Chips....best one?
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Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4
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From: B'ham, Alabama
Chips....best one?
Hi guys, I am new to this forum and recently purchased a '98 F150 supercab 2 wheel drive with the 4.6. The only performance mods done are an AirRaid intake and Dual exhaust. I tow a car trailer frequently and was wondering what experience anyone has had with chips, which is the best and the best place to buy one. What kind of gains can I realistically expect as well....TIA!
Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 83
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From: New Orleans, LA
I just got my Superchip about a month or 2/1,000 miles ago and I am happy with it so far. I think, like with any light mods, if you go into it with realistic expectations you will be satisfied. On paper, most chips will give you roughly 10%-12% gains in HP and Torque. On the 4.6l, this is about 20-24 HP/30-35 ft/lb. I have seen some slight mileage improvements, but the dollar savings there get offset by the use of premium fuel. Also, the shifting is improved tremendously by the chip. The truck may not be much faster, but it feels more responsive. I know there are other chips on the market, and tons of opinions on this site, so do some more research. For me, the price was right, Mike's service was good, and the positive feedback I got from others on the site was enough to convince me to go with the Superchip. Good luck.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,919
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From: Western Massachusetts
I think you will probably see a lot of people here using the Superchip.
Are they the best. Well I don't know that one. It is the only one I have ever used.
There are others. The Diablo is another. From what a couple of people here have said that one seems pretty good too. I guess that Superchip and the Diablo are similar.?
You may also see a lot of people reccomending Performance Products as the place to buy a chip. I would!
They sell the Superchip, and if I read correctly you can also get a Diablo through them.
In my opinion Mike Troyer is one of the best at giving the important information. The customer service is better than you would find elsewhere, I think. Not every one here will agree with me on this one, but then is it possible to get this many people to agree on anything?
Check it all out for yourself.
In any event you have found a place where lots of people are using computer chips. Chances are you will learn a thing or two.
Good luck!
Tom
Are they the best. Well I don't know that one. It is the only one I have ever used.
There are others. The Diablo is another. From what a couple of people here have said that one seems pretty good too. I guess that Superchip and the Diablo are similar.?
You may also see a lot of people reccomending Performance Products as the place to buy a chip. I would!
They sell the Superchip, and if I read correctly you can also get a Diablo through them.
In my opinion Mike Troyer is one of the best at giving the important information. The customer service is better than you would find elsewhere, I think. Not every one here will agree with me on this one, but then is it possible to get this many people to agree on anything?
Check it all out for yourself.
In any event you have found a place where lots of people are using computer chips. Chances are you will learn a thing or two.
Good luck!
Tom
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
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From: Virginia
Hi SVOPaul,
Welcome to F-150 Online!
With regards to the "best" chips, the best chips are those that tune the engine all the time at any throttle position, and there are only 2 of the major "name" chipmakers doing that, Superchips and Diablo, we carry both. The other chips, like Hypertech, Jet, etc. are generic in nature, and only tune the engine at full-throttle, where there are no emission standards that have to be met.
The power gained by either the Superchip or the Diablo unit is close, with the Superchip having a slight edge, perhaps about 2% more power. Not a lot of difference there, just a little bit.
The bigger difference can be found between those 2 in the automatic transmission calibrations, the Superchip has a firmer shift characteristic, especially as you get into the heavier throttle positions.
It's hard to go wrong with either brand, the Superchip or the Diablo, they're both good products. Diablo is fairly new to this industry, they've been making performance chips for about 18 months, whereas Superchips has been doing it for 18 years.
All in all, right now they are the 2 best chips on the market, with the Superchip having a slight edge in power & a bit more of an edge in shift characteristics in the automatics.
The Superchip has a maximum rated gain of 26 horsepower and 40 lbs./ft. of torque, the gain from the Diablo is just a little less.
The modifications you have right now, your Airaid kit and your exhaust system change, will work well for these vehicles, and will work well with a good performance chip.
If you'd like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.
We also have the Superchip available in our online ordering system here, for the Diablo unit you'll need to give us a call, as we just recently picked them up and have not had time to get them added to our online ordering system just yet.
All in all svopaul, a good performance chip is the single most cost-effective modification you can make to these vehicles, as their powertrain programming has a lot of room for improvement, and nothing else will get that kind of power & performance gain for less money.
Best of luck with your truck, please feel free to give us a shout for more details on the chips, & we hope you'll hang out with us here at F-150 Online in your spare time, it's a great place to learn a lot about these vehicles, and met some new friends as well.
Enjoy,
Welcome to F-150 Online!
With regards to the "best" chips, the best chips are those that tune the engine all the time at any throttle position, and there are only 2 of the major "name" chipmakers doing that, Superchips and Diablo, we carry both. The other chips, like Hypertech, Jet, etc. are generic in nature, and only tune the engine at full-throttle, where there are no emission standards that have to be met.
The power gained by either the Superchip or the Diablo unit is close, with the Superchip having a slight edge, perhaps about 2% more power. Not a lot of difference there, just a little bit.
The bigger difference can be found between those 2 in the automatic transmission calibrations, the Superchip has a firmer shift characteristic, especially as you get into the heavier throttle positions.
It's hard to go wrong with either brand, the Superchip or the Diablo, they're both good products. Diablo is fairly new to this industry, they've been making performance chips for about 18 months, whereas Superchips has been doing it for 18 years.
All in all, right now they are the 2 best chips on the market, with the Superchip having a slight edge in power & a bit more of an edge in shift characteristics in the automatics.
The Superchip has a maximum rated gain of 26 horsepower and 40 lbs./ft. of torque, the gain from the Diablo is just a little less.
The modifications you have right now, your Airaid kit and your exhaust system change, will work well for these vehicles, and will work well with a good performance chip.
If you'd like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.
We also have the Superchip available in our online ordering system here, for the Diablo unit you'll need to give us a call, as we just recently picked them up and have not had time to get them added to our online ordering system just yet.
All in all svopaul, a good performance chip is the single most cost-effective modification you can make to these vehicles, as their powertrain programming has a lot of room for improvement, and nothing else will get that kind of power & performance gain for less money.
Best of luck with your truck, please feel free to give us a shout for more details on the chips, & we hope you'll hang out with us here at F-150 Online in your spare time, it's a great place to learn a lot about these vehicles, and met some new friends as well.
Enjoy,
