Superchips

[Peter Wales]

Dear oh Dear oh Dear,

I have really stirred up a hornets nest haven't I? Ok, lets try and settle
some of the questions. Firstly, to the owner of the list: I have not come
here to try and sell anything. That would be a waste of time on a DIY list
and I have long since found that trying to sell anything on the net is a
complete waste of time, so don't worry about advertisements coming from me.

The story concerning the Eagle Talon computer is true. I stated so when it
came out and am happy to state it again. I really don't want to get into a
flame war over it so I would appreciate it if you could hear the facts, take
note, make up your minds about it and let it drop. There are other things
more interesting to discuss. The facts are that someone decided to try and
copy my software for the Eclipse computer. We had discovered that some
computers had Eproms and some didn't but in either case the results were the
same. 15 psi on the stock car was the limit (unless you used a boost graphic
but thats a different story) and you could get to that limit whether you
took out the boost cut or not. So, as we didn't know which computers had the
limit and which didn't we got the computer in, either reprogrammed it or not
depending upon whether or not it had an EPROM and sent it out with a 7 day
"try it" money back warranty. We didn't get any back. The only person who
was upset was the  guy who found he couldn't copy what we had done, because
the computer he borrowed to copy didn't have an EPROM! I'm not going into
the ethics of what we did. People are happy to tell me I should not have
charged $350 for the conversion but are quite happy that I should charge
$350 for a $1 EPROM.

So, on to happier things. We do produce correctly developed cchips here and
no computers leave here unmodified with claims for anything else, and now I
need more engineers. I am getting the message that perhaps the reason I
can't get good guys is because I'm not paying enough. Well ok, what do you
think is a good starting salary for a graduate with a degree and no
experience in the commercial world, and I don't care if he has designed a
complete car electronic system, he has no experience in this commercial
field and I have to teach him so it will be 3 months before he produces
anything useful. Big companies like Ford can afford to make an investment in
junior engineers and pay them lots while they learn, but I need results for
my money and I can't afford to pay someone loads of money to learn what to
do. Tell me what other companies are paying. What do you get to be a number
in Fords payroll computer?

Finally, the question of me taking designs from the list. Firsly, we don't
manufacture engine management systems, and if you ever get into the realms
of doing that you'll understand why. So even if someone publishes the design
for the very best engine management system in the world here, it's of no use
to me. I cannot say that I will not commercialise on ideas I pick up from
here. That would be insulting your intelligence, but lets face it, what can
you guys give an engine reprogrammer? That's not what this list is about is
it? If the questions do crop up, I'm probably more likely to have the
answers, and give them to you, than to take them from you. But you're all
clever guys and I don't profess to know it all so maybe I can learn something.

Finally, I went through all of this on the Merkur list, so I ended up giving
one guy a chip to try. With compliments to Neil Swanson, here is part of the
report to the rest of that list:

"It's amazing what a little box of sand can do for a car.  I agree with just 
about all you say.  My car is also more satisfying to drive with the 
Superchip.  I have my chip on the Rapido ECU.  I don't know if it matters 
which one you use.  Is Peter Wales out there?  Any comments?   

Rapidos box does start to promise tons of torque, with a really strong surge 
that soon ends up slamming the Knock sensor and spoiling the fun.  I reported 
the Rapido box felt a little stronger on the bottom but it sure doesn't last. 
Thatch doesn't full throttle feel great now?  Smooth all the way.  It feels 
more comfortable doing it too."

I hope I have established my credentials once again.

Peter Wales