Best Chip To Use With 4.2 V6 ?
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi V8KILLAH1,
Yes, just about anything there in Hawaii is going to be more expensive than on the mainland, unless it's something that is grown or made there.
In a choice between the Superchip and changing gear ratios, which is going to give you more performance, we've gone over that pretty well already, the Superchip is going to do more for the perfotrmance of the vehicle, but I'll try to quantify that a bit just briefly...................
Bang for the buck value, the Superchip comes out way ahead, hands down. In terms of actual power gain, once again it's the Superchip that comes out ahead. In terms of how much of a reduction you'll get in acceleration times, if it's an automatic, hands down the Superchip will easily come out ahead. Now in an F-150 with a 4.6 V-8 and manual transmission, it ranges from just about an even match to the Superchip coming out a little bit better than the gears, in terms of the reduction in 1/4 mile times. In terms of the overall performance improvement in all kinds of driving, the Superchip makes more of an overall improvement.
The gear change isn't going to increase engine power at all. The gear ratio change does increase the amount of torque *multiplication* a bit, and in the case of drag race engines, helps to get the engine up into it's power band quicker. Generally, you will see improvements in 1/4 mile times of about 2 tenths to maybe as much as 4 tenths of a second by going to 4.10's from 3.55's, just to give you a rough idea. About 3 tenths is the norm.
The improvement in 1/4 mile ET from the Superchip averages about a half-second (5 tenths), with the range running from a low of about 3.5 tenths to as much as a full second off the 1/4 mile times. It depends on the exact configuration of the F-150, as there is over 3000 lbs. of potential weight difference based on all the different configurations, 2WD, 4WD, ORP, standard cab, extended cab, SuperCrew, long bed, short bed, towing package, FX4, and the list goes on and on.............
In street-driven vehicles, especially daily drivers, I prefer doing my power-adding modifications *first*, and then only if I can't get my performance where I want it to be with more power, *then* I'll do the gear change. In a vehicle whose primary purpose is drag racing, there is almost always a gear ratio change, but this isn't a dedicated drag racer, it's a daily driver pickup truck, so usually you'll want to get the power up first.
That is what we generally recommend doing, the power-adding modifications first, and then if you cannot get your performance where you want it by adding raw power, *then* do the gear ratio change.
If it were in a drag race-only vehicle, sure, we'd say change the gears in addition to all the other modifications to actually increase engine power, and hard-core drag racers will usually do a gear ratio change first. Or if it were a vehicle in which the *primary* use & concern was frequently towing heavy loads, that's another situation in which the gear ratio change would be appropriate.
For most of us, the primary concern is the COST, the actual "bang for the buck" value, and changing gear ratios is far more expensive than doing the Superchip.
In answer to your question of whether or not it would be a good idea to have your local Ford dealership take care of the gear change, sure, that's an excellent way to do it. They can use the Ford Motorsport gears & parts, and having your Ford dealership do the installation will certainly work, it'll just be a little bit more expensive in some cases compared to having an independant shop do the work. In your area, you may be berst off having your Ford dealer do that work, I don't know what kind of shops you have accees to out there on the islands.
And yes, the web site is coming along, bit by bit. It's not something you can really see the progress of yet, as we're now working on building the catalog application, which is a bear, a lot of content to generate, etc., so it takes a long time, but we're getting there!
Bottom line? If it were me, and I had to choose between doing the gear ratio change or doing the Superchip in a vehicle that is my daily driver or just about any street-driven vehicle, hands down I'd do the Superchip first.
Best of luck whatever you decide,
Yes, just about anything there in Hawaii is going to be more expensive than on the mainland, unless it's something that is grown or made there.
In a choice between the Superchip and changing gear ratios, which is going to give you more performance, we've gone over that pretty well already, the Superchip is going to do more for the perfotrmance of the vehicle, but I'll try to quantify that a bit just briefly...................
Bang for the buck value, the Superchip comes out way ahead, hands down. In terms of actual power gain, once again it's the Superchip that comes out ahead. In terms of how much of a reduction you'll get in acceleration times, if it's an automatic, hands down the Superchip will easily come out ahead. Now in an F-150 with a 4.6 V-8 and manual transmission, it ranges from just about an even match to the Superchip coming out a little bit better than the gears, in terms of the reduction in 1/4 mile times. In terms of the overall performance improvement in all kinds of driving, the Superchip makes more of an overall improvement.
The gear change isn't going to increase engine power at all. The gear ratio change does increase the amount of torque *multiplication* a bit, and in the case of drag race engines, helps to get the engine up into it's power band quicker. Generally, you will see improvements in 1/4 mile times of about 2 tenths to maybe as much as 4 tenths of a second by going to 4.10's from 3.55's, just to give you a rough idea. About 3 tenths is the norm.
The improvement in 1/4 mile ET from the Superchip averages about a half-second (5 tenths), with the range running from a low of about 3.5 tenths to as much as a full second off the 1/4 mile times. It depends on the exact configuration of the F-150, as there is over 3000 lbs. of potential weight difference based on all the different configurations, 2WD, 4WD, ORP, standard cab, extended cab, SuperCrew, long bed, short bed, towing package, FX4, and the list goes on and on.............
In street-driven vehicles, especially daily drivers, I prefer doing my power-adding modifications *first*, and then only if I can't get my performance where I want it to be with more power, *then* I'll do the gear change. In a vehicle whose primary purpose is drag racing, there is almost always a gear ratio change, but this isn't a dedicated drag racer, it's a daily driver pickup truck, so usually you'll want to get the power up first.
That is what we generally recommend doing, the power-adding modifications first, and then if you cannot get your performance where you want it by adding raw power, *then* do the gear ratio change.
If it were in a drag race-only vehicle, sure, we'd say change the gears in addition to all the other modifications to actually increase engine power, and hard-core drag racers will usually do a gear ratio change first. Or if it were a vehicle in which the *primary* use & concern was frequently towing heavy loads, that's another situation in which the gear ratio change would be appropriate.
For most of us, the primary concern is the COST, the actual "bang for the buck" value, and changing gear ratios is far more expensive than doing the Superchip.
In answer to your question of whether or not it would be a good idea to have your local Ford dealership take care of the gear change, sure, that's an excellent way to do it. They can use the Ford Motorsport gears & parts, and having your Ford dealership do the installation will certainly work, it'll just be a little bit more expensive in some cases compared to having an independant shop do the work. In your area, you may be berst off having your Ford dealer do that work, I don't know what kind of shops you have accees to out there on the islands.
And yes, the web site is coming along, bit by bit. It's not something you can really see the progress of yet, as we're now working on building the catalog application, which is a bear, a lot of content to generate, etc., so it takes a long time, but we're getting there!
Bottom line? If it were me, and I had to choose between doing the gear ratio change or doing the Superchip in a vehicle that is my daily driver or just about any street-driven vehicle, hands down I'd do the Superchip first.
Best of luck whatever you decide,