New superchip
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Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lenoir, NC
New superchip
How long does it take for the new program to take effect. Seems like I can tell a difference in the power, but not in the shifting. Still shifts a 4800-5000 WOT, no firmer. Is it something that will come eventually? I've on driven about 50 miles so far.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
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From: Virginia
Hi trbuster,
The Superchip goes to work pretty much right away, unless the ECU is not fully cleared, in which case it can take a few hundred miles for it to fully come in.
Since you're already feeling the power, you're also getting the shift changes as well, it's not possible to get one without the other, the Superchip can't just do part of it's job in that situation, in other words. The Superchip is an all-or-nothing type of design, so as long as the vehicle starts and runs normally, the Superchip is operating just fine, and doing what it's supposed to.
The Superchip is not going to give a "hard" or jerky type of upshift in these F-150's, as we keep the basic character of the vehicle type intact, so it's important to have reasonable expectations of how the transmission is going to shift with the Superchip when using our "standard" performance program. It's basically a towing type of calibration, designed to reduce slippage and quicken & firm the shifts, but not be a neck-snapper or particularly "hard", only in custom programs is it going to be "hard" shifting.
The WOT (wide-open throttle) upshift points are set so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest, in these trucks that means an increase of somewhere between 100-250 rpm (not much), and there are also some that will accelerate the quickest with the factory WOT upshift point, so in those cases, it's left alone.
The part-throttle shift points are not altered, those will still be determined by the same algorithms that are throttle position & vehicle speed versus load dependant, basically, ans that is how those should be left for most uses.
With regards to just how *firm* the upshifts are going to feel with the Superchip, the way we set these vehicles up is so that when the vehicle is being driven conservatively, the shifts are still smooth & fluid; then as you give it progressivly more and more throttle opening, the line pressure is increased in linear fashion. By the time you are at full-throttle, the shifts are noticeably snappier, but they're still not going to be any kind of neck-snapping or tire-chirping upshift, unless someone has us do a custom program to get those kinds of shift characteristics.
You might want to put more miles on it, give it about 500 miles, and let's touch base at that point, as by then, it will be doing all it can. Whether you actually perceive it or not, the shifts have already been firmed and enhanced quite a bit, as all of the upshift delays have been removed, the downshift delays have been removed, the line pressure has been increased, and the power-robbing transitional spark retard has been removed, all of that adds up. This might be a simple matter of needing to have reasonable expectations of what the "standard" performance program for these trucks is going to do perhaps. Of course that's just a guess as we haven't spoken about this yet. It's not going to give a hard or harsh type of shift unless someone requests a custom program from us to do that. Probably 95% of our customers want a quicker shift with less slippage, but do not actually want any kind of harsh upshift or one that would upset livestock being towed, so we cater to that type of shift feel in our "standard" program, just to give you an idea of what the engineers are thinking when they do these applications. That can always be firmed up more.
We should probably talk by phone so we can go over with you very thoroughly just what can and cannot be expected in terms of actual shift firmness both in our normal performance program and when we do these custom programs, so you can make an informed decision, etc., and we're happy to go over all of that in detail with you. If you'd like to give us a shout now, please feel free to do so, you don't need to wait 500 miles before talking to us about this.
Good luck & talk to you soon,
The Superchip goes to work pretty much right away, unless the ECU is not fully cleared, in which case it can take a few hundred miles for it to fully come in.
Since you're already feeling the power, you're also getting the shift changes as well, it's not possible to get one without the other, the Superchip can't just do part of it's job in that situation, in other words. The Superchip is an all-or-nothing type of design, so as long as the vehicle starts and runs normally, the Superchip is operating just fine, and doing what it's supposed to.
The Superchip is not going to give a "hard" or jerky type of upshift in these F-150's, as we keep the basic character of the vehicle type intact, so it's important to have reasonable expectations of how the transmission is going to shift with the Superchip when using our "standard" performance program. It's basically a towing type of calibration, designed to reduce slippage and quicken & firm the shifts, but not be a neck-snapper or particularly "hard", only in custom programs is it going to be "hard" shifting.
The WOT (wide-open throttle) upshift points are set so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest, in these trucks that means an increase of somewhere between 100-250 rpm (not much), and there are also some that will accelerate the quickest with the factory WOT upshift point, so in those cases, it's left alone.
The part-throttle shift points are not altered, those will still be determined by the same algorithms that are throttle position & vehicle speed versus load dependant, basically, ans that is how those should be left for most uses.
With regards to just how *firm* the upshifts are going to feel with the Superchip, the way we set these vehicles up is so that when the vehicle is being driven conservatively, the shifts are still smooth & fluid; then as you give it progressivly more and more throttle opening, the line pressure is increased in linear fashion. By the time you are at full-throttle, the shifts are noticeably snappier, but they're still not going to be any kind of neck-snapping or tire-chirping upshift, unless someone has us do a custom program to get those kinds of shift characteristics.
You might want to put more miles on it, give it about 500 miles, and let's touch base at that point, as by then, it will be doing all it can. Whether you actually perceive it or not, the shifts have already been firmed and enhanced quite a bit, as all of the upshift delays have been removed, the downshift delays have been removed, the line pressure has been increased, and the power-robbing transitional spark retard has been removed, all of that adds up. This might be a simple matter of needing to have reasonable expectations of what the "standard" performance program for these trucks is going to do perhaps. Of course that's just a guess as we haven't spoken about this yet. It's not going to give a hard or harsh type of shift unless someone requests a custom program from us to do that. Probably 95% of our customers want a quicker shift with less slippage, but do not actually want any kind of harsh upshift or one that would upset livestock being towed, so we cater to that type of shift feel in our "standard" program, just to give you an idea of what the engineers are thinking when they do these applications. That can always be firmed up more.
We should probably talk by phone so we can go over with you very thoroughly just what can and cannot be expected in terms of actual shift firmness both in our normal performance program and when we do these custom programs, so you can make an informed decision, etc., and we're happy to go over all of that in detail with you. If you'd like to give us a shout now, please feel free to do so, you don't need to wait 500 miles before talking to us about this.
Good luck & talk to you soon,