Superchips Tuner Trail Report
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 753
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, CA
Superchips Tuner Trail Report
I installed the Superchips Tuner in the 87 octane setting and headed for the mountains of Big Bear, CA. My impressions on the mountain roads are positive, with much better pulling power through the power band, and eliminating the lags and hesitations. for the street, I would say that the 3.8 went from anemic, to slightly better than what i would call normal, or maybe describe the performance as "peppy", or "spirited". Not a hotrod, but very good.
We went to Heartbreak Ridge in the San Bernardino Mountains, just east of Big Bear City. This trail is a fun trail with some challenges with a few rock gardens to negotiate and some steep rocky inclines. The first thing I noticed in the increase in lower end torque. I always struggle in my 6 speed with needing the torque of 1st gear in low range, but wanting the speed of second gear, such as a steep, loose incline. Second gear just could not get the job done, so I would usually have to stay in first gear and go slower than I wanted.
With the tuner in 87 octane setting (I am going to try next in the "crawler" setting), I could negotiate steep inclines in second gear with no problems. Much better lower end pullig power, and still had great throttle control. I stall the 6 speed often as I negotiate large boulders (since I don'thave the 4:1 trans case), but with the tuner installed, my stalls went to almost zero, except for the large water fall toward the end of the trail. Normally this is a down run, but we decided to turn around and go up just for fun, and there are a few bit boulders that require a straight up pull.
Overall, I was very pleased with the added torque in low gears. Very noticable, and very obvious. Not a Hemi or a RIPP, but the next best thing.
I hope this helps. I am curious if anyone has tried the Crawler mode on the trail.
We went to Heartbreak Ridge in the San Bernardino Mountains, just east of Big Bear City. This trail is a fun trail with some challenges with a few rock gardens to negotiate and some steep rocky inclines. The first thing I noticed in the increase in lower end torque. I always struggle in my 6 speed with needing the torque of 1st gear in low range, but wanting the speed of second gear, such as a steep, loose incline. Second gear just could not get the job done, so I would usually have to stay in first gear and go slower than I wanted.
With the tuner in 87 octane setting (I am going to try next in the "crawler" setting), I could negotiate steep inclines in second gear with no problems. Much better lower end pullig power, and still had great throttle control. I stall the 6 speed often as I negotiate large boulders (since I don'thave the 4:1 trans case), but with the tuner installed, my stalls went to almost zero, except for the large water fall toward the end of the trail. Normally this is a down run, but we decided to turn around and go up just for fun, and there are a few bit boulders that require a straight up pull.
Overall, I was very pleased with the added torque in low gears. Very noticable, and very obvious. Not a Hemi or a RIPP, but the next best thing.
I hope this helps. I am curious if anyone has tried the Crawler mode on the trail.
JK Newbie
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: Batesville, AR
That sounds great. I'm interested in crawler mode performance as well if anyone has tried it. And if you haven't seen the Superchips post.... TPMS offroad setting coming very soon! Down to 0psi I think.
