More 6.0 SCT Tune Reviews

[Sandahl]

I have an '03 Excursion Ltd 2WD with ~130k miles on it, completely stock including exhaust with cat intact. My engine strategy code is VXAP2A2. Over the past months I've tested some custom tunes on it. My SCT SF3 is new so I think I have the very latest updates. I'm not racing it, just looking for some extra power on tap for a few seconds at a time when I'm driving without any passengers.

1. SCT SF3 3015 canned "street": This was the first one I loaded, before I got anything via e-mail. It was immediately impressive, less turbo lag, substantially increased torque and rpm range so a nice boost in performance including transmission tuning. Stronger everything, nice shifts as it quickly runs through the gears when you take off. Very worthwhile improvement, big difference but no negative side effects. Considering this comes with the SF3 for free, it's a very powerful and useable tune, and one without any smoke. It pretty easily lights the rear tires (both if you have limited slip) once the turbo spools up, even if you're already rolling in first gear. This tune would be my choice for a daily driver that won't smoke out your neighbors and will normally keep your tires hooked up and your driver license safe.

2. MKM/Sinister "economy": I drove this after returning the truck to stock temporarily and it feels pretty stock too. It's smokeless as stock from what I can tell. It may offer some boost in hp and torque but it's hard to tell if the difference is pretty small.

3. MKM/Sinister "Street": This goes beyond the SCT canned street. Powerful and lets out a minor puff of smoke before the turbo spools up. I'd say the turbo spools up twice as fast as stock. It's an amazing difference from stock. Tires lose the battle for traction without too much effort.

4. Gearhead, Matt's "SRL": The best thing I can think of now is that it sure makes the brake pedal seem smaller! You wouldn't know it from the virtually stock sounding idle but the turbo is ready to spool up almost instantly and things just get more urgent from there. The back tires are partially successful holding on if you're in second gear but in first they don't have a prayer. Capable of belching out a good cloud of smoke if you lay into it suddenly from idle; probably smokeless once you've got your boost. Crazy amount of torque on tap for street driving and the accelerator pedal goes from idle to tire smoking launch in about an inch and enough time to spool the turbo. Keep it hooked up and you have a 6 seconds flat 0-60 time in the world's largest SUV or even better in a lighter weight pickup. No cruise control-off bump and I like how it holds the TC lockup when you lift off at highway speed. Unintended tire roasts might eventually endanger your driver license though.

All these tunes are said to be for non-studded trucks, but of course there are no engine safety guarantees when it comes to stock 6.0's.

[MWilbur516]

Try the Looney Wild, my truck loses traction in 4hi when leaving the line at 10psi. I havn't tried the SRL++ from Matt at Gearhead, but I will soon enough.

[madpowerstroke]

I have studded heads,and got gearheads (Matt's)custom tunes SRL+,has alot of power and no smoke or very little at all.But I run his SRL extreme,and it has set of pants feel of twice the power of SRL+.Emailed Matt and wrote thanks for tune and I was very happy with it ,and if he gets a more powerful tune let me know.He wrote back put some bigger injectors in and extreme tune will really wake up.Saving money now for fuel system upgrades