SCT tuner

[Lincolnmania]

my 95 thunderbird has a 4.6 and it is obd2............i want to raise top speed and sqweeze a few more hp out of the turd.......i see that the old sct microtuner has 94 and 95 turd/cougar listed......worth the money mangs?

[nitroracer]

I thought OBD II started in 1996?

[Lincolnmania]

94 for the mn12 chassis

[BigTomZ]

you might be better off seeing who can create a custom tune on an xcalibrator for you. the microtuner can wake the car up some, but won't get you the most out of it.

[p71towny]

BigTomZ, is my reinhart chip giving me the best possible tune?? I always wondered if that was the best option, the first time he didn't program for the MM maf/airbox and I finaly had to send my whole computer to him. Thanks for any input.

[BigTomZ]

He is a good tuner, some regard him as one of the better tuners out there. Since the MM airbox/maf combo I have been through a tune from Reinhart and from Lonnie at BOC.

The tune from Lonnie seems better to me. It has a better progressive shift setup. I took 3 people out for a ride one highway 0-100 run on each tune in the middle of the night. They all said the tune from Lonnie felt faster, I didn't tell them until after that I also felt that way.

Also, Lonnie was more involved in answering my questions and making sure the tune was just how I wanted. I'm not knocking Reinhart though, his tune was good, but Lonnie was just a little better, at least in my case.

[RedThunder8]

I would go through Lonnie at Blue Oval Chips and get a custom tune on an XCalibrator. (He provides excellent customer service and relaly helps out.) The Microtuners don't give you enough customizeable options and thus do not give you the same level of performance.

[p71towny]

Thanks fellas. For now my chip will have to do as money is going towards a wedding but I value your opinions as you have had personal experience with both setups.

[mrltd]

Get a chip and get it dyno tuned...Just need a buncha $$....

[merc6]

I rep lidio's X-cal2 tune.

"From Lidio Himself about Tuning Marauders:

Alternative Auto has designed a new tune for Marauders with the stock 3.55 or 4.10's (we highly recommend 4.10 gears for the Marauder). The 4.10 gear program will handle all the necessary recalibrations for the 4.10's, like shift points and correct speedo reading.

Our calibration on the Xcalibrator flasher makes a significant difference in both horsepower and torque in the most usable area of the Marauders everyday driving power-band - low end & mid range.

One very cool feature we've unlocked on our Marauder tune is the ability to shut off the alternator at “Wide-Open-Throttle”. The Marauder is one of the few Ford vehicles that came from the factory with the ability to shut off the Alternator at WOT, but Ford choose not to take advantage of. By shutting off the alternator at WOT we found this alone to be worth 4-5 RWHP with no adverse affects on the vehicle.

At this time we are not recommending colder plugs nor cooler thermostats as we've found the detonation threshold to be the same between 185 - 210 degree F engine temps.

One of the most significant changes made with our tune and the Xcalibrator flasher are several enhancements to transmission operations. We have made a noticeable improvement in how the Marauder's transmission feels when shifting at light load and part throttle loads, plus substantially firmer shifts at wide open throttle. A key calibration area we've focused on is torque converter lock-up. We've basically made converter lock-up inactive until speeds above 63 mph have been reached in 4th gear. This makes a Marauder feel much peppier at intermediate speeds in city driving. This change also eliminates the unnecessary, frequent “up-and-down-hunting” shift at intermediate speeds. To sum it up, these transmission changes make the car respond much more quickly and feel like it's in the correct gear at all times during city driving speeds.

Full throttle shift points are raised slightly and made more consistent at 6100 rpm - which from our testing appears to be optimal for the Marauder engine. The vehicle top-speed limiter is also removed."