Mike I have a 2001 F-250 with the 7.3 Powerstroke, 4X4 with 3.73 gears, 6-speed Manual. I have been thinking about getting one of your programmers. What kind of gains can I expect with fuel mileage? Your numbers of 70hp and 110ft/lbs torque at the lowest setting is that at the flywheel or rear wheels? Also does these programs change the boost pressures to develop mor power?

Thanks
Carl

 

From what I have read (mostly at www.thedieselstop.com) there are changes to the boost as well as numerous others including fuel delivery. Fuel mileage gains, from my experiance on a 99 PSD with the superchip module, was negligible if I used that new found power but around 2.5 if I kept my foot out of the throttle.

 

exactly right.

our 2003 7.3 gains 3 mpg around town if you drive nicely

The power gain is Very nice and in fact makes the truck feel like a slug when you remove the program for service. We always leave it on the 'tow safe' setting.

 

Hi Fordfreak,

We were involved with testing of the new programs in the updated #1705 Micro Tuner, so we can tell you quite a bit about them...................much of which has not changed by the way, in terms of the basics.

Yes, boost is raised of course, that's always part of the picture anytime we're doing a performance application for any turbocharged engine. And this is perfectly safe (up to certain levels, of course), as the PSD engine was originally designed to operate at far higher power levels in stock trim, up to 365 HP & either 670 or 725 lbs./ft. of torque, depending on which specs you read from International, who actually makes the engine.

Actually, what the vast majority of chipmakers do in "tuning" these PSD's is just to force more fuel into the motor, as that automatically raises boost & power. But this also causes plumes of black smoke when you get into the throttle, lack of emissions certification in most cases, and this shows poor tuning skills or lack of R&D, of course. Many things have to be changed to properly tune the PSD, from fueling, injector timing & numerous other aspects.

With regard to fuel mileage, we have done fuel mileage testing for Superchips on these programs, additionally, Superchips also hired an independent lab some time ago to review & test all of this & report back. We were seeing huge mpg gains under some circumstances, and NO gains in other situations, hence the lab to tell us what was what & why. And what it all comes down to is this: you will generally not see mpg gains when the motor is not under a load, such as when putting around town unloaded at say, 20-50 mph. Now, when you are towing, you will usually see better mpg with the Superchips tuning than when towing with the factory program, as the motor is under a load.

For example, if you take an F-350 dually and drive it (unloaded and not towing) on the highway at speeds of 80 mph, we generally see HUGE 4-5 mpg gains. At about 70 mph & faster, there is enough *aero* load on the motor that it's able to see better mpg from the Superchips tuning than what it gets on the factory program. And of course, the EGT's (exhaust gas temperatures) must be kept in line as well, and they are kept well under control with the Superchips tuning, as can be seen by using a pyrometer (EGT gauge).

This all boils down to the basic inherent characteristics of the turbodiesel engine: which are, it does not really become fuel efficient *** from the standpoint of unit of fuel burned per unit of work output*** until the motor is under a load, plain and simple. Which is far different from what a gasoline engine does in this regard.

So you can generally see mpg gains on Ford Powerstroke diesels from the Superchips tuning (and specifically, the 60-70 HP programs, as the higher power programs generally don't deliver much mpg improvement) whenever there is a load on the motor, whether it's from towing, or from driving at speeds high enough to put some aero load on the motor.

Drive it around town empty at 20-50 mph, and you generally won't see any mpg gain, the lab saw exactly one tenth of 1 mpg (0.10 mpg) under those conditions.

We do occasionally get reports from people who tell us that when they are driving "around town," they *are* seeing mpg gains in those conditions as well, but this is not something that we generally saw in our mpg testing, nor do many of our customers report that, just to let you know. So I wouldn't expect to see mpg gains under those conditions, it's mainly when the motor is under a load, but not being hot-rodded, is perhaps the best way to put it.

You can read about the Micro Tuner for your Ford PSD (Powerstroke diesel) over at our web site www.TroyerPerformance.com - click on "Shop" and then you'll see the Superchips section. Click on "List by Vehicle Type" and then select FoMoCo vehicles, so you don't have to wade thru the GM & Mopar applications. Then read up on our Part# 1705, the Micro Tuner for all 1994-2003 7.3L PSD's.

With regard to your question of the power ratings being at the flywheel or the rear wheels, Superchips gains, like most chipmakers, are actually stated SAE Net at the flywheel, just like your stock rating is, so you have an accurate comparison. That being said, these PSD programs tend to show those gains or very close to it at the rear wheels.

It's not hard to pull big power gains out of these PSD's, that isn't an issue at all, we can pull out another 110+ HP & 245 lbs./ft. of torque. It's what happens to the EGT's as a result, thus what happens to your towing capacity, etc. So for best mileage and to keep the full factory tow rating, use the 60-70 HP program, and when not towing, if you have additional mods such as a good intake kit, a good turbo-back exhaust and an EGT gauge (we carry all that stuff, too), you can use the 2 higher power programs for hot-rodding around, if you like.

Please feel free to give us a call if you'd like to go over any of this, or anything else performance-related about your truck, our number is listed just below for your convenience.