I'd like to hear from anyone who has used the SuperChips 1714 to tune their 04 F150 with the "TowPerf" performance setting and tried 87 Octaine with this tuning setting. It would seem that this tuning setting, assuming we are not towing, might allow the use of a lower octaine gas.

Thanks
JK

 

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!

The *ONLY* program in the 1714 you can use with 87 octane gas is the 87 octane program - period.

What you may not understand is that when you deliberately misuse the Superchips performance tuning like that, you can end up damaging your engine - and that kind of damage would not be covered under the automaker's warranty, nor would Superchips pay for a new motor - that would be an out of pocket expense, and those 3-valve 5.4 motors aren't even close to cheap.

Let me guess - you have already done this and you don't think you heard any detonation - guess what? Not only are there inaudible forms of detonation, but you also have a very sophisticated dual knock sensor system in that vehicle - so that *might* be within the knock sensor's effective range, but that also means you aren't getting any more power, either! The spark advance is automatically being reduced because the knock sensors are picking up the detonation, and when that happens the power output is reduced.

There is also the different burn rate (light-off) to consider between different octane levels - lower octane fuel lights off much quicker, and requires a different tune - the higher you go up in octane, the longer it takes to ignite that mixture, and that requires different tuning.

And on and on...........there are numerous reasons why you cannot safely run premium gas tuning on cheap low-grade 87 octane fuel - so please, don't abuse your vehicle by trying to run tuning that requires premium gas on cheap 87 octane fuel, OK? Thanks!

 

Thanks for the clarification as to the octaine requirements. As for trying a lower octaine rating I have not tried it. I have only tuned the vehicle with the 87 Octaine tune. What led me to post the question is my assumption that the difference between the max performance tune and tow performance tune would be a less agressive ignition timing profile. Thus when not towing the load on the engine is would allow a lower octaine gas. Perhaps you can provide just a bit more clarification as to the tuning differences between the max and tow tuning profiles.

I'm also assuming that I am not the only one who has pondered this question. As for my motivation it is not the cost differential between mid grade and premium. It is more of a "engineering" curiosity. Until researching the Superchips tuner I didn't really beleive much could be done to improve the performance of my F150. My other vehicle is a Lexus SC430 and it requires premium right out of the "box" thus the engine is pretty much tuned to the max from the factory.

Thanks again
Any addtional feedback you can provide on this subject would be much appreciated

Jerry K

 

read this thread jerrykam it might answer your ??????

91 or 93 octane

 

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for your response, and glad to hear you have *not* tried running a premium gas tune on low-grade fuel!

Perhaps the most important thing when using a performance tuning is to not do any "guessing," but instead to use it as it's designed & documented - that's a potential invitation to disaster, as I alluded to in my last response.

Use the SEARCH feature here (the icon is in the upper right portion of your screen here) to look up just about anything you could ever want to know about the topic of Computer Chips, and Superchips products in particular - it's all been asked & answered literally hundreds, if not thousands of times before, so it's all available via the SEARCH feature.

By the way, something else not to assume - don't ever assume that just because a vehicle is tuned for premium gas from the factory that it's "tuned to the max." Much of our tuning is done on vehicles that already require premium gas in their stock factory tuning, such as Corvettes & other LT1/LT4/LS1-based vehicles, factory-supercharged Lightning & Harley F-150's, '03 & '04 Mustang Cobras, etc. There isn't a single computer-controlled vehicle whose performance cannot be improved on from any automaker that we have ever seen - not one. For example, on the 1999 & 2000 supercharged F-150 Lightning, we'll gain an easy 40 HP just from proper tuning on that vehicle, and an easy 30 HP on the 2001-2004 Lightnings - same on the Harleys & Cobra's, all of which are factory-supercharged and require a bare minimum of 91 octane premium gasoline from the automaker in their stock factory tuning...just FYI!

Have fun,

 

Thanks Again Mike,

You mentioned tuning other vehicles. Can you tell me what my options are for tuning a 2003 Lexus SC430?

You have captured my full attention.

Jerry

 

Mike, I've just been convienced and bought a 1714 from you. I have a 2004 F-150 Lariat with 5.4L Triton 4X4. I love this truck, which I've been saving up quite a while for. I sure hope this Tuner is going to make her better. I do have a question for you. I want to stick with 89 Octane regular fuel, if I choose that tuning option, can I still tow? THank you, you've been very helpful

Jun

 

The 1714 Micro Tuner provides 3 different programs (except on factory-supercharged 5.4's - see details below for those applications) - one for 87 octane that is towing compatible, then the "normal" performance program that requires premium gasoline (91 thru 94 octane) that is towing compatible, and finally, our "MAX" performance program which requires premium fuel and is *NOT* towing compatible - it's for all-out performance!

 

Hi Jerry,

My apologies, as we don't tune imports any more, we stopped doing that about the '96-'98 timeframe. I don't know a good Lexus tuner off the top of my head or I'd simply refer you - but I do remember that in each month's Car & Driver (magazine), there used to be a company who advertised doing Lexus tuning in an ad in that magazine - so you might want to pick up a copy and see if that ad is still running. Also, no matter what - make sure you pick up a copy of both "Import Tuner" and a copy of "Sport Compact Car" magazines - you'll find them at any bookstore & most supermarket magazine racks. Those 2 rags are among the industry "bibles" for import performance, and between those resources, you should be able to find a Lexus tuner. Then you can talk to them to see if they can do your specific model of Lexus - sorry I can't do this for your Lexus directly!

For IOC102,

For use on 89 octane, simply load up the 87 octane program and use it for daily driving, towing, or whatever you need to. That program will res;pond to a couple points more octane, so you'll get the benefit from using 89 octane on that 87 octane tune in the 1714 Micro Tuner, no problem.

For jpdadeo,

Wow - that was quite the link, don't think I've ever seen one quite like that before!

Have fun, gentlemen!

 

Thanks Mike for the pointers to find possible tuning options for my Lexus. I guess I'll stick to tuning my F150 and leave the Lexus for another day.

Thanks again
Jerry