Sorry didn't see the replies until now...
Alot of the Ford guys that have gotten these for Lightnings/Cobras have had very varying degrees of success, from total happiness to engine failure.
Do a search on
www.f150online.com ,
www.nloc.net , and
www.svtperformance.com for some of the info.
As for my personal experience, the first unit I had was DOA (I'm hearing about 1 out of 10 are, or were at least). The 2nd one seemed to work, as long as I didn't try to export any tunes (like my factory one to send off for a custom tune, which you don't even need to do thanks to a bug in the software). I could import custom tunes, just not export any.
As far as the default diablo tunes go, hopefully they're better for the vettes than they were for the L's/C's. Diablosport swore up and down that their tunes were perfectly safe, yet we saw detonation on the dyno using them (and others had even worse problems).
Make sure if you're buying one that it comes with the serial cable (yes it's a serial port, even though computers haven't really come with them in 2 years now), if not you're looking at another $20+ for a serial to USB cable, and even then only 1 is known to fully work both directions (import and export). Also unless your using a laptop in your vehicle (or have a really long cable), your gonna need the power plug for the predator as well (for custom tunes or datalogging interaction with a computer only). Some vendors include these with the programmer, many do not (ask before purchasing).
The basic options are fairly straight forward, however the tricky stuff has incredibly poor instructions, might as well be reading latin (it'd be about as helpful).
Better fuel economy??? hahahahahaha ummm ok...
Most importantly, put your car on the dyno afterwards! If you really want to know what you're gaining you have too, but even more important is to make sure the "tune" is safe for your car at WOT through the rpm range. (every car acts a little differently, even identical stock ones, so you really can't just "assume" it'll work the way you want it too)
Now after adding up the $419 and a dyno session (I can get them for $75/3 pulls), after shipping and/or tax you're at what a good dyno shop would charge to dyno-tune your car. Somebody like DRM charges I believe right around $500 to do it. Personally I'd trust that alot more than a "canned" tune.
Some people will love the predator, some people won't (I was fairly in the middle on the thing overall).
Like I said, buyer beware. Ask alot of questions and just see all the options and experiences of other people before taking the plunge on a $420 item that you may or may not get anything out of.
BTW TByrne, does your predator include the serial cable and power adapter?
Linear Mode
