VP15 Volo Chip

volo VP15 Performance Chip Review
Volo VP15 Performance Chip
From our Analysis:

From our research and review, it is our opinion that the Volo VP15 Performance Chip may work only on some vehicles from 1996 to 2004 due the Lack of CANbus support.

Today almost every new European car comes with a CAN bus system.

Passed

Company Profile

The manufacturer is a company called Volo Performance,  according to the packaging.

Their websites,

www.volochip.tw / www.voloperformance.com

offers these and earlier versions of their chips. They are based in Taiwan and have been in the tuning market for several years, giving them more weight than previously reviewed products

Cost

The cost on the website at the time of this review was $129.95 USD for the Volo VP15 module, which claims to provide enhanced pickup, power, and engine performance enhancements.

The cost is an average price point. We purchased one from the website for testing.

Product Appearance

 
volo-VP15
Volo VP15 Performance Chip

The OBD performance module comes in the clear case shown above, with a flexible OBD cable for fitment to the OBD port.

The install steps are fairly straightforward:

“1) Install software to your PC laptop or computer and run setup.exe ( Will does not work on Mac’s, PC Only)

2) Program your chip. Start V-link and insert the provided cable in the Volo and your USB port. Follow instructions to fine tune your chip, to your specific car, year make, model.

3) Start your car and warm up your engine, before plugging in the OBD 2 port connector.

4) Plug the Volo VP15 into your car’s under dash 16 pin OBD2 port.  Press the RESET button, once the car is hot and idling. Wait till the calibration light show calms down, before driving. (about a minute or 2)

5) DRIVE Your Volo chip is self-learning and will continue to adjust itself to your driving style over time.

ENJOY the gas savings and more pick up than before.”

Volo VP15 Performance Chip Box
Volo VP15 Performance Chip Box

Sounds different than previous modules we tested – Let’s see if it works.

Internal Analysis

After removing the cover of the module, we see a much more complex circuit board than the previous chips – a newer PIC chip by Microchip with an onboard USB driver, dual voltage regulators, and a 20MHz crystal, as opposed to the 4MHz ones in all the previous light blinker scams. So far, this board appears to have the capability to do what they say it does:
 
VP15-internal-PCB
VP15-internal-PCB
 
 
The  IC on the Volo VP15 PCB it’s a newer generation Microchip 18F4550, but this IC has no CAN controller, also the VP15 circuit got no CAN line driver. 
 
 
Volo-VP15-IC-Chip
Volo-VP15-IC-Chip
From datasheet we can see:
vp15-volo-datasheet
vp15-volo-datasheet
 
18F4550-datasheet
18F4550-datasheet
 
 So far, this board appears to “possibly” have the capability to do what is claimed:
 

We examined the OBD connections from the connector to the circuit board and the following nine pins are connected: 2,4,5,6,7,10,14,15,16.

Let’s  check the OBD protocols and which pins they require:

http://www.pfdiagnose.com/FAQ1.html
http://www.pfdiagnose.com/FAQ1.html

From this chart, we can see the following protocols and which pins must be present for them to be used:

CAN – 4, 6, 14, 16

PWM -2, 4, 5, 10, 16

VPW – 2, 4, 5, 16

ISO – 4, 5, 7, 16

So we can conclude from this that the Volo VP15 module:

Is MISSING PIN 14 – IS NOT CAN CAPABLE

HAS all OBD connections for the PWM protocol

HAS all OBD connections for the ISO protocol

HAS all OBD connections for the VPW protocol

The vast majority use CAN or ISO protocol.

– even if the chip were somehow able to produce some magic, the pins needed for most vehicles they claim it works with are not even connected to the circuit board! However, the two most important pins, 4 and 16, which supply GND and +12V to power the light blinker ARE there 😉

Operation

We connected the Volo VP15 Performance Chip Module to our BMW 3 Series 2003 3.0L as instructed and the lights came on as expected:

VP15-volo-installed
VP15-volo-installed

We followed the instructions, connected it to the software and programmed it for the vehicle year, make, model and mode desired. We drove 200 miles and we noticed a small improvement in throttle response and pick up power. After a few tanks, we also noticed an improvement of almost 1MPG on our BMW 3 Series 2003 3.0L. Definitely some improvement! The VP15 allows three modes of tuning, Max power gain, Mix of Power gain and Fuel economy, and Gas saver mode. We chose the middle mode, and so far, it has made few changes to both.

Analysis

 It is clear from our analysis so far, that the Volo VP15 Performance Chip is a good choice for vehicles models from 1996 to 2007

Company Response

We sent the following message to the company before completing this review and received this response.

Our message to the company:

Hello,

We are an automotive performance chip review group and saw your performance chip. We have a few questions about your product:

1) Can you assure us this is not a NitroOBD light blinker scam?
2) Do you have any real-world proof of your performance?

Thanks for helping us to gather more information about your product for buyers on the net!

Company’s response:

10-16-2018 UPDATE:  Finally they answered

Volo Respose
Volo Response email

Conclusion

From our research and review, it is our opinion that the Volo VP15 Performance Chip may work only on some vehicles from 1996 to 2004 due the Lack of CANbus support.

Today almost every new European car comes with a CAN bus system.

car performance chip reviews passed

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