This is a Shikashi Stage 16 Performance Chip review / analysis. The Shikashi Stage 16 Performance Chip is available from ebay. If you are looking for a REAL Shikashi Stage 16 performance chip review, then this is for you! Don’t believe the reviews on ebay or any manufacturer’s website without checking into the product first yourself. Let’s take a look:
Company Profile
The manufacturer is unknown, but we have our suspicions already, due to the color and shape of this plug. There are literally tons of these blue plugs on ebay, claiming to be performance chips that add anywhere from +80 to +200HP! If these claims are true, it would be a first in history and something that the car manufacturers don`t even know about yet! They claim to be available in tuning stages 11, 12, 16, etc. We know by now this is most likely false, as there are only three genuine tuning stages: 1, 2, and 3. All these modules are most likely manufactured in the same place – China.
Cost
The cost on ebay at the time of this review, was anywhere from $54.99 USD to $89.99 USD. This cost is a very suspicious factor, given that this looks like many of the other Nitro OBD scams we have reviewed thus far. We already suspect what is inside these modules. Claims of +200HP? Get real.
Product Appearance
The OBD performance module comes in various ‘Stages’, from 8 all the way up to 22 or so. This is obviously bogus, as the tuning industry only recognizes three genuine tuning stages: 1, 2 and 3. Stage 1 usually is used on stock vehicles and offers minimum gains. Stage 2 usually is used on slightly modified vehicles and offers moderate gains. Stage 3 is usually used only on racecar grade, heavily modded vehicles, and offers the highest gains. Stage 16 is obviously bogus. We did not want to take their word for it, so we purchased one for testing from ebay seller ‘z3powerboost_7’.
The instructions claim basically the same thing that the NitroOBD scam did – to have special programming onboard to allow the device to optimize the vehicle performance when connected to the OBD port.
From the instructions:
“Step 1 Locate your OBD Port. Plug in your Shikashi Stage 16 Performance Tuner Module into the OBD port
Step 2 Turn your key to the on position do not start your vehicle. Wait approx. one minute.
Step 3 Turn on the engine. Go test drive your new vehicle!”
Once again, this is a similar install procedure to what the NitroOBD scam provided. Let’s see what it actually does.
Internal Analysis
After removing the cover from the module – we noticed the following circuit board – not a typical NitroOBD board, but not a performance chip circuit either:
The circuit board is familiar, but it is not a NitroOBD scam necessarily. It is not a performance chip either. This circuit is actually a bluetooth reader for the OBD port. Note the small bluetooth antenna in the upper right corner of the PCB, and the similarity to the OBD ELM327 Bluetooth reader from alixpress:
Here is the Bluetooth adapter with the circuit board inside for sale on Aliexpress for $3.60:
So we essentially have a bluetooth reader in a blue OBD case. This is not a performance chip at all.
Operation
We decided to give the product the benefit of the doubt and connected the “Shikashi Performance Chip” as shown in the instructions to our 2012 BMW 530i 3.0L L6. One red light lit up, and two others blinked then went out.
We followed the instructions, drove through one tank of gas, and…… nothing. No power increase, no fuel economy increase. 180HP gains? Not even close. We did, however, see a red light stay on the entire drive!
Analysis
It is clear from our analysis so far that the “Shikashi Stage 16 Performance Chip”, like so many others, is nothing but a scam. It is essentially a bluetooth OBD tool re-branded as a ‘performance chip’. The board is IDENTICAL to the $3 ELM327 OBD bluetooth reader from China.
Another interesting area to research is the Userid histories of these scam sellers on ebay. Most of the time, legitimate performance companies will only change their ebay seller name only once, or even keep the same name they had when they first started selling on ebay. Not always, but most of the time, the scammers will change the name of their seller account Userids several times, trying to look ‘official’ to buyers and match the garbage product they are selling. Our lookup on z3powerboost_7’s feedback is not too comforting – it seems buyers are starting to partially figure out his scam:
Another interesting fact about this scam in particular, is that these blue scam chips always seem to be sold by the same individual on ebay. We have watched him for a few months, and he creates new userids he obviously purchased from somewhere, and lists the same chips with different stages, such as Stage 11, Stage 16, etc. His usernames are also similar because it is the same person listing them. His real location is Little Rock, Arkansas, as we attempted to start a return and this address was provided by ebay, but it is not his correct mailing address, just City and State. Here are some of his userid’s and the previous names he has used. These were valid at the time of this review. As Ebay finally suspends some of his user accounts, the listings become unavailable to research, but the damage has already been done – buyers have been scammed:
This shows just a few of the Ebay userids he has used just in the past few months. Notice the variations such as “tyzudavi0” and “tydrodavi_0”. Most of his past accounts which have been suspended by ebay also had similar variations in the names. Anyone who has been on ebay before knows that when you first create an account, if you do not specifically choose a username, it will use your first and last name and combine them into a username. This is what happened with these first usernames – tydrodavi,0, tyroladavi0, etc. Some of the accounts he changed the name on eventually to better match the scam product he is selling, others he left the same.
Of course, this is just one of the many scammers who try to sell this junk to people on ebay. The moral of the story: be aware of what you are buying and do not fall for false advertising! This is even more evidence to fuel our suspicion that this is just another scam.
Company Response
We sent the following message to the user we purchased the chip from on ebay 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 scam? If so, why does the PCB inside look EXACTLY like a bluetooth reader?
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:
–NONE–
They did not even attempt to defend their junk product. No big surprise – he has denied support requests from his customers several times based on his negative feedback. When he trashes one seller account, he simply opens a new one and starts selling all over again!
Conclusion
From our research and review, it is our opinion that the Shikashi Stage 16 High Performance Tuner Chip is another scam, albeit a newer one, as they simply purchase blue ELM327 bluetooth readers, remove the stickers, and put on the false Performance chip labels in their place. This is a nice light show at best, damaging at worst. You will DEFINITELY want to pass on this one!
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