I have a 99 Expedition with a 5.4. I put on a Gibson side swept exhaust and a k&n filter. I was wondering which chip would work best. I was leaning towards the hypertech power programmer. Has anyone had any experience with these?

 

Hi Mike,

We have experience with them, as we have tested just about every "name-brand" chipmaker's tuning products for many years now.

We prefer the Superchips tuning - they're the people that basically created the performance chip & the industry of performance tuning for computer-controlled vehicles 20 years ago. The Superchips Micro Tuner has more R&D into the tuning of these F-150's & it works better than the Hypertech unit, giving larger power gains, more consistent power gains across different vehicles, and yields a better improvement to overall performance as well as having additional features such as it's built-in OBD-II code scanner, multiple performance tunes, etc.

The Superchips Micro Tuner has 3 different performance tunes in it - 87 octane tow-safe, premium gas tow-safe, and then finally, our "max" performance tune for premium gas that you cannot tow with - it's for all-out performance. So you've got not only multi-octane capability, but you also have a program for every type of use, from cruising & daily driving to towing, all the way to drag racing, if you want.

Hypertech (like most chipmakers) is "generic" in their tuning, meaning they provide the same programming for all similar vehicles (I.E., same tuning for all 2001 F-150's with a 4.6, for example), regardless of their factory PCM revision - where the Superchips Micro Tuner tunes each vehicle individually, according to it's exact PCM revision from the factory for a precise match. And in the F-150, there are hundreds of different factory PCM revisions each model year alone, so this is important - for each of those different factory PCM codes/revisions, there is a different Superchips program to match it exactly.

Also, Hypertech (again, like most other chipmakers, not just them by any means) only tunes for additional power in areas where there are no emissions standards that have to be met - meaning only at full-throttle. Well, to be technically correct, only at greater than about 82% throttle opening - this is done because it's much cheaper, quicker & much easier for them to do it that way - but this does not yield the kind of result you can get with the Superchips tuning.

With the Superchips tuning, each vehicle is tuned individually, and you have more power *all* the time, at any throttle position, as well as at any engine rpm - and this makes all the difference in the world. Some vehicles see a 12 HP gain from the Hypertech unit (and 12 HP is the best gain we've ever seen on an F-150 with Hypertech's tuning), while others see a 7 HP loss, and everything in between, due to the "generic" tuning, where the same program is used for all similar vehicles - so the results vary depending on just how close their program happens to be to your particular vehicle's PCM revision.

The bottom line is, we have always seen larger and more consistent power gains from the Superchips tuning over Hypertech & the other chipmakers out there, in addition to getting those power gains all the time instead of just at full-throttle - and that's why we use them and work very closely with Superchips. If Hypertech actually did a better job, we'd be using them instead, as we don't care what the name is on the box - it's the *results* that matter.

Also, with the Superchips Micro Tuner you do not have to use the abnormally cold thermostats that Hypertech generally requires with most of their products - that's a gimmick we don't recommend, the stock t-stat in 1997-2003 F-150's is 194 degrees, and that should stay in place - but if it is changed, never go below 180 degrees for a t-stat in these vehicles - Hypertech usually wants a 160 degree unit to be installed, which kills heater function in winter, in addition to other potential issues - and the reality is, gasoline engines make their best power at about 200-210 degrees of coolant temperature - this is why race cars configure their cooling systems to provide about 200-210 degrees when not running in traffic, as that's is where they make the most power and get the best fuel mileage, etc.

You may very well be happy with either product, there certainly are those who are happy with the Hypertech products, so I suppose you could say it's hard to go wrong - but the reality is you'll get a better performance result and a more thorough optimization of the powertrain program with the Superchips tuning.

Please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below if you'd like to go over any of this (or anything else performance-related about your truck) in more detail, we're happy to help.

Best of luck with your truck whatever you decide - Happy Holidays!