Bossman302F

Would putting on a more aggressive exhaust system and a better cold air intake mess with the track key tuning ? Is there a better tune out there for performance ?

Brandon302

Anything custom would probably be better, no it won't have engine braking and what not but it will probably get the best out of your mods. Lots like either Lund or AED. In B4 Steeda.

tj@steeda

I can't speak to other tuners ... but from Steeda's perspective ... our tune disables the track key. On the good side, Our tune is far better than the track key tune.

Compared to other companies ... Steeda has had 0 issues when it comes to tuning and your warranty. We may not be the most powerful out there ... but we won't precipitate damage by taking your tune to a "dark" area.

Installing any Cold air with a larger MAF housing (Steeda, JLT, ect) will require a new tune which will disable the track key again.

You will be very happy with a new tune, exhaust & CAI from Steeda if you choose to go this route.

We just sold this beauty ... and it had what I described above.

http://www.steeda.com/blog/2012/11/i...2-laguna-seca/

Let me know if you would like to talk about your options ... you can contact me at tim@steeda.com.

Best Regards,

TJ

SteedaGus

Just wanted to clarify one thing, while you can't use your track key if your car is tuned, returning it back to stock with the SCT device will restore the function of the track key if you already own it.

65sohc

I'll preface my comments by saying that I am one of the few, if not only people who has gone from a custom tune to TracKey. The answer to your question depends on how you define "aggressive exhaust." If that means ditching the stock cats then you will have no choice but to get an aftermarket tune. If aggressive means louder and the open quad pipes aren't loud enough replace them with some stubby turn downs. As far as a less restrictive CAI (yes, the factory system is restrictive to the tune of 10+hp) the C&L in "no tune" configuration outflows the factory system by 40% and is compatible with the TracKey.

DGRacing

I really wouldn't make that claim. There are a lot of features in track key the steeda CAI tune (when I had it) didn't have. And the reason is Ford kept those tune parameters in trackkey closed to tuners. For example, engine braking, exhaust note, decel throttle response, timing, etc. All things track key will do better than email tunes.

65sohc

I will reiterate, as someone who has had Steeda, AED, and Ford Racing tunes. If your plan is to remain legal, Ie. stock cats, TracKey is the best option.

Brandon302

Engine braking sure but the rest I am sure can be done with other tunes. Engine note is going to come from the timing and what not.

DGRacing

There's a lot of stuff in track key and of course its a total package. Tuners haven't cracked the secrets of track key. Of course, they can discover for themselves some of the parameters, but track key will remain Ford proprietary.

Brandon302

Yeah they won't crack it, but that argument is like saying name brand food is better than the store brand stuff because name brand knows the special ingredient. In the end they taste the same.

DGRacing

If i could make a burger as tasty as In-n-Out (west coast) or 5 Guys (east coast) those places would be out of business. But the name brand stuff is better because the cooks keep their secrets.

ninjacrooks

Ridiculous. C'mon, man

P0 Corsa

The debate over whether one should go with Ford’s Track Key (TK) or an aftermarket tune can only be answered by what the INDIVIDUAL owner wants from his car. What one owner wants out of his tune may be completely different from what another owner wants. So a posting from some owner saying which tune should I get, has no answer. The topic just fans the fires from others telling the owner what he should get based on their preception of the other owner's need. The answer requires some thought. The person asking the question needs to research what they want out of their car and then look at the various tune options.

There are plusses and minuses to all the tunes. TK modifies hundreds of engine variables and gives you altered engine acceleration/deceleration responses along with a temperature/time invoked idle different than stock. And your 3/36K warranty from Ford remains intact. But it does not, nor did Ford Racing (FR) ever advertise it would enable the engine to produce more power. 444 hp is the advertised power with or without TK. And the plethora of published dyno runs by owners with/without TK basically validate FR’s claim that TK will not give the owner any more power.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGRacing

I really wouldn't make that claim. There are a lot of features in track key the steeda CAI tune (when I had it) didn't have. And the reason is Ford kept those tune parameters in trackkey closed to tuners. For example, engine braking, exhaust note, decel throttle response, timing, etc. All things track key will do better than email tunes.

DG, I agree. I have personally talked at length with the Ford software engineer who brought forward and developed the TK logic. At the time of development, there was a “significant” Ford team dissatisfaction with how easily commercial vendors could reprogram/alter the engine Engine Control Unit (ECU) software logic. Obviously there is an important financial warranty concern if engine parameters could be modified by a tuner leading to engine failure, the ECU reprogrammed back to “stock” and the car presented to Ford for a warranty claim. Ford certainly understood this exposure and went to extraordinary software measures to encrypt much of the TK code and other telltale tracking logics. After talking to the Ford software engineer and knowing a bit about code, I would think it unlikely a tuner could modify the TK software. This probably is why it appears from various posts, the tuners just deactivate the TK logic and put their own into the ECU although I have been told by some in the know that even this presents some programming difficulties.

IMO whether you road race your car, use it for drag racing or just cruising to the local auto show, think about what you want (if anything) from your car tune, do your homework and then execute on a tune to your specific car needs.

Gogoggansgo

I know you guys and bama are the only who tune for reliability and I have to say its nice knowing I can trust you and bamas tunes