Tuner to adjust throttle sensitivity?

[BrianDye]

Ive never used a tuner before, never known of anyone but my step dad in his Crown Vic, he swore by it, but back then I was way too young to know what the hell was going on.

I don't expect this thing to get up and go by any means, being pushed by a slow V6, but I also read that it will increase performance and transmission shifting as well. Firmer shifts are also better on the trans, aren't they?

My biggest reason for wanting to invest in one, is when im slowing down to turn in my neighborhood, or any other similar situation, once I give it gas, the RPM's will start to climb up and then it almost like slams back into gear if that makes sense.

Almost as if when I coast to slow down, the truck goes into Neutral, and when I give it gas, its like putting it back into Drive but with the RPMs already climbing.

If I very very lightly push the gas pedal, it almost doesnt happen, but if im not paying attention, and turning/accelerating like normal after the turn, it happens.

Can someone recommend the best bang-for-your-buck tuner? And with a tuner, is it plug and play, or do I have to get custom tunes from a shop or something? We don't have anything like that around here.

Thanks for the help, sorry if these questions sound dumb, just trying to figure this out!

*PS, My speedo is a few MPH off as well, I read that alot of tuners can fix that as well?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

drive by wire on a non performance vehicle sucks.... I feel tons of lag and jerk when I press it at times.... the servo can only move so fast and smooth and you cant control it with out replacing it with something that does not exist

 

[BrianDye]

drive by wire on a non performance vehicle sucks.... I feel tons of lag and jerk when I press it at times.... the servo can only move so fast and smooth and you cant control it with out replacing it with something that does not exist

That really sucks. I can understand now why it happens and just blow it off I suppose, but I picture an average driver really thinking there could be something wrong with the vehicle.

Bummer. Still interested in a tuner though, reading nothing but awesome results from them, but I don't know which one id go with.

 

[Explorer75]

The tuner will help. I had the same complain when bought my 2010 V6, I purchased the SCT tuner and got a custom tune from More Power Tuning and they optimized spark advance, transmission shift points and throttle response. Tried other custom tuners but this turned out to be outstanding. The STC unit by itself is not impresive, you need a good custom tune to feel the difference. Other forum members have gone with Diablo Sport or Superchips with good results also. Search the forum and you´ll find good info.

 

[Flag Gibby]

+1 to what Explorer75 said. I have been using a Superchips 1865 for at least 4 years now (I lost track when I purchased it) and it is night and day compared to the factory tune on the 4.0. Definitely makes it handle much better, but it doesn't get rid of all the transmission response lag completely (most of that has to do with the transmission design in my mind). I will end up selling my tuner in the next month or so since I will be trading in my vehicle toward a new special order expedition, and they never add any value to the vehicle on trade ins.

As far as my biased opinion, I personally believe that the Superchips is the best bang for the buck since it gets regular updates (as a part of the original purchase price) and comes with four different tuning options.

 

[BrianDye]

Shoot me a PM if/when you want to sell it Flag Gibby. What all benefits do you see from it? Explorer75, how do you go about getting custom tunes for them? I would assume it's not a tune just for an Explorer, but a tune specifically for data you would somehow log and send them, right?

 

[Flag Gibby]

A little more horsepower and torque on 87 octane, better shifting, and better throttle response with little or no change in fuel economy out of the performance tune. If you switch to the towing tune (for towing loads over 2000 lbs.) you definitely notice that it is tuned more for torque and has a different shift strategy. Haven't run the economy tune in quite some time because short shifting on a 5000 lb. vehicle with the 4.0 doesn't get you better fuel economy (it is actually worse), but maybe they have improved it since the last time I tried running it a couple of years ago. I'll PM you when the time comes to see if you are interested.

 

[Explorer75]

Shoot me a PM if/when you want to sell it Flag Gibby. What all benefits do you see from it? Explorer75, how do you go about getting custom tunes for them? I would assume it's not a tune just for an Explorer, but a tune specifically for data you would somehow log and send them, right?

They make the tune for your model, you don´t send any data log until it´s necessary. The first tune they sent was great but a little too aggressive on the shift points, the truck felt like it had a manual transmission thou, really strong, the fuel trims where too high on the negative side so after an email they asked for a datalog, after this they sent the 2nd tune which is pretty much perfect. Better power all around, better throttle response and I feels like it´s always in the right gear. Kickdown when passing cars is almost instant, not like before. The shifts are harder and instant, you feel them and I don´t mind, if you want you can decrease the hardness just before flashing the tune.

 

[BrianDye]

That sounds awesome. Sorry if this is a dumb question, does the tuner create some kind of data log file that you email them or something?

With gas prices near $1 a gallon, I'd probably go for and stick with the performance time since everyone reports tons of improvements as well as increased fuel economy over stock.

I don't mind a firm shift either, and correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that actually better for the trans to shift firmer? Which tuner did you get? I know you mentioned SCT, is there only one compatible with our X'es? Seems like SCT is one of the more favored brands from what I've read on any forums.

 

[BrianDye]

From what I'm seeing online, it seems like the SCT allows custom tunes which it sounds like is what I would want, whereas the Superchips does not. Found an SCT Livewire on eBay for $350, wish I had the money to buy it right now, that's one hell of a deal vs the $599 price of the other ones!

 

[Explorer75]

That sounds awesome. Sorry if this is a dumb question, does the tuner create some kind of data log file that you email them or something?

With gas prices near $1 a gallon, I'd probably go for and stick with the performance time since everyone reports tons of improvements as well as increased fuel economy over stock.

I don't mind a firm shift either, and correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that actually better for the trans to shift firmer? Which tuner did you get? I know you mentioned SCT, is there only one compatible with our X'es? Seems like SCT is one of the more favored brands from what I've read on any forums.

I just checked morepowertuning.com and I don´t see custom tuning for this truck anymore, the website is different so maybe it´s a new website better ask them before you buy the SCT, or if you don´t mind working with someone else.

When needed they send instructions on how to datalog. As far as I know it´s better for the trans to shift faster. I bought the X3 tuner but there´s a new one X4. A performance tune can save gas if you go easy on the pedal.

 

[BrianDye]

Awesome, I very much appreciate the info and help! I will probably go with the SCT (whatever the newest one on the market is) probably around Spring. Gonna be starting to order all my new front end parts and lift soon, so the tuner will be after that.

 

[Flag Gibby]

From what I'm seeing online, it seems like the SCT allows custom tunes which it sounds like is what I would want, whereas the Superchips does not. Found an SCT Livewire on eBay for $350, wish I had the money to buy it right now, that's one hell of a deal vs the $599 price of the other ones!

Just remember that the price you see a lot of the time is for just the unit and does not include a custom tune from someone, that is why you see a price of $350 for the unit and much higher prices for the ones that include a custom tune from that seller. You asked for best bang for the buck and I honestly believe that the Superchips has that along with covering the areas that you wanted fixed in your first post. However, with the Superchips you cannot run a performance tune and adjust for larger tires on the vehicle, you can only adjust for the larger tires and run the stock tune. So, if that is ultimately your end goal then yes you need to go with a SCT with a custom tune.