Has anyone checked this out yet? flashpaq http://www.superchips.com/product.ph...mk=419&msg=%2B superchips claims 44.8 max hp @ 3900 and 66.2tq, and peak 20.8hp @ 5100 31.7tq @ 3900, for the 5.4, the cost is 550 very high for a tuner. just wanted to know if anyone here is useing one?

 

Hi Matt,

We've discussed this before here, the Flashpaq is not a brand new product - though it is certainly a newer product! The Flashpaq is a very neat device, and will be even better once they get features such as high speed datalogging built into it - which will happen in the future. We have high hopes for that product in the future, as it develops & matures and has more features - this is just it's earliest incarnation, so to speak. It has Internet-updateable firmware, for example, so that it's feature set can continually be updated, which is an important feature - and the things that it will have in the future will be state of the art, we're very excited about the future of the Flashpaq.

We carry this product of course, as we carry *all* of Superchips Inc's products, and provide them at a special discount to registered members of F-150 Online.

Regarding the power numbers they show, something that needs to be realized is that they are only showing a *peak* gain of slightly over 20 HP - significantly less than what we get on a properly completed custom tune on the same vehicles. Notice that they list gains in 2 different ways - one is a "maximum" gain, meaning the highest gain they saw anywhere in the rpm band - which is always dramatically higher, and thus why a lot of manufacturers use those kinds of numbers (we don't, or we''d be talking about even larger gains, of course) and then the actual increase in *peak* power - which was about 20 HP. So they show both the highest gain, and then the actual increase in *peak* power, which is how vehicles have always been rated from the factory - in terms of *peak* power.

What type of dyno is used, the conditions present during the pull, the PCM strategy of the vehicle used as a representation, how the dyno pull is made, and many other things affect the readings - as do things like the tire size, gear ratio, wheel & tire weight, for example - a dyno reading is not some mythically accurate number, it is simply a relative number that is valid ONLY to that specific dyno, at that specific time, on that specific vehicle, with that specific gear ratio, tire size, wheel & tire weight on the rear of the vehicle, in the same manner that particular dyno pull was made, etc., etc. We've been to that facility numerous times as Superchip's oldest WD, and done pulls on those same dynos. We have a great relationship with them and have worked on a number of projects with them over the years. Now in their beautiful new facility that was built a couple of years ago, they use Superflo dynos - which we have found to be a bit "optimistic" in their power readings compared to the numbers we see when we test the same products on our dyno - or when we test them on the more commonly seen dynos like Dynojet 224's, Mustang 1750's, etc. Another dyno that we have seen tend to show high numbers is the German-made Maha, for example. Back when we did our original 5.4 3V F-150 tuning R&D, we saw *peak* torque gains from our very first 5.4 3V F-150 custom tuning of over 70 lb./ft. on a Maha dyno, for example - and that was our very first tune on the very first 5.4 3V to be tuned in the aftermarket, which is a vehicle that we still own (this was done back in 2003).

Different dynos show different numbers, it's always been that way - they prefer to use Superflo dynos and are happy with them, and that's fine - a lot of manufacturers use them.

It's the actual tuning that makes the difference - not the device used to deliver the tuning. The Flashpaq you see there is not going to out-perform our custom tuning, though it does a very nice job for "off the shelf" (meaning non-custom) tuning, to be sure!

In fact, a little while back we did comparative testing of the Superchip Inc off-the-shelf tuning compared to our custom tuning, and as everyone present saw, we beat them hands down. But that was as it should have been, because it's not a fair comparison to make directly - it was done just to show the relative value of each type of tuning - custom versus off the shelf tuning.

It will be interesting to see how Superchips develops the Flashpaq's feature set in the future, as this is their basic hardware line that Superchips Inc is migrating to - it's been designed with the future in mind, so it will be around for a long time to come.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post the info on the flashpaq, I'm still in love with the Xcal2 with your tunes! ... I got the pulleys on and I hope to improve on the 15.4 in the 1/4.