wmtheflash

I have a stock '06 GT with an automatic and wanted to increase the firmness of my shifts. My last car was a Corvette auto with a shift kit, it would go into gear HARD and I actually enjoyed it very much. I understand that the SCT Strategy Flash is for unmodified cars and I do plan on keeping it stock, again, I'm just looking to really "wake up" the automatic.

Here are my questions:

I assume the device comes with an 87, 91, and 93 octane tune. Has anyone experienced any pinging or other problems associated with the lower octane tunes? I'm assuming the factory tunes are pretty mild as to be completely safe in an unmodified vehicle. The last thing I want to do is damage the car or harm it's long term reliability.

Should I run the 87 octane tune or just increase line pressure to improve the firmness of the shifts manually? I'm looking for better throttle response and vastly improved shift quality. Will I be happy with the stock tunes that come with the SF Strategy?

By how much does the factory tune improve shift quality? Remember, I'm use to an automatic that would whip your head forward and rock the car when it changed gears.

Does anyone have any suggestions for automatic transmission shift patterns? My last performance car was an early 70's 'Vette, so having a different feeling for WOT as opposed to steady acceleration intrigues me a bit. As much as I loved my old shift kit, it could get annoying in heavy traffic. Has anyone experimented with shift points and line pressure in their automatic GT? Please, share what you've learned.

When I first read about these tuners it made me wonder why Ford left so much to be improved upon. I understand about the firmness of the shifts, that's a comfort thing, my Dad has a '04 automatic GT and he absolutely hated the harsh shifting of my Corvette. As far as throttle lag, though, why would Ford leave any at all?

One of the techs at SCT posted to their board and speculated that the factory wanted to limit driveline clunk and "other reasons". So, has anyone notice any driveline clunk after using SCT? Any speculation as to what the "other reasons" might be? Just curious!

grasshopper

I have the Strategy Flash, but my car is a manual. The SF is basically SCT trying to take a little bit of the pie that the tuner shops are serving with their canned tunes. I have used the 87 and 91 performance tunes and was happy with both. I am using an Airaid intake though, so my car isn't exactly stock, but it is using the venturi restrictor for near stocklike airflow. The 87 tune alone provided a pretty good punch, and the 91 pretty much doubled the effect of the 87perf.

Probably the best part of the SF is that it contains tunes for three or four popular intakes (unfortunately, not the Airaid), plus pretty much every EFI Mustang, so its very verstile if you aren't dead set on an intake yet.

As for throttle response, it is spot on after flashing the computer. I won't say that the throttle lag is gone, but it's in the realm of milliseconds instead of whole seconds. For my manual, I can rev match on downshifts like a normal car now, especially when the A/C is running, which was a pain before.

So, if you're not buying an intake yet, or at all, I would definitely suggest getting the SF. I can't say anything on shift points as I never even looked at that function, but for everything else it is great. As most users will have the regular XCal2, their info on the shift setup will translate to the SF.

Go Blue 48044

This link should help. http://www.alternativeauto.com/prods...tang_tune.html

W1ldcat

I have an Evolution SCT tune and the way it's set up it shifts firmer when driving normaly. Under WOT it's very firm and shifts right now. Barks it hard into 2nd with my stock 18's. I assume it's the same with the 87 one, but I wanted and have only used the hard shift. I did have him put in my tuner a performance 93 with softer shift in case I didn't like the hard shift. Once I loaded the hard shift I left it alone.

wmtheflash

Thanks to everyone that submitted. I'll be sure to post a full report later this week when my tuner comes in the mail. Check back Thursday or Friday if you're interested.

wmtheflash

Ok, My SCT Strategy Flash was delivered via UPS today. I ordered directly from the company, received prompt service and my device was loaded with all the newest updates from SCT.

I prepped the car yesterday by running the car down to about a gallon or a gallon and half of 87 octane. I then added a few gallons of 93 octane, burned up about two gallons and then filled the entire tank with 93...just to be safe!

The manual warns you to remove the fuses for the fan and the fuel pump during the flash. By the way, is this really necessary for our cars? The manual hints that newer vehicles may not need these fuses removed first.

I plugged it into the diagnostic port and followed the on screen instructions. By the way, this device is much more capable than I had thought. You choose your settings from an entire list, starting with octane. I noticed that the device supported some modifications, for example, four CAI's: Steeda, PHP, JLT and C&L. I noticed that I could select 87 octane and change the stock airbox to any of these, which means if I get a CAI I'll still be able to switch between 93 octane and 87 octane. Thumbs up!

It didn't take long to back up the tune and install a new one. The car made a clicking noise (normal, I suppose? It wasn't a fuse blowing, I checked). I re-installed the fuses I had removed as a precaution and I was done. Piece of cake!

Many of the settings are a bit too expert for me and I don't have access to a dyno, which means if I didn't know what it meant or I didn't know how to adjust properly, I left it alone.

Aside from changing the octane to 93, I also changed the Shift Press settings (remember, I have an automatic). It let's you adjust the shift firmness at wide open throttle (WOT) for each gear shift. It adjusts between 0 (stock, the defualt) to 25%.

Driving Impressions:

- Throttle response: Much improved!
- Power: Yes, yes, definitely more torque! I have no idea how much, but I can tell.
- Gas mileage: I drove the car quite a bit tonight and I believe gas mileage has increased. I'd say in the neighborhood of 1 to 2 mpg. However, when accelerating hard I this I was using a little more gas than usual.

The engine RPM doesn't spike all of the sudden when the car is started. The vehicle appears to idle at a lower RPM, maybe? Overall, the engine feels like it's running more smoothly.

I think the exhuast note might be a little less throaty? Has anyone else noticed? Maybe it's just my imagination?

My shift points have also changed. I believe Ford had the car shifting from 1st to 2nd much sooner than the SCT tune. I prefer the SCT shift points better. I don't really plan on changing them.

- Shift firmness. I was debating a shift kit or this device. The SCT Strategy Flash tuner (can't speak for a custom SCT Tune, it's A LOT more adjustable, but requires a dealer tune your car or send you his canned tune) adjusts WOT shift firmness. It works, shifting very quickly between the gears. I wouldn't call the shifts violent or harsh, but they are better and combined with the throttle response and the increased power I'm very happy with this modification.

Firmness seems to have gotten better at other throttle positions, but it may just be the improved shift strategy that's giving me the effect. It is nice to have the car shift harder at WOT as opposed to stop and go driving, so that's one advantage over a shift kit. The shift kit would probably do more for shift feel, I suppose. I also understand that a custom SCT Tune from a dealer can do more than the SCT Strategy Flash.

Final note: Great bang for your buck. It worked as advertised and the engine seemings to be running more efficiently and smoother. It's so simple you almost can't screw it up. If you can read, then you should be ok!

Remember that real gains come from a switch to a higher octane tune, even though I haven't tried the 87 octane tune or Economy tune, I certainly wouldn't expect much.

Remember that the SCT Strategy Flash software can easily be converted to an XCAL2. So, if you buy the SCT SF now, then don't sweat it, you can change it whenever you like, however, once you convert the SCT SF to an XCAL2, you can't go back.

grasshopper

Nice writeup.

My assumption on the removing the fuses part is being grandmaish to protect themselves. Supposing you had a low battery, you could potentially lose power while flashing which turns the ECU into a paper weight, unless I'm mistaken. It's a one in a billion chance, but it probably happened at least once, which is why it's in the manual.

RED121572

Yes, nice right up.

I dont wanna be the one to put a damper on your holiday, but the car will learn how you drive and the shift firmness will decrease in a big hurry.

After about 50 miles, the shift between 2-3 in my car gets a little stupid/soft again. About once every two weeks, Ill reload the tune to tighten the shifts up again.

slowpozer

With the XCal you can access shift firmness directly (one, two, or three for each gear, I think). Can't you do it with your flash device? The auto does try to be too smart for perfomance drivers. With 3500 setting there may be a way to turn learning off.

wmtheflash

XCal2 will let you tinker around a lot more than SF (same device, different programming). The SCT Strategy Flash let's you tune the shift firmness for each gear, but ONLY under WOT. Likewise, WOT shift points can be adjusted.

Shift points have definitely changed at other throttle positions. I'm still not convince that shift firmness has improved under light or medium acceleration. There could be a bit of the placibo effect going on here. I could definitely see the computer re-adjusting the shift points after a while, therby requiring a reflash.

What I can say is that shift firmness did improve at WOT for certain. I increased "Shift Press" for all gears by 10% at first and merged onto the interstate at WOT. There was no question then, as the auto shifted faster and harder. (I wish I had increased shift pressure to 25% at first!) Although, at 10% the tune was not equal to the shift kit I had in my old 'Vette's TH-400 transmission.

Slowpozer, have you noticed a change in shift firmness under WOT over time?

I know the delay I was experiencing before was a combination of throttle delay and delay in the automatic transmission. I'll be sure to repost if the too-smart-for-its-own-good transmission "unlearns" what SCT taught it, or at least to the point that it makes a significant difference. With the lag gone from the throttle I may not feel the need, but we'll see in a few weeks.

Thank you for the website, Go Blue 48044, throttle lag is definitely engineered into the vehicle. Here is SCT's explaination of why thorttle lag was engineered into the Mustang:

http://www.sctflash.com/forum/showth...riveline+clunk

I think I heard the clunk they were talking about last night during the test. In my case, it's hard to hear over the Shaker 1000. My friend's Cobra has some driveline clunk, I don't think it's hurting anything, it's just a noise. I can't blame Ford for programming the throttle the way it did, if reviewers reported the car was clunky it would definitely hurt sales.

I'm still happy that I went this route, though, as the vehicle has more power and better throttle response with the 93 octane tune. I'm reading these boards and gains with a 93 octane tune and a CAI are ranging anywhere betwen 15 - 25 HP and 20 - 30 ft lbs of torque throughout the entire range. That's a very impressive gain over stock for so little time and effort!