I can’t speak for the XCal2 as far as the canned tunes they come with, if they even come with any. However I can tell you that the Predator's canned tunes is well known for blowing up Lightning motors (supercharged 5.4) in the eastern part of the country. They would run the motor lean in cold weather. One big problem for Lightning motors is there are NO knock sensors activated.

That is because they can not work correctly with the supercharger and the vibration a supercharger causes. Therefore when detonation starts (due to bad gas, wrong octane, lean condition, etc) the PCM can NOT pull timing out to save the motor.

As was mentioned you should NEVER trust ANY tuner unless you know their reputation and experience. Mike has a reputation and experience and someone who will provide you, or any one, with a SAFE professional tune.

There is a difference between safe “canned” tunes and safe “custom” tunes. Safe “canned” tunes will NOT give you all the possible horsepower and torque gains only a professional “custom” tune can do that because a custom tune requires data logging which will include, among other things, A/F readings.

If you truly want to gain as much horsepower and torque as possible and safely you MUST go to a professional, such as Mike, and get a “custom” tune.

The XCal2 is really nothing more then a device utilized to upload a tune into the PCM. The Predator can do it just as well but doesn’t have all the functions, bells and whistles, as does the XCal2.



And just for the record I do not at this moment have any handheld tuning devices, nor do I have any tunes loaded into my Lightning. So take my post as an independent, outside observation…

The XCal2 as a device is safe, as is the Predator, or any other device to upload tunes to the PCM. It is the tune in the device (canned or custom), and who actually developed it, that will actually affect the reliability of you motor.

 

Well said.

And for the gentleman with the 4.2 V6 F-150, if you model year is supported by the Superchips "MAX" series Micro Tuner, yes, it would be safe to use. However, just FYI, you will get a much better results by having us do a custom tune on it, even if it is bone stock with no other modifications. If you would like to go over any of this in more detail, please feel free to give us a call, & best of luck whatever you decide!

 

Custom tuning with an Xcalibrator flash tool starts with a factory calibration from that vehicle. From there, a SCT dealer can use SCT Value files, or do all of the tuning themselves.

A knowledgeable tuner will be able to use the tools in such a way that the end result is a good tune.

I won't sit here and say that predators are why cars blow up, that is a foolish and stupid statement, it is not the hardware that is the problem, but the software, and tuning knowledge behind the flash tool that programs the vehicle. Let Procharger and Vortech sell a discounted predator with thier kits, and them have a SCT dealer sell a Xcalibrator at full retail with a dyno tune to get the vehicle running correctly

Ryan

 

If that was in reference to my post I did state it was the "canned tunes" in the Predators that had caused many Lightnings to blow up.

 

wow i was unaware that Lighting engines were not equipped with knock sensors (learn something new every day!) hooray one less part to install for my swap that's kind of scary though knowing how hard these engines are run on the dyno and track. i'm surprised i haven't heard more horror stories about ppl blowing up their lightning engines. do all blower kits produce that much engine vibration or is it just the roots/eaton kits?

 

name calling is professional didnt you know that? happens all the time

 

I'd run away from that guy - lower octane does NOT cause a lean condition...that's simply crazy-talk.

 

Ill stick to the 100 year experience from the Engineers at Ford. My truck runs quite well on 86 octane.

 

So why do you think people are getting the nice performance gains from these products? There is a long distance and a whole bunch of compromises between engineering and mass production.

 

I dont care what any sales man tells you. A nice gain from a plug and play tuner is a myth on a stock N/A gasser.

People are throwing their money away (usually the same people that claim they are getting more HP by changing out their air filter).

You engineer it once. So if its going in 1 or 1 million vehicles makes no difference. Im sure Troyer has figured out all the mappings in the ECU but the tune that comes with the truck is meant to make the engine run at its optimum.

Spend your money on a Nitrous kit if you want daily drivability and a cheap 100 HP

Advancing the timing and forcing higher octane will get you a few poines but it hardly enough to notice.

 

Wrong.

Wrong again.

Strike three, you are out.

Ford tunes the engines for the lowest common denominator. They tune it for drive-ability. They want car drivers to feel comfortable driving a truck. They want more women to buy trucks.

It has been proven time and time again that there is nothing optimum in Ford's tuning and great gains can be had with simple bolt ons and quality tuning.

 

"They want more women to buy trucks."


i dont agree with that so much because all the advertising i see is geared towards guys.. not women.

 

Roger that ,Norm !

rutherk1 - it seems neither baseball, nor F150's, seem to be your forte. You need to buy a clue - try Ebay

For example:

How do you explain some '04-'05 trucks running too lean from the FACTORY?

How do you explain some '97-'03 trucks never being able to go open loop at all, under any conditions?

How do you explain the horrible throttle lag in the ETC systems on 04-05's, which is only effectively relieved by custom tuning?

How do you explain the absolutely chitty auto trans shifting algorithms on all these trucks?

How do you explain your ignorance, basically? Go Search & Read this forum, then come on back, okay?

Dumbed-down brain-dead factory calibrations - with issues, and maintenance schedules that benefit them, not the owners - nice combo.
And This is what you place your trust in ???

I mean you no ill will, really , but jeez... arm yourself with some facts first, fella.

Cheers
Grog

 

Its pretty simple to simple say "Wrong" and leave it at that.

I guess our opinions of "performance gain" are different. The difference between 300-320 HP is pretty weak.

When you do your first high boost blower install or stick a nice set of heads and a cam in a motor, come back and tell me if these tuners that plug into the ODB2 port give "performance gains"

Ford tunes the motors for best all around driving. If you want to blow money on a tuner for a NA mill, drop more $$ on high octane gas, decrease drivability and question the longevity for a meager 20 ponies be my guest. 20 Ponies at the crank in a 300 HP motor translates to almost nothing in performance.

Im just being devils advocate. If you wasted money on a tuner and intake dont be mad at me. This isnt the flippin import scene.

 

Yes it is very simple to say you are wrong. Truth hurt?

I haven't wasted any money. It was all well spent. There is a difference between devil's advocate and jerk.

There is also a difference between facts and opinions.

+20HP is definitely a gain, fact not opinion. It might not be enough gain for you and I can accept that but it is still a gain.

As you said Ford tunes for "best all around driving" That is a compromise to make the everyday truck buyer happy. It is not the optimum tune.