Hi guys. I have a 92 F250with a 460 an an E4OD tranny. I am going to buy a chip and am looking for any suggestions. I have it narrowed down to either a superchip or a diablo sport chip. Are there any real differences? All opinions are appreciated.
Thanks

 

If Mike can get a chip for your truck, definately go with him. He deals with Superchips.

 

i'll second that!

 

Hi Ford302guy,

Yes, there are significant differences, one of which is the emissions certification. Superchips are legal for use and are certified EPA & CARB emissions-compliant in all 50 states, whereas the Diablo chips are not emissions certified.

We carried Diablo for some time, and in every comparison that we did and that our customers did, they always preferred the Superchip, in every case. It didn't matter fo us of course, we don't care what name is on the outside, just the results from the product *inside*, and that is why we use Superchips.

The Superchip makes more power for a given A/F ratio, has better driveability, and better shift characteristics in the computer-controlled automatics as well.

You've done a good job of narrowing your choices down properly between the Superchip and the Diablo, as we rank the Superchip and #1, and then Diablo as #2. Certainly, there are people who have the Diablo chip and like it, it's not a "bad" product. Then everyone else (Hypertech, Jet, etc.) is pretty much "tied" for last as far as we're concerned, as they are generic and full-throttle only (to be technically correct, open loop only) in their operation, so they aren't nearly as effective, and can actually cause power *loss* instead of pwoer gain in some situations. So I would say that the Diablo is certainly a better chip in most cases than say, a Hypertech or a Jet product, but it just doesn't compare favorably to the Superchip.

There is a significant difference between the 2 companies and their capabilities and skill levels. Superchips is the company that invented the power chip and thus basically this entire industry 20 yers ago, where Diablo has been making chips 2-3 years or so. There is no comparison to the quality of the engineering staff of Superchips at any other chipmaker, which is why virtually all of the major aftermarket parts manufacturers (supercharger manufacturers, MAF manufacturers, ignition system manufacturers, etc.) have been using Superchips for many years to do their tuning R&D. Superchips has a much larger & far more experienced staff, better tuners, and far more experience in this field across the board, having pioneered the performance chip long ago, and having done much work directly for the automakers themselves. This gives them unique experience & knowledge that shows in the quality of their powertrain programs and the results of the product itself.

For us it's very simple, if another chipmaker had better tuning skills and capabilities in these vehicles, we'd be using them. Superchips does a better job day in and day out, and that's why we use them for our own personal vehicles, and recommend them to all our customers. Superchips is simply the best, which is why virtually everyone uses the Superchip as the standard to compare all others by.

If you'd like to go over any of this in detail, discuss the modifications you've done to your truck, how you're using it, what you're looking for performance-wise, etc., please feel free to give us a call.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

 

Just a little F.Y.I.yes SuperChips has been around longer than the Diablo Chips,but there programmers have been around a long time also,as a matter of fact one of there best programers used to work for SuperChips.Ive had them both And in my opinion I happen tp prefer the Diablo.Just my 0.2 worth good luck on whatever you decide

 

Just a little F.Y.I.yes SuperChips has been around longer than the Diablo Chips,but there programmers have been around a long time also,as a matter of fact one of there best programers used to work for SuperChips.Ive had them both And in my opinion I happen tp prefer the Diablo.Just my 0.2 worth good luck on whatever you decide

 

found from another site



Just who is Diablo???

We have been tuning for YEARS (since 1986 on fuel injected vehicles) and all of our software is designed in house by a team of real engineers and real tuners.

Our head tuners are the best in the business bar none. Patrick Stajdel started out in 1986, giving work to the Buick Grand Nationals w/ The Turbo Tune Company. Then at Hypertech, Patrick worked with one of the best chevy tuners/racers in the business. Patrick then went from Hypertech to Superchips in '92ish/'93ish. He did most everything for Superchips. European, American, Chevys, etc. Also he has done some stuff for Jet. He came to DiabloSport to help spearhead the company 2 years ago. Lee Hurley had some stuff done by Patrick. Patrick has done almost all the MEFI boats (MEFI 1 and MEFI 2), and will be doing them again w/ Diablo eventually.

Willie (if you want to know his last name, and I can't spell it right, haha, pick up any magazine w/ the latest BFGoodrich ad to see it) who is a World Ford Champion for like 5 years in a row and has been tuning since 1986 as well. He's ran a 5.32 in the 1/8 lately, and also runs 8.20's in the 1/4, all from a 351 Windsor powered mule w/ fuel injection. Oh, did I mention that it was STREET LEGAL, too? In the World Ford events he must do a 40 mile ride then has to hot lap 3 quarter mile runs to qualify for the race!

These boys also tuned the 10.87 second, NO NOS, 2003 Cobra at Bowling Green two weeks ago that was ran by Paul Svinicki of Paul's High Performance http://www.paulshp.com/paulshp.htm (the same person who NEVER would leave home w/out his Superchips flyer back in the days). Paul has also switched to Diablo from Superchips during this event. Don't forget about Johnny Lightning's 10.7 second DiabloSport tuned 2001 Lightning that weighs 4800#'s either.

Unlike others, our guys are not hired from Kodak. You'll be assured you do not have imaging equipment salesmen changing your parameters for you.

It's all about the tune and the tuner. A chip doesn't magically make your vehicle have better a/f's and more power. Let me put it this way: Whatever GM can do to the computer, we can do it. We're pretty limited in what parameters we can change, huh? I don't think so.

Also, our new Predator is years ahead of any company's handheld, and has now set the standard as to how all handhelds will be judged. We'll soon release it for Fords as well. The unit's screen is much larger, more legible, backlit, and extremely well laid out, versus any other handheld on the market. Also, the updates to it and custom programming can all be done by the web. No sending the unit back in order to get updates or have a custom program built. We give the end-user adjustment over his timing and fuel trims. Aside from shift rpms adjustment, shift firmness, and rev limiter, we also allow control of shift adaption (quickness), tire size adjustments, gears, speed limiters, fans, etc. We also include an OBD-2 Diagnostics tool inside the unit based heavily on the DiabloSport Hellion. You can read codes, and it will display the entire definition right there on the screen (no looking back in a book trying to figure out what the code means), plus you can reset the codes as well. It also reads and displays live data from the various sensors throughout the vehicle.

I also shouldn't forget about the new upcoming Revolution software and tuning schools, yes schools!, that will change the face of the tuning world. We wrote the book on Ford tuning (Secrets of Ford Tuning Revealed) and will soon release one on GM's, as well as Hondas!

Our company may only be a couple of years old, but our company leaders have been around longer than any company can claim that their guys have. We were founded by the best in the business and our goal, which we have already met, was to build a company to be the best in the industry. We offer 30 day money back guarantees and a lifetime warranty on our products, and because of our quality control and excellence to detail and longevity we're able to offer such a guarantee.

I would dare anyone to name one company that has the knowledge and years of tuning experience on electronic computer vehicles that DiabloSport has, and especially one that has experience on EFI tuning dating back as far as 1986.

 

Interesting post Gen2. Plenty of information on who Diablo is and what direction they are heading in.


It would be interesting IMO to see a unbiased source order chips from several companies and test them. Dynos and wideband O2s, along with overal driving impressions.

 

Kind of strange how Mike T just skipped over this thread while answering a dozen others... Just an unbiased observation...

 

Exactly my reasoning. As a 302 owner I would be more impressed with lower end gains vs peak output. I'm sure some of the 4.6 owners might feel the same.

I've seen some dynos that show a good spike at certain areas, but overall aren't very promising in real world applications.

 

Which chip is best then?

 

diablo is the maker of 4 bank chips

 

Hi JeffsLightning,

It's really a matter of the tuner's skills & the data available (meaning dyno data, power plots & A/F's as well as track & street data etc., whatever is required for the application at hand) as well as the exact platform being worked on & what it really requires, not the actual hardware used to deliver the program to the PCM. Overall, in our experience over the past decade+ in these vehicles, nobody has done a better job for us than Superchips has, but that's not to say that there aren't some good programs out there being made by others. We're very happy with the track record that Superchips has given us over the past decade+, as are our customers, and they continue to provide us with the best results.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that it doesn't have to be a matter of 1 product is good and all others are bad, but that's somewhat the nature of the beast in aftermarket performance or just about any competetive situation, each manufacturer claims to be "the best." In powertrain programming, for off-the-shelf non-custom applications we've never had anything give us the results that the Superchip tuning does, but we've also helped to develop features used in our Superchips programs here at Performance, and years of fine-tuning always helps. We've also had terrific results with our custom programs from Superchips, no other chipmaker has been willing to put as much sheer raw R&D into these vehicles as Superchips has whether it be in the "regular" F-150's, Expedition's, or in the Lightnings & Harleys.

The issue of 1 bank versus 4 in practical terms is really a matter of the amount of work the programmer/tuner has to do if he wants to stay legal. No chipmaker who wants to stay legal (and some don't, there have been lawsuits against chipmakers for infringing on other's code) uses *any* original Ford code or anyone else's code), but in reality almost nobody actually rewrites all 4 banks of the powertrain programming, as that is rarely required to alter the needed tuning functions & automatic transmission controls. That's why we don't see all chips being 4-bank units, it just isn't required in most FoMoCo vehicles. A 4-bank unit can be helpful in some cases in a situation where the PCM has been reflashed at a dealer, as long as the new code is from the same template as the original code was it will still work without being reprogrammed; however, it's not very often overall that the reflash is from the same template.

To do a 4-bank program legally, you have to completely rewrite every bit of code in all 4 banks, leaving *none* of the original manufacturer's code. In the Superchip, only 1 bank is altered as that is all that is required for tuning the vehicles on which that product is used, with the exception of speedo functions in the V-10 SuperDuty. Engine tuning & transmission control all gets down to 3 basic functions, Flags (switches), Functions & Tables, both 2D & 3D, and the controls needed for tuning these F-150 platform vehicles are in the bank that most performance chips address.

In some cases, a 4-bank chip is actually used because the chipmaker *can't* tune the new vehicle properly, but instead needs to trick the PCM into thinking it's an earlier model year. In fact, this happened to one of the companies being touted in this thread when the 2001 Lightning's first came out; they couldn't tune the CXN1 code in the 2001 Lightning correctly back then, so they had to put a CUX1 or CUX2-code 4-bank chip (from the 1999 & 2000 model year Lightnings respectively) on the PCM to tune it.

There are chips out there that are runing too lean in an effort to show the highest power numbers on an inertia chassis dyno, which typically have a combined weight of 3600 lbs. in their rollers (giving a static 3600 lb. load). Running leaner is a mistake some tuners make in an effort to claim the highest power, but it's not about the highest power, it's about the highest *safe & sustainable* power for the application at hand. The A/F that gets the highest dyno number on one of these heavy trucks is not always the A/F that gets it down the 1/4 mile the quickest, in fact, in these 5000 lb. + trucks, that's *rarely* the ticket to the quickest times. I don't like to see them any leaner than about 12.4:1 - *maybe* 12.6:1 in these normally aspirated F-150's on pump premium. If we've got a 3400 lb. vehicle, sure, we can run a bit leaner and not hurt the motor when the load is on in high gear at sustained WOT. It really gets down to a matter of tuning for the application at hand; if it was a light weight high-revving Honda motor, sure, run it at maybe as much as 12.8:1, they don't have the load to contend with. It's a matter of tuning for suitability of purpose too, and in the "typical" F-150, that means it's usually used as a towing vehicle as well, making load even higher.

The bottom line is what matters is proper tuning for the application at hand, which at this site is Ford trucks & SUV's. There is no one best chip for all applications, it's a matter of what is required for the actual application at hand and how the vehicle is to be used. Whatever accomplishes that without infringing on anyone else's code is fine by us, so if someone is happy with their Diablo unit, great, we're happy for them. If someone else is happy with their Hypertech, again, good for them. The more chipmakers that actually do a better job, the better off the entire industry is.

We use Superchips tuning and programs with features we have helped to develop for these trucks & SUV's as nobody else has done a better job on any of our applications over the years, and we've tried them all, every "name" chipmaker in the business. Our customer's trucks have won just about everything from WFC drag racing events to Silver State Classic ultra-high speed events with Superchips tuning we have provided, as well as the Superchip doing the best job of tuning for the much more typical daily driver uses of these vehicles, and that's why we use them, they simply do the best job for us.

 

You can't just program section of a flash chip. It must all be erased then reflashed. You can't pick and choose which bits to change on a flash program. Otherwise, the Microtuner's flash would not work correctly on the vehicle. Superchips can't state that they do not use oem coding, because they do.

Also, CUX files are not from the same template as CXN; they will never interchange, even with 4 bank files.

 

Now let me make sure I understand your level of knowledge Mr. generation 2...........

Your first post was a dip sh*t question like this.....

Gen2 Lightning
Junior Member

Registered: Aug 2002
Location:
Posts: 9
Does a chip set a permanent unerasable code in the computer?
I was told that it does. Is this true?

Now at post number nine you are giving out in depth information on the programming characteristics of a super chip....LMAO.

I just wanted to ask you...who are you, really now?

I wanted you to know that your credibility is somewhat suspect.


Rocks