Old truck, new toy
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: austin, tx usa
Old truck, new toy
I finally broke down and purchased the Superchip for my 1996 F150. I could tell the difference when I started it for the first time!!!
My speedometer pegs at 90 where it always started cutting out before. Now, it just keeps going faster!! (Professional driver on closed track.) I need to remove the peg so I can see how fast I am going when I get scared.
The rock hard, firm engagement of the transmission remind me of my younger days and the first automatic I had in a truck, a 1978 F250 with a 460. I rebuilt the engine and transmission after 365,874.8 miles. I sold it when I bought the one I have now. It had over 500,000 miles. I still see it every once in awhile around town.
The only concern I have is that it seems to shift into third sooner than I would like to feel it do so. I have not tried to tow anything yet and it may react differently with a load. Does anyone else feel this way?
This is the best anniversary present I ever bought my wife. Too bad she will never get to enjoy it.
My speedometer pegs at 90 where it always started cutting out before. Now, it just keeps going faster!! (Professional driver on closed track.) I need to remove the peg so I can see how fast I am going when I get scared.
The rock hard, firm engagement of the transmission remind me of my younger days and the first automatic I had in a truck, a 1978 F250 with a 460. I rebuilt the engine and transmission after 365,874.8 miles. I sold it when I bought the one I have now. It had over 500,000 miles. I still see it every once in awhile around town.
The only concern I have is that it seems to shift into third sooner than I would like to feel it do so. I have not tried to tow anything yet and it may react differently with a load. Does anyone else feel this way?
This is the best anniversary present I ever bought my wife. Too bad she will never get to enjoy it.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi thebeered,
Welcome to F-150 Online, glad you decided to join us!
With regards to the actual upshift point, they are set at WOT (wide-open throttle) so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest. At lighter throttle positions, it will upshift as soon as it detects that it can maintain the required velocity in the next gear, depending on load and throttle demand of course.
What I would suggest is to use it for at least a month, in all types of situations, before deciding that you actually need to have this changed. If you determine after some time that this needs to be done, an adjustment can easily be made, but we do encourage you to wait at least a month, so you can have a good feel for what happens in all types of driving situations, etc., just a suggestion.
As you have probably noticed, the shifts only get firmer as you give it progressively more throttle, as they are calibrated to maintain the smooth character of the vehicle when it's being driven conservatively. And as you give it more and more throttle, the upshifts get progressivly firmer.
One thing that tends to make people feel that it's shifting harder is the fact that we have removed the transitional spark retards that reduce engine power during and just after the upshift, they are part of Ford's "soft-shift strategy". Removing these power-robbing transitional retards gives considerably more power during the upshift, and that helps to give it a more positive engagement as well. For a fraction of a second, the power gains during the upshfit are larger than the peak power gains, and this helps them to accelerate much better thru the gears, like they're supposed to.
Glad to see you're enjoying it, & have fun!
------------------
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
Welcome to F-150 Online, glad you decided to join us!
With regards to the actual upshift point, they are set at WOT (wide-open throttle) so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest. At lighter throttle positions, it will upshift as soon as it detects that it can maintain the required velocity in the next gear, depending on load and throttle demand of course.
What I would suggest is to use it for at least a month, in all types of situations, before deciding that you actually need to have this changed. If you determine after some time that this needs to be done, an adjustment can easily be made, but we do encourage you to wait at least a month, so you can have a good feel for what happens in all types of driving situations, etc., just a suggestion.
As you have probably noticed, the shifts only get firmer as you give it progressively more throttle, as they are calibrated to maintain the smooth character of the vehicle when it's being driven conservatively. And as you give it more and more throttle, the upshifts get progressivly firmer.
One thing that tends to make people feel that it's shifting harder is the fact that we have removed the transitional spark retards that reduce engine power during and just after the upshift, they are part of Ford's "soft-shift strategy". Removing these power-robbing transitional retards gives considerably more power during the upshift, and that helps to give it a more positive engagement as well. For a fraction of a second, the power gains during the upshfit are larger than the peak power gains, and this helps them to accelerate much better thru the gears, like they're supposed to.
Glad to see you're enjoying it, & have fun!
------------------
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