Turbochargers. Superchargers. Nitrous shots.

All are great systems for serious boosts in power for any car or truck, including SUVs such as the GMC Jimmy. For that kind of power, though, any tuner is going to need some serious money in the bank account. While older cars could see serious gains in power with some fairly simple bolt-on modifications, today’s highly-engineered cars and trucks require a more substantial change to the actual engine structure to drastically increase horsepower.

The benefit, though, of advanced electronic fuel injection and computer controlled ignition timing means that the computer is flexible. Not only do they learn how a driver typically uses a car, but the ECUs can be reprogrammed to deliver greater power and efficiency. A GMC Jimmy performance chip can advance the ignition timing and increase the amount of fuel delivered into the piston chamber during the injection cycle. The car will require a higher octane fuel. This minor trade off is well worth the gains in power. A GMC Jimmy performance chip is a tremendously simple and inexpensive modification. The chip is installed in place of the stock chip in the ECU. The Jimmy’s ECU is located under the dash, although the exact location will vary from year to year. A chip swap, in most cases, can be completed in under an hour. Extremely expensive damage to the ECU is possible, and it is sensitive to static electricity, so caution is paramount when attempting the swap. GMC performance chips are available for only a couple of hundred dollars, and can be found even cheaper.Greater power actually translates to greater efficiency, and the chip can save on gas, since for everyday driving less throttle is needed for the same acceleration.