..... i would say that most of the really popular models out there may already have chips developed for them, and those chips may be suitable for racing, and the changes made to that particular vehicle.
[/b]You're right about the economics of it, but lets not kid ourselves that all chips are equal. And economics might factor in, but I am more concerned with potential equity.

.....will R&D for a car without any existing products out there cost you about the same as a full standalone? probably. but that's not an advantage for the standalone, it only gets it back up to level ground with the reflash/chip scenario. for the vast majority of vehicles, the cost to chip will be drastically lower, and way easier; giving it the advantage
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I'd also like to point out the flipside...(I know, dead horse...) .if you're lucky enough to have such a car, then why wouldn't you just chip it for a hun or two? Nobodys saying that you can't, or shouldn't. If you want to talk economics, (realizing that it's impossible to control spending, of course) wouldn't most people spend $200 on a chip rather than $2000 on a standalone, (not to mention the time), if the standalone would either offer no extra, or very little extra HP? People will find the balance that suits them.

Then there are the people outside the group you consider the vast majority. Guys like Dave Gran and his Honda Prelude. He's found nothing easy for him short of becoming a chip level geek, but he HAS found piggybbacks (from my understanding of his situation, correct me if I am wrong, Dave) that he'd LOVE to buy as they are cheap and effective. But under the current rule, they are illegal. That probably makes NO sense to him. He looks around and sees guys spending boatloads of money installing standalone systems, but he can't legally plug in a piggback.