She denied a rumor, circulating a few weeks ago on Internet chat groups, that Mitsubishi was trolling online to identify and somehow punish Evo owners who reprogram their cars. In fact, she said, the company has given a handful of Evos to performance shops in California so they can retune them, and it takes the cars around to youth-oriented auto shows.
The trend has caused a shift in the industry for auto performance accessories. While the total performance equipment market has stayed around $5 billion a year, more of that total is made up of computer-related gear, said MacGillivray of the Specialty Equipment Market Association.
Dan Chi, 17, drives a computer-aided hot rod. His dad, Sam, a former mechanic, doesn't "know about all that stuff."
(Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)
|
_____Ultimate Car Guide_____
•
Car Resources: Find tips, resources, car reviews, special features and answers to your car-buying or selling questions.
|
| |
|
New types of auto suppliers have emerged, such as GIAC of Irvine, Calif., which describes itself as a "software engineering company" that rewrites computer programs for European performance cars. Its slogan: "For people who need MORE."
Chris Coulter of Curry's Auto Service Inc. in Northern Virginia uses GIAC routinely. On a recent weekday, Coulter, 36, had to reprogram the computer on a client's Volkswagen New Beetle.
First, Coulter plugged his laptop into a computer port under the VW's dashboard and downloaded the car's basic operating information. He e-mailed that to GIAC, which automatically e-mailed back a new software suite for the car, along with a "key" that allowed Coulter to use the file only for that one paying customer. Then Coulter loaded the new file into the VW, which took less than 10 minutes.
Coulter, who has a college degree in economics and management, is vice president for operations for Curry's; such reprogramming -- called "flashing" when it involves swapping software, or "chipping" if it involves replacing a car's computer chip -- is the only service work he performs.
"I wanted to do it personally to make sure everything worked," he said, given that the consequences of making a mistake could cost the shop significant money.
A few hitches marred the Beetle flashing -- the computer mysteriously quit in the middle of the process, but restarted without further trouble -- and when Coulter was done he took the car for a test drive. For a total cost of about $750, the customer was getting about a 45 horsepower boost from the new software, as well as a device to allow him to switch back and forth between ordinary settings and the juiced-up program.
Coulter, a trained race driver, backed the car out of the Dulles-area garage and pulled onto a nearly deserted road in the rain. He didn't bother to turn on the windshield wipers, and as soon as he punched the accelerator, it was clear he didn't need to: Rain droplets streamed off the glass as the little car seemed to climb straight up, hitting 80 mph in a breathless few seconds before slowing again.
Though he's done it countless times, Coulter smiled and shook his head in disbelief. "And that," he said, "is a little 1.8-liter engine." Flashed in a few minutes, and he didn't even get his hands dirty.
