To chip or not
 

I'm researching chips for my 2001 GT with 30,000 kms. Can anybody provide pros or cons? Which one are you using? Did you install yourself? Car is strictly for cruising but I want more punch...

Has anybody dealt with Steeda in Milton? Good or bad experiences?


Thanks for your help.

Steeda is a good place, I have nothing bad to say about them.
Are you looking for a chip or a tune?
Its for your 01 GT I assume witch is OBD II so I assume you are going with a tune or a hand held device? I would not do it unless you have more basic mods done first but thats just me. I would hate to see you do a useless tune on stock then add more parts and have to get it re-tuned later....

Have you done any other mods first? Under drive pulley's, CAI, Intakes, cam, Throttle body, exhaust, etc....?
If not you might wanna do some of these basics first then worry about a tune.

Just my 2 cents

What he said.
With mine, = 4 cents. :biggrin:

Thanks, I appreciate the input. I have the K&n cold air kit and the exhaust is done. Can you suggest the next logical step? Again she's just a cruiser but I get a little envious from the awesome power and sound some of the other Mustangs have at the local cruise in the summer.

Tim Allen says it best..."more power"...argh argh argh....

Steeda use to be a sponsor here i have read. My understanding is when their tuner left the company and went out to tune for Steeda US, they dropped support for this forum and lost what many people thought was a good tuner.

I think you need to find out who is the actual tuner of your car.

Most of this software is fairly similar to tuners.

Make sure you don't get some ricer giving you a VTEC tune. :laughhard

As for a tune,i say yes!You would notice a diffrence on how she performs,get's every last bit out of her by bumping timing,and getting the a/f that much more perfected.

There are small things to gain a little bit of HP's like

Under drive pulley's, Intakes, Throttle body

UDP's are only like $120.00 and you gain like 15 HP I felt some difference right away with revs and take off.

If your looking for a tune well you can try contacting Paul Meister, very intelligent person!
I think he charges $350 - $450 for the first hour then $150 for every hour after that, he says it doesn't usually take more then 2 hours so your looking at a good $500.00 or so.
But like Low03 said you gonna get Max timing, best A/F ratio's, and a small increase of HP.

You can also contact him Via email: paul.meister@hotmail.com

What do you mean working for Steeda USA, where did you hear that??

if your car has very few mods IE cold air intake/exhaust, your wasting your money chipping at this point in the game. IF however you are planning on installing a power adder then by all means chip away. but at this point, I would say its a waste of time. take your stock ride and enjoy the turn key and go aspect of it till you dive in further with the mods.

Thanks friend. That's likely what I'll do, just enjoy it the way it is. I pulled her out of the garage today in the sunshine and let her run. When is it going to be spring?:)

I'd go with swapping the rear end gear if you want a great get-up-and-go mod

talk to Pat at Steeda about a gear swap

stock gear in your car is a 3:27......go to a 3:73 or a 4:10

it's get a bit pricey

gear = about $300
install - around the same $300
might wanna consider an aluminum driveshaft while you're in there - $300ish
you'll have 2 options on recallibrating the speedo, a speedcal unit (forget the price but cheaper than a chip) or a chip.....now the chip (SCT preferred here) will cost you bucks...but if you plan future power-adder mods then you're already set and don't need to buy the chip

I had a totally stock engine with just an X-pipe and catback when I swapped to 4:10s and they completely transformed the way the car drove

these 4.6 2V motors love a taller gear....I have no idea what Ford was thinking putting 3:27s in there

thats a great point Tim.

But he will still need a programmer/chip to correct the speedo.....Fords biggest down fall.....:banghead:.
But Tim is right,4.10's...bang for the buck!:tup

What would 4:10s do to any highway driving? Or am I looking at one or the other, great acceleration and poor hwy, or soft off the line and good hwy? Based on my current driving, gears might be the way to go.

I don't know exactly how much 4:10 gears will affect your hwy mileage but I know 3:73's are not that much of different fuel mileage wise. Don't know if that is what you wondering, but it will just accelerate so much better in any gear with a modular motor. But as others have stated, the bang for the buck acceleration is worth a gear upgrade. Your car will feel much faster with a gear swap.

As for the CHIP upgrade, a handheld device like a SCT or Diablosport tuner are also useful as they can correct the above gear change (fixing your speedo readout) as well as allow you to make changes if you run a tire that is different from the factory size (this also affects you speedo reading).

I am thinking about getting an SCT tuner myself but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Its an investment in 'future mods' to your car.

Not much really.At 120 kph you will be at 2500 rpm or so.
I use to use my GT to cruise up North to visit family for just shy of 6 hours with 4.10's out back,no gas issues,and she didn't sound like she was rev'ing the sh!t out of herself either.It is the best all around gear for the 4.6L.I had 3.73's before,wasn't enough in my opinion.My old 5.0L with 3.55's felt like it had more ballz then my '03 GT did with 3.73's LMAO...:bleh:
Choose your gear once,and save on laybour.I wished i did!:banghead:
A lot of old schoolers would/will say that 4.10's are to much,tell them to drive a 4.6L first,then answer the question later!:wink:

my little ol' turbo 4 loves the 3.73's... but yeah there are many who get the 3.73s then go up with the modulars.

/\/\/\ Very true!! /\/\/\

Should be a sticky on this.....
5.0L to 4.6L
3.55 = 3.73
3.73 = 4.10
4.10 = 4.30

As stated in an old Muscle Mustang magazine i believe,or maybe 5.0 magazine...Been awhile to remember LOL!

my 95 gt had 2.73's sotck, and i just put 3.73's in it this winter, cant wait till spring to try her out. . .

A little bit of thread revival here.

I have 3:73s and it revs around 2100rpm at 100km/h. I wouldn't want to go any higher than that.

I was looking into a chip/tuner to. I have CAI, bigger throttle body and exhaust. I'm looking into getting pulleys and a cam and would like to get it all running at max performance.

I was looking at the SCT tuners at americanmuscle.com ... Are those from Steeda? I'm not sure. Does anyone have any experience with these?

[QUOTE=Nightmare;110024]A little bit of thread revival here.

I have 3:73s and it revs around 2100rpm at 100km/h. I wouldn't want to go any higher than that.

I was looking into a chip/tuner to. I have CAI, bigger throttle body and exhaust. I'm looking into getting pulleys and a cam and would like to get it all running at max performance.

I was looking at the SCT tuners at americanmuscle.com ... Are those from Steeda? I'm not sure. Does anyone have any experience with these?[/QUOTE]

The SCT tuners from American Muscle are the same as the SCT tuners you buy anywhere else with one difference.....the tune.
I have yet to hear anyone who raved about how great the tune from American Muscle was when they bought a tuner from them.

They are a good company to deal with overall but I think whoever does their tunes is still learning the finer points of the 4.6 (in my opinion).