?s for Mike
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 144
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From: Norfolk, Va
?s for Mike
Mike,
I went to your site and I was looking at the "Stage X" kits. I have the non-PI head 5.4. What approx gains in power and gas mileage should I expect from a Superchip on 93 octane? I know the gas mileage is a by-product. I already have a FT valvebody so I assume that could be deleated from the program. My specif ? is if I had the chip burned now and later I went with hedders,electric fans and under pullys would I need a reburn?
I went to your site and I was looking at the "Stage X" kits. I have the non-PI head 5.4. What approx gains in power and gas mileage should I expect from a Superchip on 93 octane? I know the gas mileage is a by-product. I already have a FT valvebody so I assume that could be deleated from the program. My specif ? is if I had the chip burned now and later I went with hedders,electric fans and under pullys would I need a reburn?
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi there 98,
You're location in your profile is right there where I was born, Norfolk! Tidewater is my old "stomping grounds," so to speak.
On the 235-HP version of the 5.4 motors, we gain almost the same amount of power as we do on the later PI 260 HP versions. On our "max" performance tune in the Micro Tuner, on 93-94 octane and of course with all the vehicle's maintenance, etc. up to snuff, you will generally see 25+ HP gains - whereas with our premium gas "tow-safe" program, the gain is usually about 8 HP less, give or take a coupla-few HP.
Speaking of the non-PI motors, those non-PI cylinder heads actually flow *better* then the PI heads do (in either stock or ported trim) **once you exceed about .490-.500 valve lift,** and the stock cams are below that, so the PI heads are a nice improvement with the low-lift stock truck cams. But for anyone that is going to do ported heads & "bigger" cams, the non-PI heads work well too, they shouldn't be automatically dissed.
I normally advise using the newly updated 1715 "MAX" series Micro Tuner, as it gives you 3 different tunes, 87 octane tow-safe, premium gas tow-safe, and then finally, our "max" performance tune for premium gas that you can't tow with. This will also give you the ability to have completely control over your shift firmness levels - as you mentioned, with the Factory Tech valve body, most likely you will need less shift pressure on part-throttle (usually full-throttle is fine) when using any kind of performance program. The Micro Tuner gives you control over that for each individual gear change, the 1-2, the 2-3 & the 3-4. So you can set it exactly like *you* want it.
To answer your question specifically with regard to needing custom tuning (a reburn, as you put it) after the next round of mods, you will not need any tuning changes for converting to electric fans or underdrive pulleys, so you don't have to worry about that - now with the headers, they can *sometimes* cause a need for custom tuning in these vehicles - but overall, that is a small percentage and depends on the exact type & brand of headers, along with the sum total of all your *other* mods. What sometimes happens is it ends up going a bit lean as a result of the total combination with the headers too, and in that case then you will need custom tuning for the headers, which is generally a tad more timing & a bit more fuel in open loop (WOT) - otherwise, no, so you could continue to use the new 1715 Micro Tuner. The only way you'll know for sure is to get it on a dyno & check the A/F's, or you can give me a call and I can go over everything with you in detail, and that way I can usually tell you pretty accurately whether or not you'll need tuning changes once the headers are on. The fans & pulleys won't change tuning.
In most cases, using say, JBA shorty headers, along with an open intake & exhaust and the Superchips Micro Tuner, you're usually OK on the A/F's - however, if we have the very best intake & exhaust, an exhaust is a true-dual setup with an X-pipe incorporated, then in *that* configuration when adding headers you usually will need some tuning tweaks for best power in these trucks.
The typical scenario is you could run with an intake kit, a non-true dual (SISO or SIDO) cat-back exhaust system, the Micro Tuner, JBA shorty headers, electric fans & underdrive pulleys - that generally won't cause a check engine light, and you usually aren't lean.
My suggestion would be to just use the current multi-octane 1715 Micro Tuner as that will work *fine* with your current mods and with electric fans & underdrive pulleys to, and most likely, even with the headers. I would make that my next mod, as that is the single best bang for the buck mod you can do, optimizing the powertrain programming.
Then in the future, in an absolute worst case scenario, if at some point you do mods that actually *do* require custom tuning, you can always get some good $$ recovery for the new 1715's by selling it in the Classified Ads here, and then at that point get your custom tuning by ordering either a new custom-programmed Micro Tuner or a multi-program Superchip module with the custom tuning you need.
The bottom line is, the only mod you asked about that has the *potential* for requiring custom tuning would be the headers, and even with them it's only *sometimes* that you need a custom tuning update - maybe 15% of the time, roughly.
I hope that gets you the info you were looking for, give us ac all if you need to go over any of this in more detail, OK?
Good luck!
You're location in your profile is right there where I was born, Norfolk! Tidewater is my old "stomping grounds," so to speak.
On the 235-HP version of the 5.4 motors, we gain almost the same amount of power as we do on the later PI 260 HP versions. On our "max" performance tune in the Micro Tuner, on 93-94 octane and of course with all the vehicle's maintenance, etc. up to snuff, you will generally see 25+ HP gains - whereas with our premium gas "tow-safe" program, the gain is usually about 8 HP less, give or take a coupla-few HP.
Speaking of the non-PI motors, those non-PI cylinder heads actually flow *better* then the PI heads do (in either stock or ported trim) **once you exceed about .490-.500 valve lift,** and the stock cams are below that, so the PI heads are a nice improvement with the low-lift stock truck cams. But for anyone that is going to do ported heads & "bigger" cams, the non-PI heads work well too, they shouldn't be automatically dissed.
I normally advise using the newly updated 1715 "MAX" series Micro Tuner, as it gives you 3 different tunes, 87 octane tow-safe, premium gas tow-safe, and then finally, our "max" performance tune for premium gas that you can't tow with. This will also give you the ability to have completely control over your shift firmness levels - as you mentioned, with the Factory Tech valve body, most likely you will need less shift pressure on part-throttle (usually full-throttle is fine) when using any kind of performance program. The Micro Tuner gives you control over that for each individual gear change, the 1-2, the 2-3 & the 3-4. So you can set it exactly like *you* want it.
To answer your question specifically with regard to needing custom tuning (a reburn, as you put it) after the next round of mods, you will not need any tuning changes for converting to electric fans or underdrive pulleys, so you don't have to worry about that - now with the headers, they can *sometimes* cause a need for custom tuning in these vehicles - but overall, that is a small percentage and depends on the exact type & brand of headers, along with the sum total of all your *other* mods. What sometimes happens is it ends up going a bit lean as a result of the total combination with the headers too, and in that case then you will need custom tuning for the headers, which is generally a tad more timing & a bit more fuel in open loop (WOT) - otherwise, no, so you could continue to use the new 1715 Micro Tuner. The only way you'll know for sure is to get it on a dyno & check the A/F's, or you can give me a call and I can go over everything with you in detail, and that way I can usually tell you pretty accurately whether or not you'll need tuning changes once the headers are on. The fans & pulleys won't change tuning.
In most cases, using say, JBA shorty headers, along with an open intake & exhaust and the Superchips Micro Tuner, you're usually OK on the A/F's - however, if we have the very best intake & exhaust, an exhaust is a true-dual setup with an X-pipe incorporated, then in *that* configuration when adding headers you usually will need some tuning tweaks for best power in these trucks.
The typical scenario is you could run with an intake kit, a non-true dual (SISO or SIDO) cat-back exhaust system, the Micro Tuner, JBA shorty headers, electric fans & underdrive pulleys - that generally won't cause a check engine light, and you usually aren't lean.
My suggestion would be to just use the current multi-octane 1715 Micro Tuner as that will work *fine* with your current mods and with electric fans & underdrive pulleys to, and most likely, even with the headers. I would make that my next mod, as that is the single best bang for the buck mod you can do, optimizing the powertrain programming.
Then in the future, in an absolute worst case scenario, if at some point you do mods that actually *do* require custom tuning, you can always get some good $$ recovery for the new 1715's by selling it in the Classified Ads here, and then at that point get your custom tuning by ordering either a new custom-programmed Micro Tuner or a multi-program Superchip module with the custom tuning you need.
The bottom line is, the only mod you asked about that has the *potential* for requiring custom tuning would be the headers, and even with them it's only *sometimes* that you need a custom tuning update - maybe 15% of the time, roughly.
I hope that gets you the info you were looking for, give us ac all if you need to go over any of this in more detail, OK?
Good luck!