Baseball players have their favorite "hitting" undershirt etc. BUT...

I met this guy that now thinks he HAS To
disconnect and re-connect his battery everytime he takes his Lightning to the track.

He says it refreshes his chip. He didn't do it once and ran a slower time than he did before and now he swears it works for him.

Does the chip learn to go slower in everyday driving ? Does he have anything real here or can doing this damage anything long term.

 

This is how I understand this: Ford puts computers in our trucks that are continuously "learning". If you drive like grandma then the truck tends to be "a bit more sluggesh" than if you drive like Richard Petty. I always try to do a few WOT's every week, just so my truck "stays in tune" so to speak. If your buddy raced another lighting w/chip whose driver drove like Richard Petty all week long, then the other driver would most likely win. Reason being, your friend is reseting and the computer is just starting to learn the new stuff. This is my concept of how the computer works and I'm sure Mike can give you all the technical reasons for this and correct me if I'm wrong

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2k F250 CC SWB 4x2 6 speed Diesel XLT Super Duty, Woodland Green
Power Mirrors, 3.73 LS, Captains Chairs, ARE tonneau top, rear privacy glass
TT Pkg, Class IV hitch, sliding rear window, running boards, mud flaps
265/75/16 AS OWL tires, am/fm/cassette/cd, rechargable MagLite
Clarion APA 5240 amp, Memphis speakers:Components front, 5x7 rear, 10"sub
SuperChip, Stepshields, Ventshields on windows, rubber bed mat
rugged liner bedliner on tailgate, quick disconnect jumper cables
unaFORDable (decal on tailgate)

 

HI Dorgunr,

Well, Tina basically hit the nail right on the head with her explanation!

Because of Ford's "adaptive strategy", if you drive the vehicle all week back and forth to work, driving conservatively, you can sometimes pick up another tenth or two by doing a battery disconnect as soon as you get to the drag strip, so it can be a valid technique.

The computer is constantly attempting to optimize itself for the manner in which the vehicle is being driven, this is "adaptive strategy". Now this doesn't have a BIG effect, it's very, very subtle. But it can be enough to make a difference at the drag strip of a tenth or two, possibly. Figure that at most, it can make 1%-2% difference.

So it's not something thst HAS to be done, not at all. It's simply a technique to start fresh, and get maximum power, but it can only make at most a difference of 1 to 2 percent, so it's very small. Drag racers want every tenth they can find, so I'm not surprised that this gentleman is doing this.

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Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System