Flash Tuning
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Flash Tuning
I'm looking to get a little more HP and Fuel Effieciency out of my truck. I've been reading information regarding several different types of tuners. Predator, Hypertech, etc., For the price of the unit, I don't feel like I'm getting enough info to make an informed decision as to which is going to be the most efficient right out of the box. I want something that is 'pre-tuned' for maximum performance/efficiency straight from the factory so I can see immediate results while in the meantime can be modified at times to match the various upgrades planned for the truck. I'm big on hard evidence, and I don't really see test results or specific information to the 5.4L on their websites that tell me what steps they took to come to the conclusion that their pre-set tunes are the best. Any suggestions, personal experience or testing you can share that would help me make an informed decision would be greatly appreciated.
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2004 F-150 SCrew 5.4L
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2004 F-150 SCrew 5.4L
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Oh come on now...
Somebody has to have some experience with this, or at least an opinion... No replies? Am I supposed to do something else to get a response. I'm already holding my tounge out the left side of my mouth...I'll try the right side for a while and see what happens... (can you tell I'm anxious?) Thanks
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From: Ohio
There is no big secret. But the tuner (vendor) I send everyone to is not a sponsor or patron of this site. If you want information please send me a private message and I will respond with the info. The ony thing I can tell you here is that the tuner (vendor) has been tuning these (F-series) trucks for 14 years and is the first tuner (vendor) to perform all of his own custom tuning....
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Good luck. I posted a similar question last week and I didn't get any info swaying me one way or another. I'm still looking into Quik Truk's preference but I don't really know if it is worth the extra money since I don't plan on doing too many mods. If you are going to do a lot of mods I would probably go Quik Truk's route.
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Joined: Jun 2005
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From: San Diego
I went through this same ordeal several weeks ago.
This is my take on the whole thing:
Don't go into this thinking you are gonna see increased performance AND increased MPG. You can get both, but rarely at the same time.
The companies like Superchips and SCT can give you different tunes for different uses, ie. a full-on performance, towing, and economy. But you won't see better mileage while using the performance tune and you won't see much increase in performance while using the economy tune.
Keep in mind, all or most of these increases will require 91 octane fuel, which will kinda defeat the purpose of the economy tune.
I didn't check out the Hypertech and others because the only ones that will work on my truck are the two I mentioned above, but I would assume it ain't much different.
The Superchips guys have been doing this a long time, so their out-of-the-box tunes are probably as close to perfect as you will see.
The SCT product is pretty much the same, but is tuned by an individual vendor, so it could be hit and miss. But I figure if they can tackle the task of tuning a vehicle, they probably know what they are doing, you hope anyways... SCT doesn't let just anyone represent them, so keep that in mind.
Don't expect a lot of data on SCT though. Since it's tuned by individuals, they don't have the time or $$$ to dyno and post results for every vehicle they flash. But you can expect them to be as good and possibly better than Superchips.
The results posted for increases in HP and MPG are best case scenario results on one truck, so you can expect results "similar" but may not see exactly what they did.
Also, you gotta look at the HP increase on the dynosheet. It may be at the very top of the powerband and may be unusable to begin with. How often are you at 5400 RPM's?
This is a tough nut to crack. There is a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, some of it questionable and some of it really good. Just weed through the bull and figure out exactly what your needs are, then match it up with the product that will best suit your needs. Sounds easy enough, right?
As far as future mods to your engine, unless you go internal, like headwork or cams, or if you go FI, you don't need to worry about bolt-ons. Mods like intake and exhaust are not considered when it comes to flashing your computer.
This is my take on the whole thing:
Don't go into this thinking you are gonna see increased performance AND increased MPG. You can get both, but rarely at the same time.
The companies like Superchips and SCT can give you different tunes for different uses, ie. a full-on performance, towing, and economy. But you won't see better mileage while using the performance tune and you won't see much increase in performance while using the economy tune.
Keep in mind, all or most of these increases will require 91 octane fuel, which will kinda defeat the purpose of the economy tune.
I didn't check out the Hypertech and others because the only ones that will work on my truck are the two I mentioned above, but I would assume it ain't much different.
The Superchips guys have been doing this a long time, so their out-of-the-box tunes are probably as close to perfect as you will see.
The SCT product is pretty much the same, but is tuned by an individual vendor, so it could be hit and miss. But I figure if they can tackle the task of tuning a vehicle, they probably know what they are doing, you hope anyways... SCT doesn't let just anyone represent them, so keep that in mind.
Don't expect a lot of data on SCT though. Since it's tuned by individuals, they don't have the time or $$$ to dyno and post results for every vehicle they flash. But you can expect them to be as good and possibly better than Superchips.
The results posted for increases in HP and MPG are best case scenario results on one truck, so you can expect results "similar" but may not see exactly what they did.
Also, you gotta look at the HP increase on the dynosheet. It may be at the very top of the powerband and may be unusable to begin with. How often are you at 5400 RPM's?
This is a tough nut to crack. There is a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, some of it questionable and some of it really good. Just weed through the bull and figure out exactly what your needs are, then match it up with the product that will best suit your needs. Sounds easy enough, right?
As far as future mods to your engine, unless you go internal, like headwork or cams, or if you go FI, you don't need to worry about bolt-ons. Mods like intake and exhaust are not considered when it comes to flashing your computer.
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Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Ohio
Originally Posted by Onespeed24
I went through this same ordeal several weeks ago.
This is my take on the whole thing:
Don't go into this thinking you are gonna see increased performance AND increased MPG. You can get both, but rarely at the same time.
The companies like Superchips and SCT can give you different tunes for different uses, ie. a full-on performance, towing, and economy. But you won't see better mileage while using the performance tune and you won't see much increase in performance while using the economy tune.
Keep in mind, all or most of these increases will require 91 octane fuel, which will kinda defeat the purpose of the economy tune.
I didn't check out the Hypertech and others because the only ones that will work on my truck are the two I mentioned above, but I would assume it ain't much different.
The Superchips guys have been doing this a long time, so their out-of-the-box tunes are probably as close to perfect as you will see.
The SCT product is pretty much the same, but is tuned by an individual vendor, so it could be hit and miss. But I figure if they can tackle the task of tuning a vehicle, they probably know what they are doing, you hope anyways... SCT doesn't let just anyone represent them, so keep that in mind.
Don't expect a lot of data on SCT though. Since it's tuned by individuals, they don't have the time or $$$ to dyno and post results for every vehicle they flash. But you can expect them to be as good and possibly better than Superchips.
The results posted for increases in HP and MPG are best case scenario results on one truck, so you can expect results "similar" but may not see exactly what they did.
Also, you gotta look at the HP increase on the dynosheet. It may be at the very top of the powerband and may be unusable to begin with. How often are you at 5400 RPM's?
This is a tough nut to crack. There is a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, some of it questionable and some of it really good. Just weed through the bull and figure out exactly what your needs are, then match it up with the product that will best suit your needs. Sounds easy enough, right?
As far as future mods to your engine, unless you go internal, like headwork or cams, or if you go FI, you don't need to worry about bolt-ons. Mods like intake and exhaust are not considered when it comes to flashing your computer.
This is my take on the whole thing:
Don't go into this thinking you are gonna see increased performance AND increased MPG. You can get both, but rarely at the same time.
The companies like Superchips and SCT can give you different tunes for different uses, ie. a full-on performance, towing, and economy. But you won't see better mileage while using the performance tune and you won't see much increase in performance while using the economy tune.
Keep in mind, all or most of these increases will require 91 octane fuel, which will kinda defeat the purpose of the economy tune.
I didn't check out the Hypertech and others because the only ones that will work on my truck are the two I mentioned above, but I would assume it ain't much different.
The Superchips guys have been doing this a long time, so their out-of-the-box tunes are probably as close to perfect as you will see.
The SCT product is pretty much the same, but is tuned by an individual vendor, so it could be hit and miss. But I figure if they can tackle the task of tuning a vehicle, they probably know what they are doing, you hope anyways... SCT doesn't let just anyone represent them, so keep that in mind.
Don't expect a lot of data on SCT though. Since it's tuned by individuals, they don't have the time or $$$ to dyno and post results for every vehicle they flash. But you can expect them to be as good and possibly better than Superchips.
The results posted for increases in HP and MPG are best case scenario results on one truck, so you can expect results "similar" but may not see exactly what they did.
Also, you gotta look at the HP increase on the dynosheet. It may be at the very top of the powerband and may be unusable to begin with. How often are you at 5400 RPM's?
This is a tough nut to crack. There is a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, some of it questionable and some of it really good. Just weed through the bull and figure out exactly what your needs are, then match it up with the product that will best suit your needs. Sounds easy enough, right?
As far as future mods to your engine, unless you go internal, like headwork or cams, or if you go FI, you don't need to worry about bolt-ons. Mods like intake and exhaust are not considered when it comes to flashing your computer.
My X-Calibrator2 custom 87 octane towing tune gave me a proven 20+ HP on the dyno. If you want all 87 and 89 octane tunes you can get just that.I chose the 87 towing/93towing/93max.performance. The results you will realize depend TOTALLY on the individual that writes the tunes. Do not try to convince me that they are all alike because I have been involved in aftermarket tuning for far too long.....
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From: San Diego
Originally Posted by Quik Truk
You DO NOT have to use premium fuel to realize performance gains !!!
My X-Calibrator2 custom 87 octane towing tune gave me a proven 20+ HP on the dyno. If you want all 87 and 89 octane tunes you can get just that.I chose the 87 towing/93towing/93max.performance. The results you will realize depend TOTALLY on the individual that writes the tunes. Do not try to convince me that they are all alike because I have been involved in aftermarket tuning for far too long.....
My X-Calibrator2 custom 87 octane towing tune gave me a proven 20+ HP on the dyno. If you want all 87 and 89 octane tunes you can get just that.I chose the 87 towing/93towing/93max.performance. The results you will realize depend TOTALLY on the individual that writes the tunes. Do not try to convince me that they are all alike because I have been involved in aftermarket tuning for far too long.....
Originally Posted by Onespeed24
The SCT product is pretty much the same, but is tuned by an individual vendor, so it could be hit and miss. But I figure if they can tackle the task of tuning a vehicle, they probably know what they are doing, you hope anyways... SCT doesn't let just anyone represent them, so keep that in mind.
They all offer different variations of the same thing. But their results are usually word-of-mouth and can be very different from one to the next.
As far as your 20HP increase, I'd be very interested in seeing your dynosheet, see below:
Originally Posted by Onespeed24
Also, you gotta look at the HP increase on the dynosheet. It may be at the very top of the powerband and may be unusable to begin with. How often are you at 5400 RPM's?
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Ok, so at least I get the idea that performance tunes and fuel economy tunes may be different. Ok, now were making some headway. It's a truck. I didn't buy it expecting 20 MPG. A little better fuel economy would be a nice bonus. A little more pop from stop would really make me happy. The stock config on my F 150 is so sluggish off the line it quite often hesitates - bad. And that's been a very dangerous situation when pulling into heavy traffic. I have absolutely no problems with power at higher speeds or under load (towing). So...after weeding through piles and piles of threads and advertisements for tuners, I'm not convinced that a tune exists that will smack the truck in the butt off the line and give me more throttle response. Any response to this?
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From: San Diego
Yes, they will!!! Any of the tuners with a "Max Performance" tune will definately give your F-150 the oomph you're looking for. There are numerous posts about people flashing their trucks and getting very good results. If all you are looking for is some get-up-and-go, I would say an SCT Xcal2 with a 93 octane Max-Performance tune and then 2 other tunes that you choose, ie. a towing, or an 87 octane tune.
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In my opinion, a 93 octane tune would be a moderate waste of money based on current gas prices. CAN I get a 87 octane max performance tune that will cure the truck's fear of traffic? Any experiences with a performance tune at 87 octane that would affect throttle response? Even an 89 octane would be better than a 93.
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From: Ohio
Originally Posted by DeadEye 04
In my opinion, a 93 octane tune would be a moderate waste of money based on current gas prices. CAN I get a 87 octane max performance tune that will cure the truck's fear of traffic? Any experiences with a performance tune at 87 octane that would affect throttle response? Even an 89 octane would be better than a 93.
Last edited by WhëëlMå1; Dec 2, 2005 at 05:09 PM.