I hope I don't get blasted for asking this question. I recently saw this advertised on Ebay and was wondering what the real truth was:

NISSAN MAXIMA PERFORMANCE RESISTOR
CHIP TIMING MOD


ALL NEW PERFORMANCE MODIFICATION!!

The part is a resistor chip that will modify your air/fuel ratio and advance your engine timing to run stronger, and increase the power of your car or truck. This modification will modify your stock ECU system with a resistor. This mod tells your ECU that the air coming in through the intake is cold air; this advances the timing, letting the engine produce more power. Release the horsepower of your engine. This generic modification is a fraction of the cost of those expensive ECU upgrades, is extremely easy to install, and does the same thing; adds UP TO 20 HP to your car or truck! Actual horsepower gain will vary depending on engine size and other factors.

This is the same modification. YES!! The same performance modification that many others are selling for much more! This modification will fit most fuel-injected models (non-turbo) and non-diesel engine cars and trucks from 1988 and up. No tools, cutting or soldering are required and this modification will not damage your car in anyway. I have installed this myself in less than 10 minutes on all of my cars, and it works perfectly, YES!! It does work!! You will DEFINATELY notice the difference with this modification. It is more responsive, more powerful, and you will love that extra power! Your car will accelerate faster and have a higher top end speed. This is a great modification for any car, and will definitely increase your power by up to 20 HP. Your 1/4-mile times will decrease a few tenths of a second or more and your 1/4-mile MPH will improve as well. This generic mod is very easy to install, and just as easy to remove in 10 minutes or less and you can replace it if you want at a later time.

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!

Will this void my warranty?
NO! This will not void out most warranties. If you have a very strict underwriter on your warranty, you can undo this modification in less than 5 minutes, and you can even re-install it later. This leaves no trace of any modification.

Will this hurt my car, motor, computer, etc?
NO! This will not hurt your car or have any negative effect on your motor, or computer whatsoever. In fact this modification will actually work WITH your car the way it is designed. Use premium fuel for best results.

What year cars or trucks will this modification work on?
It will work on ALL models of the vehicle listed above (excluding turbos) from 1988 to present.

Will this work on aftermarket intakes, cold air/short ram as well as stock intakes?
YES! It will work on all intakes!

Thanks.

 

In kind words, it does nothing. The claims are false.

Connecting a resistor of any kind to the MAF would most likely void the warranty in Nissan's eyes.

Some technical reasoning why this is crap. The MAF is a sensor that changes resistance to wind passing over the element, I don't know whether the resistance increases or decreases accroding to air flow and it doesn't matter for the explanation.

Now a resistor in series would increase the total resistance, decreasing the voltage and current across the MAF unit, creating an undesired effect. If it is placed in parallel (this is the configuration I think they use) you decrease the total resistance, increase the total current pulled but the voltage across the MAF would again vary.

So you would be changing the designed voltage in both cases with no real difference in air flow. The ECU may be slightly confused but the real flow of air needed is not there. The desired effect sounds like a rich on undesirable outcome.

I even left out the possibility of damaging the ECU if the overcurrent condition was not desinged for in the ECU.


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