I am about to order my Superchip and have a question. What is the difference between the standard chip and the Diablo chip? I see that they are both $225.00. What is the difference?

 

Mike T., Superchip distributors, WHERE ARE YOU???

 

Heven't heard from him in a while, so he must be busy.

He'll be able to fill you in on the major details of performance between the two but the short answer is the chips are made by two different manufacturers.

Most people here use the Superchips chip, but a lot of others have tried the Diablo and liked it. Mike researched it, and found it was indeed worthy of adding to his product offering.

I also think another major difference is the Diablo installs inside the computer while the Superchips model plugs into the expansion connector and is actually outside the case.

If you'll do a search for Diablo, I'm sure you'll find the thread where Mike discussed what he found and why he decided to offer it as an alternative to Superchips.

 

Not that I support either chip... won't ever get one myself, but the superchip is EPA and CARB approved, the diablo is not.

 

Beast, What do you have against the chips? You sound dead set against them and I am just wondering why? This is the first time that I have heard anyone say anything bad about the Superchip.

 

Hi Stump-Jumper,

Sorry it took me a day longer to respond to you, my apologies. I was up in northern New Jersey, and go t delayed by some of the traffic from the terrorist attack, so it took longer to get back in town, about a day longer than we planned for.

I'm guessing what you're asking is, what is the difference between the Superchip and the Diablo chip, right?

The Superchip is EPA & CARB certfied, meaning it is legal for use in any vehicle on the road in all 50 states. It never has to be removed for an emissions inspection/test, as long as the vehicle will pass emissions without the Superchip, it will pass with the Superchip, and it has the CARB Exemption Order number. The Diablo is not emissions certified.

From an installation standpoint, it installs the exact same way, in the exact same place, no appreciable differences there.

From a performance standpoint, the difference in power output betwen the 2 chips is very little, no more than 2%. The Superchip has a small edge in some of these vehicles. Superchips has been tuning them for much longer of course, as Diablo has been doing these chips for about 19-20 months now; so some aspects of their (Superchips) programs for these vehicles are more "mature", so to speak.

In terms of the quality of the changes to the automatic transmission calibration, there we find more differences. The Superchip tends to shift firmer as you give it more and more throttle, whereas the Diablo's shift firmness does not seem to increase as much when you give it more and more throttle.

The Diablo chip does alter the light-throttle shift points, where the Superchip normally doesn't. It's not a big deal, but the Diablo will stay in gear a little bit longer on lighter throttle positions, and some people like that.

Physically, the Superchip is a sealed module that installs on the outside of the computer, wheras the Diablo chip, while it attaches to the same J3 connector on the back of the computer, is a "hidden" type of design, that tucks up into the computer.

If you'd like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a quick call, or shoot us an email, ok? We'll be happy to go over any questions or concerns you may have.

 

Stump-Jumper,

I've got the Diablo chip in my 99' F-150 with the 4.6. It did seem to improve the HP but as far as the shifting goes...HA. I cant really tell a diffrence, on occasions I can but not all the time. I think I might have got a bad chip or the people I bought it from are worthless. I'm leaning more to the people who did it for me had lots of problems when I first got it. I would suggest the Superchip and not Diablo. Just my 2cents. Good luck.

 

Oh, I'm not saying anything bad about the Superchip at all... near as I can tell it does exactly as advertised.

What I meant is that I won't ever be putting a Superchip in my truck unless my circumstances change... I don't need the extra power provided by the chip, and I don't want to pay the extra cost for premium gas... my computations indicate the mileage savings are exceeded by the cost of premium gasoline.

 

Hi dsm327,

I noticed your post of course, and just wanted to mention to you that if you'd like to have someone check that unit out for you, we'll be happy to do that for just the cost of return shipping to get it back to you, a few bucks. That would at least tell you whether it's a problem with the chip itself or with the actual program.

One of the things that we noticed as a difference between the Diablo and the Superchip, and this has also been mentioned by a few of it's owners as well, is that the Superchip tends to shift firmer at the heavier throttle positions in comparison to the Diablo unit. What you are experiencing may be "normal" for that program, but if you'd like to know for sure, or just get some help, give us a shout & we'll be happy to try and lend a hand.

Good luck, & thanks for your post!