Question for Mike T
#1
04-26-2001, 09:44 PM
Question for Mike T
Hi Mike, I just bought a Kenne Bell for my 2000 F150 LS 3:55 5.4(not installed yet). I already have one of your chips installed. I know I have to have it reflashed for the charger. What advantage does your chip have over Bells programming that comes with the charger? Also what shift kit would you recommend to compliment your chip? Thanks, Evo
#2
04-27-2001, 03:13 PM
Former Sponsor
Hi EVO,
Yes, you're absolutely right, you do have to have that Superchip's program changed & updated with a custom program for the supercharger. That is easily done, you'll just need to contact us to make the arrangements.
With regards to the difference between their tuning and ours, I have not personally done a back-to-back comparison of a custom program provided by them with a custom program for the same vehicle provided by us. We have customers in that situaiton who have done that, meaning compared the chip they got with their Kenne-Bell blower to ours for that same vehicle blower setup & code, and their feedback has all been very positive, they generally like the Superchip tuning better in terms of pwoer, driveability, and especially automatic transmission shift characteristics. That isn't any kind of specific technicial anwser of course, but it's about the best I can give you. Superchips has far more experience in powertrain programming overall, compared to them or anyone else for that matter, as Superchips invented this industry. Kenne-Bell is a fine company overall, with good engineering capabilities, I've liked them since their early days with their "switch-pitch" torque converter for Buicks. (I'm dating myself obviously, as that was several decades ago.
) Superchips has simply been doing that work on far more of these vehicles, as well as many other types of vehicles, for a much longer time, including doing that work directly for many of the major automakers. That's not to say their product isn't "good"; some people like them quite a bit. Superchips simply has the advantage of doing far more custom supercharger programs for these vehicles than Kenne Bell or any other company for that matter, as this is all that Superchips does, they don't sell anything other than powertrain programming products & services, so they're extremely specialized. Superchips also works directly with almost every one of the "major" supercharger manufacturers such as Vortech, Magnuson (Magnacharger), etc., providing those custom programming services, which most of those blower companies then put their own name on.
For me personally, it probably goes without saying that only Superchips would be tuning my supercharged vehicle. YOu may feel differently, and the Kenne-Bell chip certainly shouldn't have any real "deficit" or problems.
For anyone installing a supercharger we recommend going with the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip, as you're better off having the added flexibility of 2 programs, one for maximum safe power output & performance, and the other to protect that motor against a bad tank of gas, or for towing, driving in inclement weather, etc.
With regards as to what shift kit to use, we recommend that you do that all in the custom program, as that transmission can generally be made to shift just about as hard as you'd ever want it to in the program without a shift kit, short of it feeling like a full manual valve body. What I would suggest is to wait to do any shift kit until at least 30 days after installing the blower & whatever custom program you go with, so you know how it shifts in many different types of situations, including in the rain, etc., before deciding that you have to install a shift kit to get the desired shift characteristics. As a loose general rule, we recommend installing a shift kit *only* if you cannot get the desired shift characteristics via programming.
All that having been said, we like the Transgo shift kits that have multiple levels of firmness, they work very well with these Ford automatics. Baumann (sp?) also makes a good shift kit, though I'm not familiar enough with their documentation to comment on the quality of their installation instructions. The documentation that Trangso provides is generally very good, and then even have videos available as well forsome of their kits.
Good luck!
------------------
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
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Yes, you're absolutely right, you do have to have that Superchip's program changed & updated with a custom program for the supercharger. That is easily done, you'll just need to contact us to make the arrangements.
With regards to the difference between their tuning and ours, I have not personally done a back-to-back comparison of a custom program provided by them with a custom program for the same vehicle provided by us. We have customers in that situaiton who have done that, meaning compared the chip they got with their Kenne-Bell blower to ours for that same vehicle blower setup & code, and their feedback has all been very positive, they generally like the Superchip tuning better in terms of pwoer, driveability, and especially automatic transmission shift characteristics. That isn't any kind of specific technicial anwser of course, but it's about the best I can give you. Superchips has far more experience in powertrain programming overall, compared to them or anyone else for that matter, as Superchips invented this industry. Kenne-Bell is a fine company overall, with good engineering capabilities, I've liked them since their early days with their "switch-pitch" torque converter for Buicks. (I'm dating myself obviously, as that was several decades ago.
) Superchips has simply been doing that work on far more of these vehicles, as well as many other types of vehicles, for a much longer time, including doing that work directly for many of the major automakers. That's not to say their product isn't "good"; some people like them quite a bit. Superchips simply has the advantage of doing far more custom supercharger programs for these vehicles than Kenne Bell or any other company for that matter, as this is all that Superchips does, they don't sell anything other than powertrain programming products & services, so they're extremely specialized. Superchips also works directly with almost every one of the "major" supercharger manufacturers such as Vortech, Magnuson (Magnacharger), etc., providing those custom programming services, which most of those blower companies then put their own name on.For me personally, it probably goes without saying that only Superchips would be tuning my supercharged vehicle.
YOu may feel differently, and the Kenne-Bell chip certainly shouldn't have any real "deficit" or problems.For anyone installing a supercharger we recommend going with the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip, as you're better off having the added flexibility of 2 programs, one for maximum safe power output & performance, and the other to protect that motor against a bad tank of gas, or for towing, driving in inclement weather, etc.
With regards as to what shift kit to use, we recommend that you do that all in the custom program, as that transmission can generally be made to shift just about as hard as you'd ever want it to in the program without a shift kit, short of it feeling like a full manual valve body.
What I would suggest is to wait to do any shift kit until at least 30 days after installing the blower & whatever custom program you go with, so you know how it shifts in many different types of situations, including in the rain, etc., before deciding that you have to install a shift kit to get the desired shift characteristics. As a loose general rule, we recommend installing a shift kit *only* if you cannot get the desired shift characteristics via programming.All that having been said, we like the Transgo shift kits that have multiple levels of firmness, they work very well with these Ford automatics. Baumann (sp?) also makes a good shift kit, though I'm not familiar enough with their documentation to comment on the quality of their installation instructions. The documentation that Trangso provides is generally very good, and then even have videos available as well forsome of their kits.
Good luck!
------------------
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
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
#3
04-27-2001, 11:41 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Lake Junaluska NC
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evo,
I went with the Superchip on my truck, and I would make the same decision if I was starting from scratch again.They have been extremely helpful to me! Mike and Superchips have gone way out of there way to make sure that we don't hurt the truck in any way.
------------------
99 Black F150 4x4 4.2
Powerdyne SVO BD11-a Supercharger
12lb. of boost
24 psi.high flow fuel injectors
Port matched intake
Boost gauge 30"HG-20PSI A piller mount
Ram air intake
K&N air filter
JBA Headers
True dual exhaust w/Flowmasters(2 1/2 in. pipe)
custom programed Superchip(Flip chip)
All black factory sport package.
Rhino Liner
GTO smoke headlight&tailight covers
limo tint
[This message has been edited by XanMan (edited 04-27-2001).]
I went with the Superchip on my truck, and I would make the same decision if I was starting from scratch again.They have been extremely helpful to me! Mike and Superchips have gone way out of there way to make sure that we don't hurt the truck in any way.
------------------
99 Black F150 4x4 4.2
Powerdyne SVO BD11-a Supercharger
12lb. of boost
24 psi.high flow fuel injectors
Port matched intake
Boost gauge 30"HG-20PSI A piller mount
Ram air intake
K&N air filter
JBA Headers
True dual exhaust w/Flowmasters(2 1/2 in. pipe)
custom programed Superchip(Flip chip)
All black factory sport package.
Rhino Liner
GTO smoke headlight&tailight covers
limo tint
[This message has been edited by XanMan (edited 04-27-2001).]
#4
04-28-2001, 05:48 AM
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Superchips_Distributor:
Hi EVO,
Yes, you're absolutely right, you do have to have that Superchip's program changed & updated with a custom program for the supercharger. That is easily done, you'll just need to contact us to make the arrangements.
With regards to the difference between their tuning and ours, I have not personally done a back-to-back comparison of a custom program provided by them with a custom program for the same vehicle provided by us. We have customers in that situaiton who have done that, meaning compared the chip they got with their Kenne-Bell blower to ours for that same vehicle blower setup & code, and their feedback has all been very positive, they generally like the Superchip tuning better in terms of pwoer, driveability, and especially automatic transmission shift characteristics. That isn't any kind of specific technicial anwser of course, but it's about the best I can give you. Superchips has far more experience in powertrain programming overall, compared to them or anyone else for that matter, as Superchips invented this industry. Kenne-Bell is a fine company overall, with good engineering capabilities, I've liked them since their early days with their "switch-pitch" torque converter for Buicks. (I'm dating myself obviously, as that was several decades ago.) Superchips has simply been doing that work on far more of these vehicles, as well as many other types of vehicles, for a much longer time, including doing that work directly for many of the major automakers. That's not to say their product isn't "good"; some people like them quite a bit. Superchips simply has the advantage of doing far more custom supercharger programs for these vehicles than Kenne Bell or any other company for that matter, as this is all that Superchips does, they don't sell anything other than powertrain programming products & services, so they're extremely specialized. Superchips also works directly with almost every one of the "major" supercharger manufacturers such as Vortech, Magnuson (Magnacharger), etc., providing those custom programming services, which most of those blower companies then put their own name on.
For me personally, it probably goes without saying that only Superchips would be tuning my supercharged vehicle. YOu may feel differently, and the Kenne-Bell chip certainly shouldn't have any real "deficit" or problems.
For anyone installing a supercharger we recommend going with the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip, as you're better off having the added flexibility of 2 programs, one for maximum safe power output & performance, and the other to protect that motor against a bad tank of gas, or for towing, driving in inclement weather, etc.
With regards as to what shift kit to use, we recommend that you do that all in the custom program, as that transmission can generally be made to shift just about as hard as you'd ever want it to in the program without a shift kit, short of it feeling like a full manual valve body. What I would suggest is to wait to do any shift kit until at least 30 days after installing the blower & whatever custom program you go with, so you know how it shifts in many different types of situations, including in the rain, etc., before deciding that you have to install a shift kit to get the desired shift characteristics. As a loose general rule, we recommend installing a shift kit *only* if you cannot get the desired shift characteristics via programming.
All that having been said, we like the Transgo shift kits that have multiple levels of firmness, they work very well with these Ford automatics. Baumann (sp?) also makes a good shift kit, though I'm not familiar enough with their documentation to comment on the quality of their installation instructions. The documentation that Trangso provides is generally very good, and then even have videos available as well forsome of their kits.
Good luck!
</font>
Hi EVO,
Yes, you're absolutely right, you do have to have that Superchip's program changed & updated with a custom program for the supercharger. That is easily done, you'll just need to contact us to make the arrangements.
With regards to the difference between their tuning and ours, I have not personally done a back-to-back comparison of a custom program provided by them with a custom program for the same vehicle provided by us. We have customers in that situaiton who have done that, meaning compared the chip they got with their Kenne-Bell blower to ours for that same vehicle blower setup & code, and their feedback has all been very positive, they generally like the Superchip tuning better in terms of pwoer, driveability, and especially automatic transmission shift characteristics. That isn't any kind of specific technicial anwser of course, but it's about the best I can give you. Superchips has far more experience in powertrain programming overall, compared to them or anyone else for that matter, as Superchips invented this industry. Kenne-Bell is a fine company overall, with good engineering capabilities, I've liked them since their early days with their "switch-pitch" torque converter for Buicks. (I'm dating myself obviously, as that was several decades ago.
) Superchips has simply been doing that work on far more of these vehicles, as well as many other types of vehicles, for a much longer time, including doing that work directly for many of the major automakers. That's not to say their product isn't "good"; some people like them quite a bit. Superchips simply has the advantage of doing far more custom supercharger programs for these vehicles than Kenne Bell or any other company for that matter, as this is all that Superchips does, they don't sell anything other than powertrain programming products & services, so they're extremely specialized. Superchips also works directly with almost every one of the "major" supercharger manufacturers such as Vortech, Magnuson (Magnacharger), etc., providing those custom programming services, which most of those blower companies then put their own name on.For me personally, it probably goes without saying that only Superchips would be tuning my supercharged vehicle.
YOu may feel differently, and the Kenne-Bell chip certainly shouldn't have any real "deficit" or problems.For anyone installing a supercharger we recommend going with the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip, as you're better off having the added flexibility of 2 programs, one for maximum safe power output & performance, and the other to protect that motor against a bad tank of gas, or for towing, driving in inclement weather, etc.
With regards as to what shift kit to use, we recommend that you do that all in the custom program, as that transmission can generally be made to shift just about as hard as you'd ever want it to in the program without a shift kit, short of it feeling like a full manual valve body.
What I would suggest is to wait to do any shift kit until at least 30 days after installing the blower & whatever custom program you go with, so you know how it shifts in many different types of situations, including in the rain, etc., before deciding that you have to install a shift kit to get the desired shift characteristics. As a loose general rule, we recommend installing a shift kit *only* if you cannot get the desired shift characteristics via programming.All that having been said, we like the Transgo shift kits that have multiple levels of firmness, they work very well with these Ford automatics. Baumann (sp?) also makes a good shift kit, though I'm not familiar enough with their documentation to comment on the quality of their installation instructions. The documentation that Trangso provides is generally very good, and then even have videos available as well forsome of their kits.
Good luck!
</font>
#5
04-28-2001, 03:06 PM
Former Sponsor
Hi evo,
Wow, that is an incredibly low labor rate, I'd take advantage of that too, darned right!
Make sure you have a nice boost gauge (actually get a combination vacumn & boost gauge), and you should be running at 7-8 PSI, that will give you about a 100-110 horsepower increase at the flywheel.
Usually custom-tuned blower applications pick up anywhere from a low of about 20 to as much as 40 more horsepower depending on the exact vehicle & installation configuration in F-150's. In these F-150's & Expeditions, you can usually count on a good 25-30 horsepower at least, in most cases.
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
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Wow, that is an incredibly low labor rate, I'd take advantage of that too, darned right!
Make sure you have a nice boost gauge (actually get a combination vacumn & boost gauge), and you should be running at 7-8 PSI, that will give you about a 100-110 horsepower increase at the flywheel.
Usually custom-tuned blower applications pick up anywhere from a low of about 20 to as much as 40 more horsepower depending on the exact vehicle & installation configuration in F-150's. In these F-150's & Expeditions, you can usually count on a good 25-30 horsepower at least, in most cases.
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
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer