My thoughts on the Superchips 3872
10-07-2014, 10:10 AM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
My thoughts on the Superchips 3872
Hey all. Just picked up over the weekend the Superchips 3872 programmer. I know there's other folks that have added their thoughts and such but having tuned other vehicles with real tuning software and/or hardware, I wanted to toss my input in.
I've had experience in ECUFlash, EvoScan, and GReddy's e-Manage setups on my previous vehicles. Mainly just to go fast -- adjusting fuel, timing, etc. just to make oodles of power. When I purchased my Jeep, I went mildly crazy with a week or so lull before purchasing and installing a lift and 35" tires as well as a new front bumper and winch. With all of that, I knew that my gas mileage had taken a dump and based that loosely on what the information center in the gauge cluster says. I just forget to write things down so I figured that'd be a good a reference. Stock I was scoring about 15mpg with a mix of 65-70mph highway driving and 40-50mph city driving. Once I got the goodies installed, I noticed I was dipping in to the 12.9 range on my daily commute so it was time to get something to recoop that mileage.
I wasn't concerned too much about power because I'm bound and determined to use 87 octane now since I've used 93 or higher for the past 10 years. The Jeep isn't going to win any races anyway so my primary concern was to normalize mileage, speedometer, and odometer.
The device:
It's larger than the pictures with plenty of cable to comfortably sit and load the tunes. I have a PocketScan scan tool which has like a 12" cable which is horrible so it's nice to see a decent length of cable. As well, the screen is very visible which is pleasant. Buttons click nicely and overall looks like a nicely built piece.
Updating:
I run Mac's at the house with the exception of my daughters laptop because she's 14...and she can barely take care of a fish, let alone a $1400 Mac so I dug out her Windows 7 laptop and loaded up the program to update. I've got a nice connection at the house so the program downloaded quickly but updating was a little more than what I expected. It definitely took a little more time that what I expected so note: do not attempt this if you're in a hurry.
Flashing:
I chose the 87 octane tune and did so in advanced mode to update my tire size to the 34.25" that my Trail Grapplers measured up to. Flashing took a painfully long time. This is unlike any other software I've used and just kept going. File 1 took a good while. Next thing I know there's a file 2. Then a 3...Finally a 4!!! I'd say I sat that there for a good 45 minutes loading the flash.
After flashing, I wanted to go through things and make sure I was good to go by going into the vehicle settings and options. My tire size wasn't changed from stock, so I changed that again. This is where I was floored. I thought once I added the new tire size, I'd be able to go back to the previous screen and change other parameters like my lane change, DRLs, etc. No go. As soon as I pressed OK, it began building a file. I had to go through the normal sequence of events which includes pressing OK, blah blah, then turning the ignition off, then on, then off, then on again. The one good thing about this, there was an audible beep when I had to take action. This let me do other stuff while it was flashing, but is not recommended by Superchips. Apparently if something funks up, you want to see where it goofed up as well as not bump the cord or the OBD plug.
So I took a few minutes and tweaked things the way I wanted and then fired up the Jeep. Nothing surprising. No hamsters churning mightily, no throaty awesome engine sounds letting the world know I had a "tunne".
Impressions:
The wife wanted to do a bunch of stuff that day so we took the Jeep. When I took off from the house, I noticed a little "jerk" action going on. Thought nothing of it and then took off again -- same thing. It seems that there's a little bit more low end. It feels more powerful just by normal driving. I wasn't straining to take off and nothing seemed sluggish. +1 for the 87 octane tune!
Hit the highways and navigated through Miami and ended up downtown after about 25 miles. Figured it'd be a good time to check the trucks information center for mileage. 14.0. Uh...what?! Ok! I'll take it. Still, thought maybe because it was a lot of highway driving so I've been driving since Saturday with this tune and I'm steady at a 14.4mpg reading. +2 now! I've also noticed, just by looking at the nav unit that my dash MPH was spot on. Prior, it was off about 2-3 miles per hour from what I could tell. +3.
Overall:
I think it's a good investment especially if you'd like to use 93 octane. I have no proof that this would give more seat of the pants power, but judging by the 87 octane, I definitely have a little more oomph. I'm not doing WOT runs in this thing. As well, I'm just stoked over the mileage increase. I'm sure in a year, the savings will pay for the $350 cost of the tuner. Finally, I dig some of the other options you can use it for. Rubicon owners have a couple of more features but overall, they're similar.
So while it isn't a $300-$500 custom tune, hours on a dyno, or a $600 piece of hardware along with tuning costs, it still does what it says. Is it slow? Yeah. It's slow to load the tunes and all of that but you won't die -- I'm pretty sure; although frustrating and boring. Is it going to blow your mind? Maybe. Maybe not. But, I'm sure it will remove some of the factory clean air, restrictive, etc. factory ECU tune the Jeep has in order to keep the masses happy.
Sorry for the long winded post and sorry for reposting more of the same info...Just wanted to chime in.
I've had experience in ECUFlash, EvoScan, and GReddy's e-Manage setups on my previous vehicles. Mainly just to go fast -- adjusting fuel, timing, etc. just to make oodles of power. When I purchased my Jeep, I went mildly crazy with a week or so lull before purchasing and installing a lift and 35" tires as well as a new front bumper and winch. With all of that, I knew that my gas mileage had taken a dump and based that loosely on what the information center in the gauge cluster says. I just forget to write things down so I figured that'd be a good a reference. Stock I was scoring about 15mpg with a mix of 65-70mph highway driving and 40-50mph city driving. Once I got the goodies installed, I noticed I was dipping in to the 12.9 range on my daily commute so it was time to get something to recoop that mileage.
I wasn't concerned too much about power because I'm bound and determined to use 87 octane now since I've used 93 or higher for the past 10 years. The Jeep isn't going to win any races anyway so my primary concern was to normalize mileage, speedometer, and odometer.
The device:
It's larger than the pictures with plenty of cable to comfortably sit and load the tunes. I have a PocketScan scan tool which has like a 12" cable which is horrible so it's nice to see a decent length of cable. As well, the screen is very visible which is pleasant. Buttons click nicely and overall looks like a nicely built piece.
Updating:
I run Mac's at the house with the exception of my daughters laptop because she's 14...and she can barely take care of a fish, let alone a $1400 Mac so I dug out her Windows 7 laptop and loaded up the program to update. I've got a nice connection at the house so the program downloaded quickly but updating was a little more than what I expected. It definitely took a little more time that what I expected so note: do not attempt this if you're in a hurry.
Flashing:
I chose the 87 octane tune and did so in advanced mode to update my tire size to the 34.25" that my Trail Grapplers measured up to. Flashing took a painfully long time. This is unlike any other software I've used and just kept going. File 1 took a good while. Next thing I know there's a file 2. Then a 3...Finally a 4!!! I'd say I sat that there for a good 45 minutes loading the flash.
After flashing, I wanted to go through things and make sure I was good to go by going into the vehicle settings and options. My tire size wasn't changed from stock, so I changed that again. This is where I was floored. I thought once I added the new tire size, I'd be able to go back to the previous screen and change other parameters like my lane change, DRLs, etc. No go. As soon as I pressed OK, it began building a file. I had to go through the normal sequence of events which includes pressing OK, blah blah, then turning the ignition off, then on, then off, then on again. The one good thing about this, there was an audible beep when I had to take action. This let me do other stuff while it was flashing, but is not recommended by Superchips. Apparently if something funks up, you want to see where it goofed up as well as not bump the cord or the OBD plug.
So I took a few minutes and tweaked things the way I wanted and then fired up the Jeep. Nothing surprising. No hamsters churning mightily, no throaty awesome engine sounds letting the world know I had a "tunne".
Impressions:
The wife wanted to do a bunch of stuff that day so we took the Jeep. When I took off from the house, I noticed a little "jerk" action going on. Thought nothing of it and then took off again -- same thing. It seems that there's a little bit more low end. It feels more powerful just by normal driving. I wasn't straining to take off and nothing seemed sluggish. +1 for the 87 octane tune!
Hit the highways and navigated through Miami and ended up downtown after about 25 miles. Figured it'd be a good time to check the trucks information center for mileage. 14.0. Uh...what?! Ok! I'll take it. Still, thought maybe because it was a lot of highway driving so I've been driving since Saturday with this tune and I'm steady at a 14.4mpg reading. +2 now! I've also noticed, just by looking at the nav unit that my dash MPH was spot on. Prior, it was off about 2-3 miles per hour from what I could tell. +3.
Overall:
I think it's a good investment especially if you'd like to use 93 octane. I have no proof that this would give more seat of the pants power, but judging by the 87 octane, I definitely have a little more oomph. I'm not doing WOT runs in this thing. As well, I'm just stoked over the mileage increase. I'm sure in a year, the savings will pay for the $350 cost of the tuner. Finally, I dig some of the other options you can use it for. Rubicon owners have a couple of more features but overall, they're similar.
So while it isn't a $300-$500 custom tune, hours on a dyno, or a $600 piece of hardware along with tuning costs, it still does what it says. Is it slow? Yeah. It's slow to load the tunes and all of that but you won't die -- I'm pretty sure; although frustrating and boring. Is it going to blow your mind? Maybe. Maybe not. But, I'm sure it will remove some of the factory clean air, restrictive, etc. factory ECU tune the Jeep has in order to keep the masses happy.
Sorry for the long winded post and sorry for reposting more of the same info...Just wanted to chime in.
10-07-2014, 02:40 PM
#3
JK Newbie
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You sir are a lucky dog! But lets be honest here. Your old mileage was being calculated with the big tires and the wrong mileage. You were probably always getting 14MPG just didn't work out because it mileage was wrong the whole time.
1) OMG its slow as ever
2) I had a Code the first time using the thing that ended up being my OEM flash was not recognised yet and was fixed by waiting 2 weeks for an update.
3) The 87 tune is loaded and the throttle response, funny enough..., is way too sensitive. I can't stay at a steady speed without it jerking the truck all over the place or using CC. Yes it feels like its got more low end power, but the jerkiness to get going is unbearable.
4) I go to change the tune to the ECO to see if the throttle response was different and now i'm stuck with code E-34 File Is Not Stock...Obviously not...Cuz it's a superchips tune... and now i'm hosed. Waiting for Superchips to respond with a fix...
In my mind, I should have stuck to the FlashCal instead.
1) OMG its slow as ever
2) I had a Code the first time using the thing that ended up being my OEM flash was not recognised yet and was fixed by waiting 2 weeks for an update.
3) The 87 tune is loaded and the throttle response, funny enough..., is way too sensitive. I can't stay at a steady speed without it jerking the truck all over the place or using CC. Yes it feels like its got more low end power, but the jerkiness to get going is unbearable.
4) I go to change the tune to the ECO to see if the throttle response was different and now i'm stuck with code E-34 File Is Not Stock...Obviously not...Cuz it's a superchips tune... and now i'm hosed. Waiting for Superchips to respond with a fix...
In my mind, I should have stuck to the FlashCal instead.
10-07-2014, 05:29 PM
#4
But then i read this post and kills my excitement.
You sir are a lucky dog! But lets be honest here. Your old mileage was being calculated with the big tires and the wrong mileage. You were probably always getting 14MPG just didn't work out because it mileage was wrong the whole time.
1) OMG its slow as ever
2) I had a Code the first time using the thing that ended up being my OEM flash was not recognised yet and was fixed by waiting 2 weeks for an update.
3) The 87 tune is loaded and the throttle response, funny enough..., is way too sensitive. I can't stay at a steady speed without it jerking the truck all over the place or using CC. Yes it feels like its got more low end power, but the jerkiness to get going is unbearable.
4) I go to change the tune to the ECO to see if the throttle response was different and now i'm stuck with code E-34 File Is Not Stock...Obviously not...Cuz it's a superchips tune... and now i'm hosed. Waiting for Superchips to respond with a fix...
In my mind, I should have stuck to the FlashCal instead.
1) OMG its slow as ever
2) I had a Code the first time using the thing that ended up being my OEM flash was not recognised yet and was fixed by waiting 2 weeks for an update.
3) The 87 tune is loaded and the throttle response, funny enough..., is way too sensitive. I can't stay at a steady speed without it jerking the truck all over the place or using CC. Yes it feels like its got more low end power, but the jerkiness to get going is unbearable.
4) I go to change the tune to the ECO to see if the throttle response was different and now i'm stuck with code E-34 File Is Not Stock...Obviously not...Cuz it's a superchips tune... and now i'm hosed. Waiting for Superchips to respond with a fix...
In my mind, I should have stuck to the FlashCal instead.
10-08-2014, 03:13 AM
#5
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Yup...I can agree.
3) The 87 tune is loaded and the throttle response, funny enough..., is way too sensitive. I can't stay at a steady speed without it jerking the truck all over the place or using CC. Yes it feels like its got more low end power, but the jerkiness to get going is unbearable.
Can you go to the stock flash in there? Is the truck broke broke? Or just tossing a code? I've yet to tinker with a different tune. Not sure I want to after the length of time it took originally![/QUOTE]
10-08-2014, 03:16 AM
#6
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Yes...You can reflash to stock. Prior to doing anything, it takes quite a while to save your stock program. There are throttle input adjustments you can do. I've yet to dork with those yet because for me, it feels decent. Again...no Evo but it can get on at an on ramp and pass a Prius or two.
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10-08-2014, 08:54 AM
#8
JK Newbie
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Thanks for that thorough review. Excited as hell here since mine should be here tomorrow. Did you calculate mpgs yourself or is that based off the jeeps automatic avg mpg?
But then i read this post and kills my excitement.
So when you flash to the 87 tune can you not reflash back to stock?? Is there not a setting you can adjust just for throttle input?
But then i read this post and kills my excitement.
So when you flash to the 87 tune can you not reflash back to stock?? Is there not a setting you can adjust just for throttle input?
10-08-2014, 08:58 AM
#9
JK Newbie
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Another thing i find weird is that my flashpaq will update and then i can unplug it and plug it back in and update it again. I can do it continuously as if it never updates...Im an IT admin and know there is nothing blocking it....
Good luck with yours mate!
10-08-2014, 09:02 AM
#10
There is an option to flash back to stock, but when i went to complete that task it still goes through the "saving stock file" BS when there is no stock file to save since there is a tune installed. Then it errors out. The jeep runs fine! that is one thing im thankful for is that the jeep has never gone into limp mode or anything like that, either the flash works or it doesn't attempt to re-flash and errors out.