To everyone, especially those who have called wanting to place your orders for the Lightning Superchip:

Superchips has finished dyno development on the current performance program, thanks to Lightning owners who brought their vehicles to the facility, and those who were using it on the street. They finished the tuning with real-time data gear in place, making certain that proper A/F ratios, etc. all are in line, and verified that the work that had already been done in the previous release was fine. (Superchips stopped shipping for about 2-3 weeks, until they could get the hard dyno data) This is the final release of the performance program that showed reductions in 1/4 times by .8 seconds (eight tenths)at the Ford World Challenge in Joliet a couple months ago. Superchips wanted to have all the real-time data, with vehicles on the chassis dyno, so that the exact power figures could be known, A/F ratios & EGT checked, etc., and that has now been completed!

This is *NOT* the higher boost program; that will still be a free upgrade when it is finished, as has always been their policy on the new Lightning Flip-Chip.

The gains at the flywheel are about 40hp over previous factory peak, so you will basically be at the 400 hp (SAE Net)level! (The gains at the rear wheels are 25 more peak horsepower.) Also, the spark retard off the line has been removed, so the power gains at lower rpms are even higher, as are the part-throttle gains, as there is always more room for improvement there.

The reduction in 1/4 times comes from both the raw power gains, and the improved transmission calibration, and as we all know, the shift characteristics for this rare high-performance vehicle needed work! The shift delay and the spark retard both during and right after the upshifts have been removed, as well as firming up the upshifts. The end result is a much more positive, crisp and quick upshift, just as it *should* be.

Anyone wishing to place their orders can contact us via email or telephone. And of course, our special F150online discount applies to this product too, as always!

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 07-23-1999).]

 

I just got off the phone with Mike and ordered mine!!!!!!!!!

Mike said it will be here early next week and I'll post detailed results as soon as I install and conduct research.

THANKS MIKE!!!

 

Mine is in the mail as well, probably the best money I'll ever spend on the truck. I
talked to Mike today, he can get you excited.
My chip should be in Wednesday and I will test it out that same night. I will post feedback Thursday morning because I plan on driving quite late Wednesday night at the track.

99.5 Red Lighting- Charcoal Grey Line-X,Lund Clearcoat Red Aerowrap Bugshield, Almost superchipped.

Later,
Terry

 

Ordered mine too...one thing I never checked...what does this do to factory warranty?

 

Mike, Terry, Bill, I havnt owned a late model vehicle for some time... How hard is the installation of the Superthunderchip? Does everything else remain the same? Idle, shifting (If your not into the throtle)and if you switch from one chip to the other (for waranty,service) will it effect the rest of the computers parts? Please, dont be offended by my lack of motherboard schooling! The last question (been asked by others) $$$$$$$ I know after paying this much for the truck, why would i ask?? Trying to figure out how to sneak it in with the grocery bill!!!! Ha! Thanks everyone!


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John Rock
99.5 White Lightning

 

mike,since my truck want be here for about three to four weeks can i still order my chip or do i have to get the numbers off the computer in the truck first?

 

You guys are making me jealous! I want to order one but I must wait until my engine problem is cured. I guess I will have to live with its stock performance for now. I hope you guys are running base-lines before you install the chip, then after. I am interested on how it performs in the "same but different" trucks, if you know what I mean.

[This message has been edited by gearhead (edited 07-24-1999).]

[This message has been edited by gearhead (edited 07-24-1999).]

 

HMM I dont know here guys almost a full second.That is huge.I was a the WFC and I did not see any 99.5s running almost 13flat.DO we get a full refund if it doesnt drop our times at least .8 I mean full refund shipping and all.I have to see it first 40HP I dont know.

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95Lightning(9psi boost)
NLOC MEMBER
Marcus Harrison

 

Mike Troyer: Forgot to ask you the other day when I ordered my chip about one for a '98 Cobra. A friend of mine has one and was wondering about what improvements it brought about and the price. Thnx

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Red 99.5 Lightning SuperChip (on the way)

 

Hey what was the 1/4mile times and MPH before the chip was put in.Then what where the 1/4mile times and MPH.I mean if you went from a 15 to a 14.2 something was wrong with the truck to start with.They run 13s as is.What about 60FT times to.I hate to sound negative but I have been screwed by some companys claims in the past.

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95Lightning(9psi boost)
NLOC MEMBER
Marcus Harrison

 

The gains on the new Lightning are 25 more peak hp at the wheels, with about 40 more peak at the flywheel, so the truck is in the neighborhood of 395-400 SAE Net with the Superchip program, *ASSUMING* the vehicle is making the boost it's *SUPPOSED* to, 8 psi. Doing the raw math, it's pretty obvious that even 40 hp at the flywheel is not enough to reduce 1/4 mile times by .8 seconds in a 2-ton plus vehicle! The 1/4 mile time reductions also come from fixing the very sloppy WOT upshifts, and removing the shift delay and spark retards in those transitional areas. And they add up.

So if you're looking for an ironclad guarantee that your Lightning is going to run 12's with the Superchip, forget it, that cannot be done, not by me, not by anyone, not with this type of product. Maybe with nitrous, perhaps. There is so much variance in their performance from the factory that nobody could possibly be expected to make such a guarantee. We have yet to see a single Lightning break into the 13's *stock*, especially as hot as it's been most places this year so far. We've seen magazine test reports claiming anywhere from mid-13's to high 14's. And I've seen various people claiming all kinds of numbers. The only numbers that matter must be directly comparable back-to-back runs, and, the track must have the equipment capable of giving true "corrected" times, meaning times corrected for altitude, and atmospheric data such as temp & humidity, barometric pressure, etc. There's a whole lot more to 1/4 times than meets the eye, and those of us who have drag raced professionally know this; unfortunately most other people don't realize that so much goes into being able to accurately compare times, and that's only natural.

On the chassis dyno, stock, the rear wheel peak horsepower was 291, exactly. With the Superchip program, it was 316, exactly. And that program took .8 seconds off those trucks times at Joliet. Those are the facts.

And that's the scoop.

My bests to all,



------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

 

Dear Marcus,

If you are disputing the facts I've presented here, the way to do it is to bring it to the attention of Mike Short, General Manager for Superchips Inc. You can reach him 8:30 - 5:00 pm, M-F, Eastern, at 888-227-2447, toll-free. You'll find Mike to be a very no-nonsense person, who is candid to a fault. Mike Short is the primary source of these facts that I've presented here, so feel free to call him and present your point of view. That way, you can talk directly to "the source", since it's a free phone call, and let us know what transpired.

All the best,

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

 

Mike I think what most guys are concerned

[This message has been edited by JeffsLightning (edited 04-21-2001).]

 

Hi Jeff,

You make an *excellent* point! And I don't know what your truck would have done in a back-to-back situation, that day, under those circumstances, *nobody* does! I'd *love* to have that data! I do understand scepticism, and I think it's a healthy emotion to have, to be sure, which is exactly why I have posted the exact dyno numbers, and have tried to pass along any and all info I've been given from Superchips.

I want the products you buy for your vehicles to be the best of their kind, and to serve you well, and that goes for the product we sell too, of course. If they don't, we all know that we'll hear about it right here, and pretty darn quick!

What I *can* tell you, is that it reduced the 1/4 mile times by .8 on those vehicles, under those circumstances, and all that can be learned from that is just that; a reduction of .8 in the 1/4 miles, in vehicles that were running 14.8's in very hot and humid weather. Will it take a truck that's just turned a 14.0 and drop it down to a 13.2? That we just don't know, and won't know, until it's been done, with corrected times. I would tend to think not, just on the raw numbers, but the truth is, *nobody* knows as of this moment, because the Joliet test is the only one that's been done. So all I can report is the data at hand. Just as soon as I have any *more* solid data, I'll be happy to post it.

What we *do* know for sure, are the results that day in Joliet, and the exact power gains on the chassis dyno. We know that these same types of modifications have shown consistent reductions in 1/4 times, year round, in F-150's as well as the vast majority of other vehicles tested.

Just to lend some comparisons for perspective, in the normally aspirated F-150's with 4.6 & 5.4 V-8's, we usually see reductions in 1/4 times of anywhere from .4-.6, or around a half-second. Now of course these are the normally aspirated engines, not the supercharged 5.4's in the new Lightnings. We just had an F150online member, with a 4.2 V-6 automatic F-150, run 18.39 @74 mph stock, and 17.42 @ 78 mph with the Superchip, in 96 degrees, with 78% humidity. That's a fantastic gain, .97 seconds and 4 mph! (and I do not know if the V-6 times are corrected, by the way, in all fairness) How does that compare to the new Lightning and it's supercharged 5.4? Good question. We won't know until it's actually been done, all we can report is what we know *right now*, based on hard data. And that's what has been reported to date.

I do think that your post has served, at the very least, one good purpose, and that is, to remind us all that it may well *not* be appropriate or accurate to *assume* that this Superchip program is going to reduce *ANY AND ALL* new Lightning's 1/4 mile times by 0.8 seconds, regardless of their baseline times, and I do thank you sincerely for pointing that out. Your post helped to make that point, and I think it is an important point indeed!

I will continue to report any and all data that is relevant, and I know that several Lightning owners are planning on running at the strip this weekend. I'm hoping for good solid back-to-back corrected data, but I doubt we'll see that, in all honesty. I think what we'll see are most likely uncorrected times. Since it's a Flip Chip application, there's no problem with doing direct back-to-back runs, since all it takes is flipping the switch with the engine off.

Thanks for your perspective, Jeff!

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

 

Mike,

I have a couple of questions about the Flip Chip and back to back runs at the track. I believe I read on one thread here (F150online) about the Ford computer requiring as many as 600 miles to completely do its adaptive learning with the new program supplied by the Superchip (not a Superchip problem, but the way the Ford computer does its thing). Obviously there are some aspects of the new program that are immediate, but what additional benefits are achieved during this learn time? And the next glaring question is how will this affect back to back runs with the Flip Chip ‘flipped’ from the stock program to the improved program, or visa-versa? Maybe it requires arriving to the track with the performance program ‘partially teaching the computer’ over a few days, make a few runs, and then switch to the stock program and make some more runs?

My baseline runs were back in the first week of June, with my best of 14.33 @ 96.66mph. This was at a raced weight just under 4960lbs (truck + me + fuel + spare tire, class III hitch + bed liner), 80F, 15% humidity, 1200ft. Also only 1000 miles on the odometer, and I’ve heard these engines loosen up quite a bit. Since I live in Chandler Arizona, it rarely bets below 95F at race time on Friday night so I don’t expect to be back to the track until it starts to get near my baseline run temperatures again(maybe I’ll change my mind later, depends on the itch)

I’m very excited about the chip if it does nothing else than improve the shifting…… and I know it will do more. It was great to talk to you last week when I placed my order, and as I posted before in "Lightning Impressions - Tired of Page 2", I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm and experience. Thanks Again!!!


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Joel.......
99.5 White Lightning, all the required options.
Superchip is in the mail!!