Although they raise some valid points in the "article", such as working with a reputable tuner, the whole thing is clearly written with a bias towards chips. They even follow the advertorial up with a direct link to Steinbauer chips, as they are a Steinbauer agent.
Some of the alleged advantages of the chip are a stretch; such as the ability to remove the chip and "recoup" the cost. The fact is that when you fit the chip to your new vehicle, there will undoubtedly be dyno tuning involved, which carries a cost. You could argue the counterpoint that the ECUTEK tune is a selling point for some people. Most people don't make improvements to their vehicles with the view to recouping any cost. It's a bit like saying you should hang onto the old suspension components when you upgrade, and then refit them before sale so you can fit them to your next rig. Bottom line is that cars are a depreciating asset, that we all pour money into with mods to suit our tastes.
The cowboy ECU tuners that are mentioned, are obviously a danger, as are the raft of cheap (and not so cheap) smoke boxes that are available on the internet. I have personally seen $600+ chips that contain very little in the way of electronics, offer no EGT interface for protection, and are advertised as plug-n-play. Both solutions have reputable brands, fitted and dyno tuned by people who know their stuff. Companies like Chiptune (chips) and ECUTEK (remap) stand behind their products.
Given that a reputable, dyno tuned chip, and a reputable dyno tuned ECUTEK update are now similarly priced, it also removes cost as a factor.
I can provide similar links to articles that are biased towards tuning.
Obviously, I'm a fan of the remap as the preferred option.
