I think for my purposes that I am more interested in what the chip does for shifting firmness and shift points. What effect do the SuperChips have on these parameters? I'm assuming the shifts are a bit quicker with perhaps more of a "bump"? Do the chips cause the transmission shiftpoints to be raised? If so, is this also true at light throttle settings? Is there any effect on torque converter lockup?

 

I have the SCT Xcalibrator2 which is the custom tuned version with three different tunes. All three tunes have only slightly higher shift points than stock at light throttle, but shift points and shift firmness increases with more throttle.... it is progressive or linear. All shifts are positive and crisp. TQ lock is fine.

 

Hi acadianabob,

"OnelowF" said it pretty well in his response...........

You don't list exactly what vehicle you have, meaning it's exact model year, engine, and specifically which automatic transmission, so I can really only give you the basics.

But what we do is of course set up the shift points to improve the vehicle's driveability and response times on part-throttle and to reduce the amount of downshifting needed - and then on full-throttle, the shift points are set so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest, as obviously when you are foot-to-the-floor, you need maximum velocity attainment.

With regard to actual shift *firmness* levels, that is a linear & progressive setup for most people - we set them up for how each individual driver wants them to feel, but most want a nice, linear progression. Meaning, at light throttle the shifts don't jerk your neck back, as that wouldn't be appropriate, so at light throttle they are still pretty smooth, there's just less slippage - then as you give it more and more throttle opening, the upshifts get progressively firmer, just as they should, in order to reduce slippage and achieve a positive gear engagement as vehicle speeds and torque input into the transmission are increased at heavier throttle positions.

Some people want a tire-chirping full-throttle 1-2, while others simply want it a bit snappier there - we set it up however the customer wants, generally speaking - now depending on exact model year & which tranny, we may make other recommendations for those who want tire-chirping upshifts - for example, for those with a 4R100 tranny, we recommend the use of our line mod valve in addition to our tuning so that the tranny's handicap of not really being able to flow enough fluid volume is taken care of, so you can get more fluid volume to fill the oncoming clutch quick enough to get a chirp of the tires on a WOT 1-2.

So it all depends on exactly what the vehicle configuration is, along with even gearing & tires, as that too, can make a significant difference in perceiving shift firmness levels inside the cabin.

We also optimize torque converter lockup characteristics & schedules based on the type of tune we're doing and the vehicle's configuration as well - for example, on a towing tune, we don't let it unlock as much in 4th gear, so you can give it more throttle before unlocking the TQ and creating all that heat & slippage, as of course an unlocked TQ delivers less power to the ground.

So there's actually quite a bit that goes into just the transmission calibration alone, which is just one of many reasons (including much larger power gains) that we recommend having us do our Troyer Performance custom tuning in the XCalibrator 2 in these vehicles rather than any kind of of-the-shelf unit, as that is what will give you by far the best flexibility and the best results.

We deliver a set of 3 different custom tunes set up however you want - of course, if you have a 2003 or earlier F-150, you can still use the multi-program chip, which can contain as many as 4 different custom tunes and costs less than the XCal 2 - though of course you don't get all the features like diagnostics, datalogging, & a lot of other things - it's all a matter of whatever each individual vehicle owner feels is more important to them.

If you would like to go over all of this in proper detail so you can give it some thought and make your decision from a fully informed position, please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below & we'll be happy to help you with no sales pressure, etc. - we're happy to help.

Thanks for your post, & best of luck with your truck!