2000 F150 4x4 Supercab
5.4L
Offroad package
17" wheels

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my pickup, but as a payback for moving my little bro across a few states for a new job (and towing a big 'ol Uhaul), he's springing for a chip.

I do very little towing, love low end accelleration, hate the shift delay, and I don't drive much over 95mph.

What's the best choice for me?

Thanks

 

superchips 9100 custom tuner!

 

my 97 shifted like sh*t. I could tolerate it until I opened up my exhaust......then.....it was flat out embarrasing. The 1715 Super Tuner, adjusted properly, took care of *everything*, no holds barred.
I whole heartedly recommend going with the super tuner first.
From a small chirp off the line to 12 feet of spinning BOTH 16 inch 9" wide thread width tires on 87 octane...well... I'm happy, ok?

 

I would skip the custom tune chip and just go for the MicroTuner. You'll get more benefit from the diagnostics than an extra 2% of performance.

 

- if mikes tuning is anything like diablo's - that tuner will yield more than 2% improvement over the 1715 tuner
on identical trucks with same engine,gears, air intake, exhaust, and same pcm code- the custom tune will blow the 1715 tuner away!
my.02$

 

I doubt it (significantly more improved than Max tuner setting for a stock truck), it costs $100 more, you cannot tow, and the lack of diagnostics.

Spend the extra $100 to replace the factory muffler.

 

like i said- if mikes tuning is as good as diablo's which i'll say it is then it will be significantly better
my friend and i both have 03 f150's
both 5.4's
both 3.55 gears
both have lga2 pcm codes
both have mac air intake
both have magnaflow 15609 exhaust
i have diablo chip
he has 1715 tuner
i leave him in the dust wheteher it's from a red light - 30 mph roll,-on 50 mph rollon, or 70mph roll-on
when i load his tuner in my truck and installed my chip in his truck - the results were the same- -the tuner isn't as agrresive as a custom tune

 

Custom tunes are better, but IMO aren't worth it unless you want every single hp you can get.

 

A custom tune would be nice, but I'd like to throw more money in other areas rather then blow my load all on a chip.

So the Microtuner 1715 is a pretty good bang for the buck purchase?

Where's the best place to look for one?

 

Try here first, you will not be sorry! http://www.troyerperformance.com/

Also do a search on the 1715 in this forum....that'll keep you busy for awhile!

 

Call Mike Troyer and say you want $400.00 worth of performance.
Seriously, call him and discuss what you want to accomplish. You will get your money's worth. Might even get back some change.....

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Sounds good.

Too bad I asked so late in the week, now I have to wait till Monday to talk to him. :/

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

Hello all,

Thanks for your posts - I want to add some additional perspective....................

First, we get significantly more than any "additional 2% performance" in our custom tunes over what the 1715 yields.
Worst case, which has happened twice out of many trucks, it's about a 25% additional raw power over the same type of tune in the 1715 - say, the "MAX" performance tune in the 1715 (which is ours also - we did that with Superchips 3 years ago, & provided it for over 2 years in the traditional Superchip modules before it became available to everyone in the 1715 when it was redesigned & started shipping in September 2003). And in many cases, it's a 50%-75% additional gain (or more) over what the 1715 can do.

Now in terms of stating that as a percentage of the TOTAL POWER OUTPUT, that's something else altogether - but even stated like that (and that wasn't how you phrased it APT, you said "additional 2% performance"), it is incorrect. In terms of "additional performance" gain over top of what the 1715 can do, the performance of the vehicle is improved by significantly more than any 2% - you measure "performance" in terms of acceleration times, and in that regard as well as actual additional HP gains, it's significantly more than any 2%.

Now let's talk a bit about what I think you were actually trying to say (& sorry to "split hairs" with you here, I think I know what you meant) - which was to reference the difference in terms of a percentage of the TOTAL POWER OUTPUT....................

Let's say we have a 220 hp 4.6, it's got a "good" factory code, so it gains say, 20 HP with the MAX tune in the 1715 - but then it gains 28 HP with our custom version of that same type of tune, which is about the average for a "good" factory code. Then you have about a 9% HP gain (in terms of a percentage of the original TOTAL PEAK power output) for the 1715's MAX tune, and almost 13% in our custom tune - so in that type of expression, you could say it's roughly about a 4% difference in TOTAL PEAK HORSEPOWER - but even at that, it's far from any "additional 2% performance."

Next, when we do our 3 different custom tunes in the custom version of the Micro Tuner for a stock truck (or even a mildly modified truck that is a daily driver, and it has say, intake, exhaust, e-fans, underdrive pulleys, etc.) - we usually suggest the customer follow the same basic format of the 3 different "styles & usages" of the tunes in the 1715 - which is to say, an 87 octane program that still retains towing capability, then a premium gas tune that also retains towing capability, and last, a "MAX" performance tune that requires premium gas that you can't tow with. (We'll do it any way each owner wants of course, but for a stock truck, that is normally what we recommend as that is what most owners are served best by in stock to lightly modified daily drivers.)

The point being, they are NOT giving up any towing ability in our custom MAX" tune versus the "MAX" tune in the 1715 - they *both* have that same limitation! So no, they aren't giving up any towing capability with our custom tunes as compared to the 1715, that is not accurate to say - that happens ONLY if they request a configuration of tunes that is radically different than the 3 different types of tunes in the 1715 - and generally speaking, even that happens only with our F-150 owners who have added a supercharger and DON"T WANT any towing capability.

What I really find very interesting for any of those in this thread claiming that our custom tunes "aren't worth it" is the fact that no one in this thread making that claim have ever even made any such comparison between the two! You see, because we do the custom tunes, I *know* who even has them to begin with - and nobody making that claim in this thread has ever done that specific comparison. What that means, is, that automatically puts any such claims into the realm of unsubstantiated opinion, rather than a factual statement.

Now I DO agree with you in this particular regard, from the standpoint that it's worth calling us to see just what the differences are going to basically be for a given owner's *specific* truck & it's computer code, when evaluating making this type of decision - as the custom tuning does cost more than the standard 1715's, you bet.

And that is precisely why we have always said anyone that actually wants to know just how much better a job we can do via our custom tuning as opposed to what the standard 1715 will do for *their* specific truck can call us & we'll go over that with them. Then they will have some kind of roughly accurate info with which to be able to evaluate & make that kind of decision - for the guy who does not anticipate ever doing much in the way of mods. For the owner who isn't 100% certain of just exactly what he/she may do 2, 3 or 5 years down the road, we highly recommend going with the custom-tune capable type of product up front, so that at least they isn't automatically limited up front - remember, the 1715 Micro Tuner cannot accommodate any custom tunes, and that's an important aspect to remember.

Continued in next post.............

 

Now of course my perspective is going to be a bit different - I'm coming from the perspective of being a tuner and wanting to deliver the absolute most to my customer - so I feel that under no circumstances is it ever "not worth" having us do the custom tuning for best performance on *any* level of octane for these trucks, and for any type of program. Not everyone is going to feel that way, as there *are* some people out there who will never do anything more than a Micro Tuner, an intake kit and a cat-back exhaust - and for those types, we recommend calling us so we can review their computer code and let them know just how much difference we feel there will be. If it's a truck with a particularly "good" factory code, we will tell them to just use the 1715 instead of having us do the custom tuning, and I have in fact told several people to do that who have called us to get that info. But overall, that's maybe 1/4-1/3 of these trucks, as well over half of them have issues just with transitioning over into open loop that we can do a better job in via an individual vehicle custom tune.

One last aspect of all of this is something I alluded to a bit earlier, but just want to remind/point out again - and that is, the fact that in the 1715, which it's a *great* product and we sell a lot of them being America's oldest Superchips distributor, for those who are going to hang on to their vehicles for a while, we strongly suggest doing the custom tune simply because if they *ever* decide to add more modifications, very quickly the owner is going to have to upgrade the fuel delivery system. Meaning the fuel injectors and the fuel pump - which is not hard to do at all, nor is that an "expensive" thing to do - but it DOES require custom tuning, which cannot *ever* be done in the 1715 Micro Tuner.

For example, in the V8 1997-2003 F-150's (leaving out the factory-supercharged Lightnings & Harleys), regardless of engine they have just 19# injectors, and on a V8 engine that is normally aspirated (meaning not supercharged or turbocharged) they are not good for power levels in excess of about 310 HP or so. Well, once someone has done our Stage 1 kit with the standard 1715 Micro Tuner on a 1999 or newer 5.4, they have basically just about maxed out their fuel injectors and can't do more mods (other than e-fans & underdrive pulleys) until they upgrade the fuel injectors. Which requires *custom* tuning, which cannot be done in the 1715 Micro Tuner - so this bears thinking about. We can always do a nice custom tune now for the stock to mildly modified truck, and then if they *ever* change anything in the future that requires custom tuning, or do additional mods that would dictate larger fuel injectors, etc., then we can simply update the tuning in their custom Micro Tuner, so they can continue to use the same device and not have to buy another type of unit & try to sell their old one - or "eat" it's cost.

Now the 4.6's have more "headroom," as they are only 220-231 HP stock - so they can do a few more bolt-ons after the Stage 1 kit of the 1715 Micro Tuner, intake & exhaust mods. But even still, once up to about 300 HP, to get anything significantly more, they will need to upgrade the injectors, and thus they need the custom tuning.

Now in the case of the 4.2 V6's, this is even more critical, as they have just 6 - 19# injectors, and 6 of them can only support about 250 HP, and even then that's only if the motor's basic fuel requirement per HP is BELOW a 0.5 BSFC threshold. So by the time the 4.2 V6 F-150 owner does a chip, intake & exhaust, they too are out of injector capacity and must upgrade to do any other mods (again, aside from e-fans and an underdrive pulley).

The point being, anyone who ever wants to give themselves a potential upgrade path to being able to upgrade those components without having to buy another new custom-tune capable type of chip or programmer, then they need to go with our custom-tune capable products right from the beginning, so they don't ever "outgrow" the 1715 Micro Tuner. For the custom-tune 4-bank types of products, we have a single program chip, a 4-program chip, or the 3-tune custom Micro Tuner - which is what most people do, the custom version of the Micro Tuner).

Gentlemen, I thank you for your posts - I just dropped by to lend a little perspective and some additional info people should consider, that's all.

For the guy who will never do anything more than tuning, an intake kit and a cat-back exhaust, the 1715 will generally do a fine job. But for those who want the best performance, or who want to give themselves the *potential* upgrade path should they ever do any more mods, we can deliver far more than 2% more performance over the 1715 by doing the custom tuning.

I think it's important to give some thought to what the vehicle owner *might* potentially do at some point later on, down the road - it's amazing how many people start out saying they'll only do a tuner, or a couple of bolt-ons, who then later on go right on to outgrow what they bought and have to either scrap it or try to resell it used to someone so they can help offset the cost of a new custom-tune capable type of tuning device - so I just wanted to lend some perspective on all of that.

Thanks for bearing with me.....................

 

mike,I for one appreciate your time on this reply- if some people would just talk to you on the tuning issues of ford trucks- they could make comments based on knowledge and not opinions-phil