SCT has been producing "off-the shelf" tuners for quite some time since the release of the SF2. No matter how you look at it, SCT would never be able to sell custom tuners to big distributors for distribution into standard retail chains like your local auto-parts store, Ford dealers, small shops who don't have the time, money or expertise for custom tuning, etc. Yeah, it has the potentional to hurt the custom dealers, but SCT is looking after the bottom line by going after the larger market.

Considering the moves SCT has made over the past several years to cut costs and increase distribution (cutting Superchips out as their hardware supplier, replacing color printed documention with black and white documentation, off the shelf tuners, reducing warranty to 90 days) its not surprising. They got their start by being the underdog of custom tuning and once they got big enough they set their sites on being the big dog of non-custom tuning.

 

Well said Ken!

 

Yes, well said.

I work for a large company myself and at times it becomes very apparent that the bigger the fish gets, there's less the little fish can do to appease its appetite. The dreaded "bottom line". But hey...bigger is always better right...err' at least for the shareholders (or owners if its not publicly owned)...

Stay Tuned
Amp

 

I think SCT can meet the needs of both markets, if they approached it correctly. Have they approached it correctly? Not in my opinion.

Here's what I feel they should do:

1. Lifetime warrantees. Everyone else does it. Superchips goes one step further and gives you something no one else gives: a powertrain warranty.

2. Include information about custom tuning with each non-custom tuner. Include a link to a web site with a list of custom tuners. The retailer like Autozone benefits, and the custom tuners benefit by getting tune sales they normally wouldn't get -- without having to stock more product to do it.

3. Stop the confusion over the products, which leaves people thinking the SF2/SF3 is the same as the Xcal2/Xcal3. Use a different color plastic on the units and take "XCal" out of the SF2/SF3 names.

 

This is a rather HUGE risk with SCT. Grant it they can step away by using "Not liable for improper use" which falls under using a file that exceeds the capacity of the stock equipment. Sure they could include that with just their base files that are offered with all tuners, however those files still are not safe within stock specifications. The "dyno-proven" files do use increase injection timing.

Superchips is gambling, or they carry one hefty insurance policy. If damages were sustained in say 5 vehicles, those claims could be substantial to their profit. Then again it could provide them with a larger market share.

This would be nice.. Give us programmers the ability to advertise in more diverse markets. Big retail chains providing that type of information, even subjective upon locality would benefit in increase profit for programmers.

You couldn't have said this any better! LOL..




Off topic, Ken did you get your SD yet?

 

Superchips is walking the walk. They've spent a lot of time with quality assurance to make sure the product can live up the the warranty, otherwise the risk would be too big. Sure, you may not get the best power, but a part is going to last much longer when pushed to 80% duty cycle verses 95% duty cycle.

When I was in the tuning business I carried a multi-million dollar insurance policy and everyone in the business should also, otherwise they are risking their home and everything else they own, especially considering how cheap insurance is. Frankly, if I were Joe-customer and I didn't know anything about tuners and a guy selling me a custom tune told me it wouldn't cause problems and it did I'd sue the hell out of him to recover my repair costs if he didn't offer to pay for it.

In all the years I tuned I only had one customer who had damage to a vehicle due to a tune I wrote and I stood behind it, forking out several thousand dollars out of pocket to pay for it. Not many tuners can say that -- they'll blame it on the truck. If I know a truck has a limitation or problem its irresponsible for me to make a tune which didn't take this into account. Our policy was if a customer wanted a tune in excess of what we considered safe for the drive-train we'd have them sign a release so they would absolutely know what they were getting into.

Unfortunately, the odds of SCT doing this are slim.

Yes... I got the Superduty 3 weeks ago. 2004 F250 King Ranch Crew cab, 6.0L PSD. Posted a thread here about it.

(NOTE: Nothing in this post implies anything about you or any other custom tuner, folks here really seem to like their experience with you.)

 

I never thought that Ken.. You know I like you boys lol.. If Jay will EVER answer my phone calls LMAO..

Keep us updated on the SD progress.. I'm looking forward to it!