RCG – Race Chip Galaxy / Proracing Performance Chip

This is a review and analysis of the Proracing / RCG / RaceChipGalaxy chip. If you are looking for a REAL RCG / Race Chip Galaxy / Proracing Performance Chip review, then this is for you! What is this product and what does it do? Let’s take a closer look:

Company Profile

The manufacturer is a company called “Race Chip Galaxy”, and their website is  http://www.racechipgalaxy.com. The chip we are reviewing is also referred to as the “OBD Red Series”. A direct link to the product page is here: https://www.racechipgalaxy.com/products-new/

Since this is another one of the few products with a unique case, it should be interesting to see what it actually does.

Cost

The cost at the time of this review on the racechipgalaxy website for the OBD Red Series Chip was 139EUR, or $171USD. This price is a bit higher than any chip we have reviewed so far. Hopefully it warrants better performance than most of the previous chips.

Product Appearance

The Red Series OBD tuner module comes in four different versions, all of which look similar to the above photo. These versions are: “OBD Red Series LPG”, “OBD Red Series Diesel”, “OBD Red Series Hybrid”, and “OBD Red Series Petrol”.

From the racechipgalaxy website:

“(COMPATIBLE WITH ALL CAR MANUFACTURED AFTER 1999)
A chip tuning box is a device which is connected to the engine to boost the car’s performance. When it’s plugged in, the chip tuning box receives the same information as the car’s computer. Thanks to the received data the device is able to adjust boost pressure, quantity of fuel, injection timing and pressure to improve the car’s performance. OBD Chip Tuning Boxes do not exceed manufacturer’s requirements working only within the tolerance of the engine. Following this rule prevents our chip Boxes from damaging the engine or causing any negative side effects to its components. As our devices do not change any of the settings permanently it’s enough to unplug the chip box and the car goes back to its original settings.”

The first sentence is a MAJOR red flag – claims to fit ALL CARS made after 1999. This is not a good sign, as any legitimate module will be custom programmed for a specific vehicle and will not claim to fit numerous vehicles. Let’s look at the unit itself in further detail.

Internal Analysis

We purchased one of these modules from an official rcg powerseller via ebay and examined the inside of the module:

The board shape itself is unique. However, having examined several scam modules, we already have bad suspicions about the components on this circuit board.

The main ic has had the label sanded off to prevent identification. This may seem suspicious, but with so many counterfeiters in the market, we find more and more manufacturers removing part numbers to protect their products from being copied. However, in this case we tend to believe the chip was sanded to prevent an even deeper secret – the truth of what this circuit really is. We can already assume some things about this circuit. It has the same components as the numerous NitroOBD2 scams we previously reviewed. The mystery IC is most likely a PIC16F59 IC, which is almost always present in light blinker scams. From the PCB above, we can see a 4MHz crystal / resonator is used – this is also ALWAYS present in the light blinker scam chip circuits from China (NitroOBD2, Thunderbolt, etc.)

Also, note in the above photo the circle on the ic. This indicates pin 1. The chip on the Proracing chip has a total of 44 pins. The crystal / resonator is connected to pins 32 and 33. What luck! Look at the pinout we found for the PIC16F59 IC:

As you can see, it is a perfect match. Pins 32 and 33 on the upper right hand corner of the chip are for OSC1 and OSC2 (clock). It also has a total of 44 pins, a match to the mystery chip on the proracing PCB.

We found another photo of the Proracing circuit board with the ic label still present, but we could not get a clear enough reading to see what the id was. It is definitely a Microchip PIC ic, which the PIC16F59 ic is as well:

The circuit board is very similar to the known NitroOBD light blinker scam below:

The 4MHz crystal on the NitroOBD scam pcb is also connected to pins 32 and 33. What a great markup if this is indeed another light blinker scam! $171 sale price for a $3 light blinker from China! Why is the PIC16F59 ic unable to store a real tune file for a vehicle?

From several searches, we verified that ECU maps for a vehicle will be at least 20KB or larger PER MAP! This is way too large for the PIC16F59 IC to contain. So, if this is the case, there are no genuine vehicle maps onboard the module. What can be stored in such a small 3KB sized space then? We have our own suspicion.

Operation

We connected the Proracing / RCG / Race Chip Galaxy module to our vehicle as shown in the instruction sheet and lights began to blink in EXACTLY the same sequence as the NitroOBD2 scam chips!!

There are a total of six leds on the circuit board. However, we only saw three of these ever illuminate. The NitroOBD2 scams all have three lights also. This is yet another configuration similarity that the RCG chip has in common with the NitroOBD2 scam chips.

We followed the instructions and drove at least 200+ miles to give it the benefit of the doubt, and…… nothing. No power increase, no mileage increase. We did, however, see a neat light show!

Analysis

It is clear from our analysis so far that the RCG / Race Chip Galaxy / Proracing chip does not have the physical capacity to hold real vehicle ECU maps. 3KB of memory IS large enough for a light blinker program however, and we believe this is exactly what it truly is – an overpriced light blinker. The circuit, like the NitroOBD scams,  appears to monitor the pins from the OBD port and the small microprocessor blinks the lights when activity is detected, giving the appearance of the chip’s operation. While some users online claim to have seen small gains in pickup or fuel economy, we believe this is due to either the placebo effect or other vehicle / environmental factors. While we did not get any error codes set by our Proracing module, we would not recommend it as other light blinker scams to occasionally set error codes, as the signals that blink the lights sometimes send random junk data to the OBD port, causing random vehicle issues.

The second issue is the claim that it fits SEVERAL different vehicles – this is not possible, even for one vehicle, with such a small 3KB program capacity.

The third issue is that this same circuit is used in the NitroOBD scam, giving us more evidence to support the conclusion that this is a light blinker scam.

Conclusion

From our research and review, it is our opinion that the RCG / RaceChipGalaxy / Proracing module performance chip is a scam. It may also cause ECU damage, so we suggest avoiding it at all costs. It is an expensive light show at best, damaging at worst. You want to pass on this one!

Average Horsepower (HP) Gain:
Average Torque (TQ) Gain:
Average Miles Per Gallon (MPG) Gain:
Company Communication:
Processing Speed:
Total Rating

Racechipgalaxy uploaded a video to youtube showing users how to install the module in their vehicle. However, they unknowingly proved our point if you watch the video. Watch the video beginning at the 55 second mark onward. You will notice immediately three and ONLY three lights light up. You will also immediately notice the exact blinking pattern of the middle led – it is identical to the NitroOBD2 chips. It’s just another $3 NitroOBD2 in a sleek red case folks!

UPDATE:

Youtube emailed us on 3-21-2018 the following trademark / copyright complaint filed by Racechipgalaxy.com:

Translated, the message basically says their company owns the logo and we cannot use it. They say we are telling lies about the product. No genuine attempt is made by them to disprove our conclusion. They cannot argue with facts and know their product is a light blinker scam. It is a technique used by many scam companies. Only in the USA is a company able to threaten shutting down reviews by making false claims. If a company is so afraid about the truth of their product being discussed on the internet that they must rely on fraudulent copyright claims to shut down criticizms of their product, then you need to avoid them like the plague!