Is A SuperChip for me?
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Joined: Feb 2001
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From: WV
Is A SuperChip for me?
I am looking at gaining some power from my larger tires. I have a 3.55 Gear ratio and an Automatic transmission, but it does not run near as good as my friends Chevy Silverado 1500 with 3.73 Gears, manual transmission and 37x12.50 Super Swampers. Currently I have 33x12.50 Goodyear A/Ts, but soon I will be changing to 38.5x14.50R16 Super Swamper Thornbirds. My power loss is really going to be great once I change to this type of tire. Now my friend used a Hypertech Computer Programmer to gain back all his power without having to replace the gears. I was going to do the same thing, but unfortunatly Hypertech does not make a programmer for 2001 F-150s
. So I was wondering if a Super Chip will re-gain my lost power and take place of using a Hypertech Computer Programmer.
. So I was wondering if a Super Chip will re-gain my lost power and take place of using a Hypertech Computer Programmer.
Last edited by 2dollarsteak; Oct 6, 2001 at 02:56 PM.
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi 2 dollarsteak,
While the Superchip is far superior to the Hypertech Power Programmer unit thanks to the Superchip being programmed for each individual vehicle's exact software revision in it's ECU versus Hypertech being completely generic, and the fact that the Superchip tunes the engene adding power at any throttle position where the Hypertech unit only adds power on heavy throttle, it's important to point out that neither one will truly restore *all* the power lost by running those huge 37" & the 38" tires that you propose running, in all honesty.
However, with your current 33" tires, yes, you can probably get by with just doing the Superchip, and it will help noticeably. The Superchip will give you about 10%-12% more power at any throttle position, and that will certainly help.
While the Superchip will help you, I think it's important to discuss the *real* problem here, the root underlying cause of this very noticeable & large apparent power drop that will occur with the larger 38" tires you're talking about using in the future as well as your friend's current 37" tires.
First, the engine hasn't actually dropped *any* of it's power, it's still making all the power it ever did. The problem is that the engine is now turning far fewer rpms with those taller tires than it did before, and so it's being forced to labor well beneath it's power curve. This is due to the loss of torque multiplication caused by the effective change to your final drive ratio from installing the taller tires. The *correct* cure for this is 2-fold: do the required gear ratio change to get that engine back up to turning at least as many rpms with the taller tires that it was with the original factory size tires, and the Superchip to add more power to help offset the large increase in weight from those taller tires.
Of course, right now you still have those 33" tires on, so you can always just do the Superchip, as your current 33" tires aren't terribly tall, and that will help noticeably; however, once you venture into the 35" & taller range, then you *must* do the gear ratio change, and do it for both front & rear axles if it's a 4X4, or you'll *never* have the power, driveability, or even the fuel mileage that you could have.
If you would like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a shout, our contact info is below & we'll be happy to go over this with you.
Good luck with your truck!
While the Superchip is far superior to the Hypertech Power Programmer unit thanks to the Superchip being programmed for each individual vehicle's exact software revision in it's ECU versus Hypertech being completely generic, and the fact that the Superchip tunes the engene adding power at any throttle position where the Hypertech unit only adds power on heavy throttle, it's important to point out that neither one will truly restore *all* the power lost by running those huge 37" & the 38" tires that you propose running, in all honesty.
However, with your current 33" tires, yes, you can probably get by with just doing the Superchip, and it will help noticeably. The Superchip will give you about 10%-12% more power at any throttle position, and that will certainly help.
While the Superchip will help you, I think it's important to discuss the *real* problem here, the root underlying cause of this very noticeable & large apparent power drop that will occur with the larger 38" tires you're talking about using in the future as well as your friend's current 37" tires.
First, the engine hasn't actually dropped *any* of it's power, it's still making all the power it ever did. The problem is that the engine is now turning far fewer rpms with those taller tires than it did before, and so it's being forced to labor well beneath it's power curve. This is due to the loss of torque multiplication caused by the effective change to your final drive ratio from installing the taller tires. The *correct* cure for this is 2-fold: do the required gear ratio change to get that engine back up to turning at least as many rpms with the taller tires that it was with the original factory size tires, and the Superchip to add more power to help offset the large increase in weight from those taller tires.
Of course, right now you still have those 33" tires on, so you can always just do the Superchip, as your current 33" tires aren't terribly tall, and that will help noticeably; however, once you venture into the 35" & taller range, then you *must* do the gear ratio change, and do it for both front & rear axles if it's a 4X4, or you'll *never* have the power, driveability, or even the fuel mileage that you could have.
If you would like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a shout, our contact info is below & we'll be happy to go over this with you.
Good luck with your truck!