for a tank of gas just to get rid of it. my tpis custom stage 6 cost me 450 and majorly hurt my performance....

unless you or someone who is burning the chip is doing it with the car you can't expect much. many people claim things, few actually know what they are doing. best advice is to learn as much as you can on your own so even if you aren't doing it you'll have an idea as to what's going into it.