If i change my superchip from 87 octane to hi performance but not use premium fuel will that effect my 2004 ford f 150?? what will this change???
Also what should i set the settings to if i want the gears to shift at a high rpm??

 

Your motor will be dead very soon. But you won't get anymore power. When they Ping that bad the anti knock sensor will keep shoving your timing back. Still gonna burn the tops of the pistons.

As to setting the speeds higher than Superchips, you can. You won't gain a heck of a lot, as the Superchips settings where the ones they found worked best. Much higher will also start to damage components. You won't be any faster.
Chris

 

thanks chris.. any other suggestions

 

You can run the regular tune with premium fuel, but not vice versa! It will ping like crazy, and you WILL do damage to the engine.

 

Hi mhogan86, you are asking a lot of questions that lead me to think you are trying to do something.
I am just not sure what?

What setup do you have? Truck, size, motor, equipment, gearing? Mods?
What are you trying to attain?
Beat the neighbors Vette? (I have bad news for you ...)
Just see what's out there?

The Superchips is pretty much what it is. If you have a stock truck, and use the standard 87 octane settings, the performance increase is not vast. Shift gets better and there are a few more ponies, but...
If you want to see the most bang for your buck from the tuner, go to premium gas.
If it's like around here, there is a 20 cent difference.
Gas cost too much, so let us just ignore that aspect, as you and I can't really change that.
But assuming your gas is 3.00 a gallon for regular, then it might be 3.20 for premium. Sure that’s a lot but notice that it's only a 7% increase...
Puts it in perspective. Gas is high, but premium is a bargain in comparison.

And on premium that tuner gets you lots more power.
Chris

 

hey chris i have a 2004 ford f 150 5.4 3v

i have the superchip, cut my exhaust off, and a drop in k&n filter...
what do you have??
I want to know if you can help me with changes with the tuner...
what can i change?
i know what the tuner can do like gear shift points, and firmness... but what gear shift points and firmness levels do i need to change to??

When i step on it it gets up to about 3000 and shifts alittle hard... is that good?
I want to change it so it shifts alittle later between certain gears and smoother... Thanks

 

I just have the 4.6, Brute Force intake, Magnaflow exhaust, Diablo Predator (really no better than the Superchips I sold, just wanted to play with the settings. It has more things to play with)

Some basics . First, the factory Superchips shift settings are pretty good. I moved mine down to 12 lbs on all shifts though, as my truck isn’t a racer, it’s just supposed to be fun.
You can also raise the RPM’s a little on the shifts, but not only will you possibly not increase your power, you will get a harsher shift. I would leave them on the Superchips settings.

A big thing on any tuner is the PCM/transmission ‘learning’ factor on these trucks.

When you retune it, you ‘flush’ the old settings. You can do the same thing by taking a battery cable off for two or three minutes.

This causes the truck to have to relearn your driving habits.
The truck actually changes how it shifts according to your recent history of driving habits.

So no matter what your shift is like one mile after you unhook the battery, or load or modify any tune, it will change.
In the owner’s manual is a procedure for ‘training’ the truck after a tune, or a battery reset. It mostly involves putting it on the freeway, letting it idle and doing some various common driving things.
So anytime you tune it, for the next 100 miles it will continue to change and learn.


That means that if you set your shifts, then take it for a spin, the results are NOT always the same a day later. Over the next 100 miles (or so) it will keep micro adjusting till the PCM is satisfied.
So if it’s too harsh, it may not be next week. Or the reverse.
I find that I have to leave a setting for at least 50 miles of mixed driving before I want to mess with it.
That is, unless it pings. You fix that right away.
So don’t be too quick to mess with it, unless something is WAY off.
Let it learn your driving habits.

Chris