Which chip do i buy to give me some morepower, allow me to run 87 octane fuel and not break the bank? is there such a thing? any info. is appreciated!- medic

 

If you really want more power I don't think you will actually be able to do it with 87. If you look you will see that all of the chips and tuners require the higher octane to get max gains. If you get a chip that says you get good gains with 87 and think you will be getting good power for the money you spent, I think you would be wrong. There is a reason for the higher octane. I will let Mike give the explaination because he is the expert.
The money you spend on the higher octane is worth it. The Superchip is pretty cheap when you compare it to other mods you can do. It is a great supporting mod, that is one that works well with other relatively inexpensive mods. I would guess you have seen the "three best bang for the buck" mods mentioned. The chip, intake and exhaust. For under a grand you can improve performance significantly.
The more you spend the more you get. Think about that as you make considerations on the chip purchase. I have found it to be true!

Good luck!
Tom

 

so, do i run 89 ocatne or 93 wit this chip? and how much is the chip? thanks.

 

You can get a flip-chip which has a program for 87 oct on one side and 91+ oct on the other. I'ver heard that the 87 will improve your power in various parts of the hp/tq curve and improve your shifting, if you have auto, but it won't be much. The 91+ chip will give you 10-12% gains and you'll notice that. I did a little math, as I'm about to order a chip myself, and found that it would cost me $2-4 more per week for gas using premium driving 15000 miles per year. This is if I don't see any mileage improvements with the chip and some people claim 1-2mpg improvements. If you floor it around you'll spend more. Performance has a price.

 

Hi pgh_medic,

One of the most basic aspects & requirements of a performance chip is the use of premium gasoline, as it is the act of retuning the engine specifically for higher octane premium gasoline (91 thru 94 octane) that achieves much of the addditional power gained.

However, as drm7 mentioned in his post, for those who want the ability to run on 87 octane and still use a Superchip, we also offer the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip in a dual octane configuration. This gives you one performance program for 87 octane and another for premium gasoline, changed by simply flipping it's switch. The power gain on the 87 octane program is of course smaller than on premium gas, but you will also have all the other benefits, the removal of various delays & retards that induce slippage, reduce power and slow down the response of the powertrain to driver input, top speed limiter removed, improved shift characteristics in the automatic models, etc. In the dual octane Flip Chip we basically make both programs the same with the exception of the octane level the engine is tuned for, so that you have all the other benefits no matter what program you're using, and when you want maximum power, run it on premium gas & just flip the switch to that program.

Most people just use the single program Superchip, as the increased fuel costs to run it on premium all the time with the Superchip are only $150-$200 a year, a coupla bucks a week for most people, driving roughly 20,000 miles a year.

For those who need custom programming or who want a dual octane capability, the 2-program Flip Chip is the way to go.

The policies of F-150 Online prohibit the discussion of prices here on the message boards, however, you can get that info by just clicking on the link in our signature line just below that will take you to our online ordering system, and you can see those prices there.

I hope this information helps, if you'd like to go over any of this in more detail, give us a shout & we'll be happy to.