The allure of easily boosting your car’s top speed and performance with a simple plug-in device is undeniably strong. OBD2 performance chips promising incredible horsepower gains and enhanced fuel economy flood the market, often at prices that seem too good to be true. One such product, the Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip Tuner, claims to deliver exactly that. But does it live up to the hype, or is it just another empty promise?
Before we dive into our analysis of the Thorton chip, it’s crucial to understand the landscape of OBD2 performance enhancers. Many of these devices, particularly those marketed with outlandish claims and rock-bottom prices, have been exposed as scams. A detailed reverse engineering study by quarkslab (https://blog.quarkslab.com/reverse-engineering-of-the-nitro-obd2.html) shed light on the infamous Nitro OBD2 scam, revealing it to be little more than a box of blinking lights. This revelation opened the floodgates, exposing countless copycat products masquerading as legitimate performance tuners.
This article will dissect the Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip Tuner, mirroring the approach taken with the Nitro OBD2 and similar devices. We’ll examine its claims, scrutinize its design, and delve into its internal components to determine if it offers genuine performance enhancement or simply capitalizes on the desire for a quick and cheap performance upgrade. Our goal is to provide you with a clear, evidence-based understanding of this product, helping you make informed decisions about your vehicle’s performance modifications.
To provide context, we encourage you to first review quarkslab’s findings on the Nitro OBD2 scam (https://blog.quarkslab.com/reverse-engineering-of-the-nitro-obd2.html). Numerous online resources, including YouTube videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgXwfBTKLGU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-l9ohTjvkw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdoIjt2mMEQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OIO1tJPEy8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1OmGDE1FLA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytwlDVaFbec), corroborate the Nitro-OBD light flasher scam and its numerous variations. Don’t just take our word for it – the evidence is readily available.
Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip Tuner: A Closer Look
The Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip Tuner presents itself as a sleek, high-tech upgrade for your vehicle. The company, Thorton Chip Tuning, based in Columbus, GA, claims to be “a team of automotive enthusiasts” since 2008, dedicated to “high performance vehicles”. Their “About Us” page features a photo of a workshop, intended to inspire confidence in their tuning expertise.
However, a closer examination of this “shop” photo reveals workers focused on axles, gearboxes, and tires – tasks seemingly unrelated to ECU tuning or performance chip development. This discrepancy raises an initial red flag.
The product itself, as advertised on thortonchiptuning.com, boasts a visually appealing design.
The advertisement is undeniably professional-looking, but as we’ve learned, appearances can be deceiving. Even a cursory glance reveals striking similarities to previously exposed scam products.
Déjà Vu: Packaging and Chip Design Resemblance
The Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip’s packaging and physical design bear an uncanny resemblance to the SuperOBD scam chip. The box size, cover, and even the instruction layout are almost identical, with only minor alterations.
The chip itself further reinforces these suspicions. The shape, lights, button, and overall construction are virtually indistinguishable from the Super OBD2 / Nitro OBD scam chips. Only the color and branding have been modified.
This striking resemblance to known scam products immediately casts doubt on the Thorton chip’s legitimacy.
Examining the Performance Claims
Thorton Chip Tuning makes a series of claims regarding the performance enhancements offered by their Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip. They assert that after approximately 125 miles of driving, the chip “adjusts itself to your vehicle’s engine, your driving habits and continues to remap the ECU for optimal performance and fuel consumption.”
While the initial claims appear somewhat standard for similar products, further scrutiny reveals inconsistencies and red flags.
Despite claiming to be “U.S. sellers,” the origin of the product is highly suspect, as we will uncover later.
The claim of “universal” compatibility across engine sizes and vehicle makes is immediately questionable. They state the chip “will fit all engine sizes and types for your make of vehicle,” suggesting compatibility within a specific manufacturer (e.g., all Toyota models). However, they also require the specific vehicle make, model, and engine type during purchase. This contradictory information raises suspicion. A truly custom-programmed chip wouldn’t be “universal,” and a universal chip shouldn’t require specific engine details.
The most outlandish claim is a 40HP gain from a simple OBD2 plug-in “chip” that visually resembles known scam modules. Such significant horsepower increases typically require extensive ECU remapping and often physical modifications to the engine. A simple plug-in device achieving this level of gain is highly improbable.
Cost and “Level” System: Echoes of Previous Scams
The Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip is offered in three “levels” at varying price points: Level 1 ($29.95), Level 2 ($59.95), and Level 3 ($89.95). Intriguingly, all levels of the chip appear to be identical in physical appearance.
The “level” differentiation is supposedly based on the “power” of the chip. However, the dial logos used to represent these levels bear a striking similarity to those used by another previously exposed scam, the Chipyourcar Thunderbolt chip.
While the dial designs are slightly different in color and shape, the MPG and horsepower values associated with each “level” are identical between the Thorton and Chipyourcar scams. The probability of two independent companies arriving at the exact same performance values for different “levels” is extremely low, further suggesting a common origin or deliberate imitation.
Internal Analysis: Unmasking the Thorton Chip
To definitively determine the nature of the Thorton Top Speed OBDII CAT Performance Chip, we acquired and disassembled one unit. Upon opening the plastic casing, the internal components immediately triggered alarm bells, resembling the familiar layout of previously analyzed scam modules.
A detailed comparison of the Thorton chip’s circuit board with that of a known NitroOBD clone confirms our suspicion: it’s essentially the same design with rearranged components and altered LED colors.
Every component is identical, merely repositioned on the board, with superficial changes to LED colors. Crucially, it utilizes the same PIC16F59 microcontroller, a low-memory chip incapable of storing genuine vehicle maps required for actual ECU tuning.
The reason for this striking similarity becomes evident when examining online marketplaces like Aliexpress. A listing for an “OBDIICAT Scam Chip” reveals the Thorton chip’s true origin and source.
This Aliexpress listing not only showcases the identical chip design but even uses the same product photo featured on the Thorton Chip Tuning website! Thorton is literally using stock photos from their Chinese supplier. Further down the Aliexpress page, the listing explicitly compares the “Top Speed OBDII Chip” to the original NitroOBD Yellow scam chip.
The Chinese supplier openly acknowledges the product’s similarity to the NitroOBD scam and even claims universal compatibility with both gasoline and diesel vehicles.
This “one-size-fits-all” claim further solidifies the conclusion that the Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip is indeed a scam, designed to deceive consumers with false promises of performance gains.
Performance and Blink Testing: Confirming the Scam
To validate our findings, we subjected the Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip to real-world testing. After installing the chip in a vehicle and driving for the recommended 125 miles, we observed absolutely no discernible difference in fuel economy, performance, or any other vehicle behavior. The promised 40HP gain was nonexistent, as expected.
To further solidify our conclusion, we conducted a blink test, comparing the LED blink patterns of the Thorton chip and a known Nitro OBD scam module when connected to a 12V power supply.
Blink Test Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9atyTLr5KU
The blink test revealed that both modules blinked at precisely the same rate, confirming identical programming and functionality. The Thorton chip, like the Nitro OBD scam, is simply a light flasher designed to create the illusion of communication with the vehicle’s ECU. It does not, and cannot, alter engine performance.
Conclusion: The Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Chip is a Scam
Our comprehensive analysis, encompassing design comparison, internal examination, performance testing, and blink testing, definitively concludes that the Thorton Top Speed OBDII Cat Performance Chip is yet another iteration of the Nitro OBD light flasher scam. It offers no performance benefits and is purely a deceptive device.
Avoid wasting your money on this product. For genuine performance enhancements, consider reputable ECU tuning services or performance modifications from established and trustworthy vendors. A bag of potato chips would offer a more tangible benefit than this OBD2 scam.
Update: Thorton Superchargers – The Scam Continues
It appears the individuals behind the Thorton Performance Chip scam have launched a new website, thortonsuperchargers.com. This site mirrors the design and branding of the original Thorton Chip Tuning website but expands its product line to include a dubious “air supercharger turbine” and other accessories.
Notably, the “Thorton” performance chip is also featured on this new website, now openly referred to as the “NITRO PERFORMANCE CHIP” – the very name of the original NitroOBD scam. They even admit it’s “an inexpensive, universal solution,” contradicting any pretense of custom programming.
Thorton Superchargers has already received a “D” rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), with customer complaints regarding refund issues and product quality.
Exercise extreme caution and avoid both thortonchiptuning.com and thortonsuperchargers.com. These websites are interconnected scams designed to exploit consumers seeking affordable performance upgrades.
If, despite all the evidence, you are still considering purchasing this product…
