# Magic "chip"?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [February 9, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378 "2022-02-09T14:23:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tcmichnorth](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tcmichnorth/32/25126_2.png) [@tcmichnorth](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tcmichnorth)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/21 "2022-02-09T17:15:13Z")

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> [@MikeInNH](#):
>
> You’re so much smarter than everyone else.

Is that the absolute truth or the scientific truth? (Sorry, couldn’t help myself)

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**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/22 "2022-02-10T01:38:13Z")

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I got J. C. Whitney catalogues when I was a kid (even though I didn’t own a car). A friend and I would go through it, add up the mpg boosts of all the different devices, calculate a theoretical best.

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**Author:** ![Scrapyard-John](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Scrapyard-John](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scrapyard-John)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/23 "2022-02-10T01:44:34Z")

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> [@RandomTroll](#):
>
> I got J. C. Whitney catalogues when I was a kid (even though I didn’t own a car)

I did too. I think that qualifies you as a car nerd. Looking at accessories for things that you don’t even own yet!

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**Author:** ![cdaquila](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cdaquila/32/18089_2.png) [@cdaquila](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cdaquila)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/24 "2022-02-10T01:53:59Z")

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Hello, sorry, was at work. I’m passing this on now. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Not sure what’s up with ads now, but historically we have used an ad server.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/25 "2022-02-10T02:02:21Z")

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I do not get those.

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**Author:** ![cdaquila](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cdaquila/32/18089_2.png) [@cdaquila](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cdaquila)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/26 "2022-02-10T02:04:04Z")

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Thanks. This has been a moving target in the past, where some folks get ads and others don’t. We had this issue with the ads for what appeared to be Russian mail order brides a number of years ago.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/27 "2022-02-10T02:59:34Z")

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Almost sorry I missed those! Guess they target the audience, getting Woodstocks finest photos. I was so close to being there!

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/28 "2022-02-10T06:07:47Z")

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Am I theonly one using an ad blocker?

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/29 "2022-02-10T06:11:40Z")

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Maybe, I get the bottom ad on this page, easy to x out for the session. Chromebook does not seem to have a problem to the extent I want the app.

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**Author:** ![bloody\_knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@bloody\_knuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bloody_knuckles)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 12:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/30 "2022-02-10T12:01:22Z")

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Facts and truth are not the same. Facts are absolute. Truth is what you choose to believe. The fact is that a chip can be put into a car. If you believe it works then for you the truth will be that the chip works. You can apply this to almost anything, especially religion.

Science works with facts to hypothesize the truth but then actually tests it again and again. If the result is repeatable by many people then it becomes truth (e.g. gravity). The problem today is that people don’t understand the facts, don’t trust the people with knowledge, and believe whatever truth suits them. This is why scammers can sell all sorts of crap to unsuspecting people. My father in law won’t spend an extra 20 cents on his coffee and fritter at the local supermarket because the price went up, but he will buy $400 worth of fake pills to improve his eyesight because some internet ad convinced him that it would really work. Spoiler alert. They did nothing.

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**Author:** ![It\_s-Me](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/it_s-me/32/12660_2.png) [@It\_s-Me](https://community.cartalk.com/u/It_s-Me)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/31 "2022-02-10T12:25:03Z")

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> [@oldtimer-11](#):
>
> Am I the only one using an ad blocker?

Nope I use one also, adblock for chrome, works great.

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**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/32 "2022-02-10T13:03:17Z")

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> [@oldtimer-11](#):
>
> Am I theonly one using an ad blocker?

Nope, but I can’t use it here at work

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/33 "2022-02-10T13:33:26Z")

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Back to JC Whitney, I too got those in the 60s, many items claimed to increase performance and MPG. There various advertisements in old Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Science for such gimmicks.  
Plus the sintered bronze oil filters that would protect your engine for ever.  
Now, I need to get Blinky the Cat hooked up.

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**Author:** ![Manolito](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/manolito/32/3070_2.png) [@Manolito](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Manolito)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/34 "2022-02-10T13:53:24Z")

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When I skimmed the description of this “magic chip” I presumed that it might work only on modern drive-by-wire throttles and would be the software equivalent of putting a block of wood under the throttle pedal so it could be pressed only 1/4 of the way down.

I have not recently seen any ads for the HHO scam that proposed to use electricity generated by the car to dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen. One of my clients got one of those. I told him that since he was unencumbered by the laws of thermodynamics, perhaps he could buy an electric vehicle and put a windmill on top so he could have a perpetual motion vehicle. Come to think of it, I never heard from that client again. Oops…

There were a couple of mentions of flat earth believers in this thread. I realized as a youngster that if the earth were actually flat, housecats would have pushed everything over the edge by now.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/35 "2022-02-10T14:21:34Z")

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> [@Manolito](#):
>
> I have not recently seen any ads for the HHO scam that proposed to use electricity generated by the car to dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen

HHO…man there’s a scam I haven’t heard about in years

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**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/36 "2022-02-10T14:22:29Z")

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Question is, can a Russian mail order bride improve your MPG?  
(Sorry, it had to be asked!)

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/37 "2022-02-10T16:00:27Z")

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If you put “MPG” in quotes, the mail order bride just might work. 😉

Nothing to do with cars, of course.

Back to the original post: the first indication that it is a scam is the assertion that Big Oil is against it. If true, it would be great PR and they could claim a small victory in the fight against global warming. You can bet that they would tout it big time if this chip worked.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/38 "2022-02-10T16:08:29Z")

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> [@jtsanders](#):
>
> You can bet that they would tout it big time if this chip worked.

+1  
And, as was previously pointed-out, the car companies–which will go to almost any length to be able to post higher MPG numbers–would have adopted this “technology” long ago… **if it worked**.

Finding a _Miracle MPG_ product on the internet is the automotive equivalent of that New Yorker magazine cartoon of last year, having to do with the pandemic. Picture a guy sitting in front of his laptop, and he calls out to his wife…  
_Honey, look at this! I just found Covid-19 information that eluded EVERY M.D. and research scientist!_

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/39 "2022-02-10T17:34:28Z")

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Sure, get one that can pull an ox cart.

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**Author:** ![p.g.i.holmes\_156524](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@p.g.i.holmes\_156524](https://community.cartalk.com/u/p.g.i.holmes_156524)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/magic-chip/182378/40 "2022-02-11T11:30:36Z")

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> [@Scrapyard-John](#):
>
> then the earth was flat when that was the leading scientific theory.

The Earth being flat has never been a “leading scientific theory”. The truth is that there is no evidence whatsoever that any humans in history ever believed the earth was flat.

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