I put my stage one performance package from Troyer Performance into my 2000 2wd extended cab truck about 3 weeks or so ago and I love it. The truck seems so much more responsive and it sounds great too. Thanks to all the posters here who helped me get all of the parts back together again! I do have some questions that someone might be able to give me a little help with: Originally, I custom tuned every aspect of the system that the microtuner allowed me to. I went with the highest or next to highest setting for shift pressure and shift points for every single upshift. I was like a frankenstein with his poor monster and I wanted to get the MOST out of what the microtuner had to offer; I subscribed to the theory that more or higher is always better. Following this episode of teenage mania, I noticed several things pretty quickly. In any WOT acceleration from a standstill (or even rolling) I discovered that my truck really didn't want to shift until it was really, really wound up. I mean way, way-up-on-the-tach wound up to the point where it felt as if I wasn't really accelerating any more but I was just making a lot of noise. When it would finally kick into 2nd the truck felt like it was taking off all over again. In any case, it seemed like the shift point I manually put in was a little too high--it seemed like I was hitting a noticable flat spot on the horsepower curve before it finally shifted. Today I reprogrammed the truck (I went back to stock 1st) and just pushed 'yes' when the microtuner asked me if I wanted to go with the "superchips performance" program. Now the truck shifts earlier and doesn't seem to have a flat spot at all in it's acceleration. It also doesn't seem to shift with the same firmness that I had acheived with manual programming. Does anybody know if my truck is indeed a little bit quicker with the superchips "performance program" pre-programmed setting than it was with everything ratcheted up to max? Do any of you use the pre-programmed setting for shift points and manually raise the shift pressure program so you can enjoy the tight-feeling shifts without fears of twisting the tach needle into a knot? Is any manipulation of the superchips "performance program" just tomfoolery in the end or can some of the manually programmable changes boost performance to an even higher level? Any input and/or opinion on these matters is welcomed and will be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi TJ6,

You've just discovered what we've been telling people all along, and what we recommend on our web site: for 99% of the people using the Micro Tuner, you'll get the quickest acceleration by just taking the Superchips defaults for the transmission programming.

We urge *everyone* to take the Micro Tuner's defaults for at least the first month or two of driving, as otherwise there is nothing to base any manual shift point changes on! Without driving it with the WOT upshift points that we have *already* determined to be the best for quickest acceleration, there is no intelligent basis for making any deviations from that, other than the fun of playing with a new toy (and Lord, how we guys love our toys, myself included!).

The ability to adjust the WOT upshift points is there primarily for those who make speedometer and/or gear ratio changes along with other mods to their vehicle (like big lifts, etc.) that would actually give the vehicle owner a good reason for wanting to adjust those shift points.

In a stock to lightly modified truck, there is generally no real performance advantage to raising the WOT shift points higher than what the Superchips default is already, usually you'll just slow the truck down from winding the motor up past it's power band. Then it takes off again once it finally gets up into the next gear.

The reason it seems like a harder shift when you wind the engine up higher is simply because *after* it finally upshifts, you are at higher rpms & thus in a higher part of the power band than you would have been, so there is more power available once it actually lands 2nd gear, for example, so it feels like a harder shift. Trust me, you'll give up more performance than you gain by winding the motor beyond it's power band.

Remember, peak power occurs at about 4900 rpm in both the 4.6 and the 5.4 in stock trim (that's what we see on the dyno regardless of the fact that Ford rates their peak power at 4750 rpm), and even with an open intake & exhaust, 5400 rpm is about the *highest* WOT upshift point you'll want to use.

Our advise is to leave it as you have it now, using the Superchips defaults for the transmission programming. And if you decide that you want it to shift harder, I'd advise using a shift kit. You *can* raise shift firmness levels with the Micro Tuner, but I'd advise not cranking up the line pressure more than 3-4 "notches" above the middle setting on the Micro Tuner.

Thanks for your post & glad to hear you're enjoying your Stage 1 performance package!