Who has tried the five canned - preloaded tunes that come with the SF3. How many have also switched to custom tunes and thought it was worth the additional investment. I loaded the canned performance tune yesterday and was very impressed. Shifting was smooth, night and day difference in power. I have no complaints. Who has used both and what are your thoughts between the two?

 

Ken_ that's a good question. I am considering some custom flash tunes for my SCT as well. where did you buy your SCT?

 

man flame suit up. I run the sct sf3 caned tunes very happy overall. try the changing the trans to firm shift too.

 

yea- the canned tunes are OK, and I tweeked the shift points and pressures. still looking for a little more torque though, and better TCC engage and hold. I don't even think an SCT reflash can do much for the TCC issues.

 

I purchased mine from Amazon. I always get exactly what I ordered from there, never a surprise like Ebay “may” have. They had almost the best price I could find at $350.
I am somewhat shocked here; I really figured someone would have chimed in with a positive reason to upgrade to custom tunes over the canned based off experience.

 

there are some post on SCT custom tunes on other threads here. search SCT tunes. as far as I can tell, just a few guys doing those for the SCT-SF3.

 

There is no doubt everyone that has gotten custom tunes love Gearhead and Innovative, but where to get them from is not really the question. What will the $100 get me over the canned tunes is my question. I purchased the tuner with the intention of getting custom tunes from Gearheads but when I uploaded the performance canned tune I wondered what would the extra $$$ really get me.

 

Got mine from TruckCustomizers.com for $337 shipped. Tried the trans only-didn't work. The street and 50hp tow are very nice so far. Haven't tried the performance tune, don't drive like that, and don't need temptation with stock head bolts.

 

Well that brings up the next question that has been eating at me. What is the bigger danger for the head bolts. Boost pressure or EGT’s? If I keep the EGT’s under 1200-1300 and the boost under 29-30…… do I really have to worry about it? Gearhead states his tow tune is good for 8000 pounds without studs and 13000 pounds with studs. I thought Boost and EGT were the killers and if monitored with gauges we can enjoy the power with the reliability. What am I missing here?

 

studs and head gaskets are a boost issue. high EGTs cook the turbo.

 

the pre programed tunes that come with the SCT work fine for some strategies and trucks. i prefer custom and only run them (ever since i got my first custom tune i have never loaded a pre-programed tune back in to my truck). first off if you have mods like injectors or turbo custom tuning is the only way to make tweaks (you can't use the user adjustments for mods like these). also transmission shifting along with how the power is developed through the power curve and shift points are greatly improved IMO. but it's up to you i always say only you the driver of the truck can tell how the tune is working and how much you like it. tuning varies truck to truck so it's not right to say this tune is perfect and you should by it, but with custom tuning if there are adjustments you would prefer and questions you have about changes you get to work with someone with gobs of knowlege to get what you want out of the truck.

 

it's actually a little more complicated than that. the biggest danger to head gaskets and stock head bolt is cylinder pressure. but if you are monitoring only boost and EGT like most do than watching high boost spikes are more important.

 

Tunes are obviously creating more cylinder pressure, the extra power has to come from somewhere. Energy is transformed not created. The pressure is created by more fuel. More fuel equals more heat. I cannot actually measure the cylinder pressure but I can keep an eye on or even data log EGT’s and boost pressure so as not to push the limits. I realize a spike in EGT’s (lots of fuel) could cause cylinder pressure to reach a point of stretching the head bolts in an instant but I do not believe or understand how the same tune can increase cylinder pressure to unsafe limits by towing a heavier load if you keep the EGT’s with in a safe range.

 

I concur. After hundreds spent in custom tunes trying to get the trans right, Im back to square one using the canned performance tune with trans firmed up. No it doesnt have near the power some of the customs tunes do, but overall it drives the best. If I feel the need for some fun, I'll load up an Xrace tune and have some fun.

 

Cheezit
Understand, you like the canned tunes. Have you tried some custom tunes? If so what are your thoughts on what you tried?

Scott
Thanks that was the kind of input I was looking for.

Right now my thought are .... No need for custom tunes unless I feel the need for MORE power. My truck does not have studs so I am a little leery about trying more than the performance tune already provides.