2012YellowBoss

No just the obvious things like did it pin you back in the seat, some have said the letting off the gas is like throwing an anchor out, so we were trying to feel the difference in that extra engine brake. Even if they do not have the TK yet I assume if things were that different it could be felt. I did not feel any changes so I asked for another opinion.

Right now without any data from Ford I can only go by a few things:

- what others are saying here, I asked a question in the other thread and nobody has responded.

- what others are posting in the form of dyno results.

- what I see and feel first hand having had the Boss for nine months and tracking with the black key. Example of that would be the P0300's codes.

- what others, who have had first hand experience in my car with both tunes on track feel, even if they are not behind the wheel it is the best second hand opinion I have at this point.

So far I feel little change. People do not need to be a track rat to see the difference in Ford's idle vid and mine. They also should be able to feel the anchor effect in the right seat, no? I see no change in the torque ranges of the dyno results. So what else I can go on now?

It is not my intention to offend anyone. The Boss is an awesome car and I pass all kinds of cars costing twice as much with little relatively little seat time but I was doing that before the red key was programmed. My Boss is all V8 that is for sure and more then powerful for me as it was.

I am open to suggestions to find the truth between the tunes and find any improvement/difference. I will not put it on the dyno, that has been done. I have not drag raced for a while (not do I want to) so my times would not be consistent enough to be usable. I will try later in the week to do a couple of 0-60 (or something closer to what you may see on track 30-60 pulls) runs with the Gopro and post them up. I will use the same shift point or no shift runs. I will also try getting up to a certain speed and simply let off the gas, say from 60 to 30 and see if the engine slows the car faster. In the mean time anyone could try this with the two keys and post up any improvements/differences.

06GT

What? You might want to make sure your dealer installed the program correctly.

2012YellowBoss

Having worked for Ford I am impressed with my dealer's service department, when I leave my car I am confident it will be taken care of in a professional manner. The service manager runs a tight ship there without being an a$$. You can tell everyone respects him. When I arrived they literally had the paperwork in hand and started asking me what size tires I will be running on track, if I changed gears etc. I cringed at the posts over at BMO with dealers that had no clue, even to the point of how to order it. My dealer also installed it for free and since they did mine via contract they decided to give all four Boss buyers there the same (Sunrise Ford FL)

Drew, I never meant to make this a pissin match so if this is the general consensus maybe it is time for me to bow out.

06GT

No pissing match necessary...just confused as to how you or your friend can't feel any difference. Let's move on.

1FAFP90

Specifically, that was me, and at LOW speed, it does feel like I threw an anchor out the back when I lift off the gas in first or second gear.

I wish I knew what was happening on your end.

A thought from a non-expert ---- bear with me. Let's talk about the PCM learning the driver, and the PCM is level 1 for a casual street driver and level 10 for someone who seriously tracks their car. Could it be since you tracked your car with the black key, your black key PCM is at level 10. You run the TK, track it, and you get to the PCM max of 13. Now, Joe Schmoe who's been taking it easy with his black key has his PCM learned at level 2. Joe installs the TK, and gets to PCM level 12. Now, after TK install, you went from 10 to 13 while Joe went from 2 to 12. Surely Joe is going to feel a much more dramatic change in driveability than you would experience. So, some folks are going to post a "wow, this really livens it up" while you're like "what's the big deal". Clear as mud?

I still don't understand the codes you're getting. I haven't gotten any codes or sensor faults, etc. The instruction manual says as soon as there is some kind of fault, the idle (engine programming) is deactivated. This might be a contributing factor. Maybe you can create the code using the black key, and then get the dealer to fix whatever problem is causing the code with the black key, and that will solve your TK issues.

06GT

As you mentioned, the "anchor out the window" bit is only at low speed. There is more engine braking (than the black key) at speed as well but it is not as significant as the "anchor" comment.

1FAFP90

Even though I think it's installed, just for grins, try this to make sure both the key and PCM were programmed (this is from the installation instructions)

How do I tell if the installation has been successful?

If the TracKey itself has been successfully programmed, the message "TRACKEY
ACTIVE TRACK USE ONLY" will appear on the message center when the ignition is
turned to the ON position with the TracKey. If both the PCM and the TracKey have
been successfully programmed, the green speed control light on the dash will blink once
the engine is running and the RESUME button is pressed within 2 seconds of pressing
the OFF button. Note that if the PCM is not programmed correctly, the "TRACKEY
ACTIVE TRACK USE ONLY" message can still be displayed on the message cluster

but no action will be taken by the PCM so none of the TracKey functionality will work.

5 DOT 0

This is my experience as well. Driving across a parking lot is not smooth between the more aggressive throttle and engine braking. Driving around town is not much of an issue.

The lopey idle is hit and miss. When the car is hot and I'm driving around and pulling up at stop light it's more noticeable than just starting it up and letting it idle.

adam81

Does pushing the off button then resume button while the engine is running engage or affect anything else like pit lane speed or launch control or whatever?

1FAFP90

I don't have it in front of me, so you'll have to check the Customer Instructions to find out about them. I haven't played around with pit lane speed or launch control.

2012YellowBoss

Lots of questions, Adam off resume activates the pit lane speed limiter, I found that out hard way.

As to wondering if Trackey is installed, it clearly is. I have launch control, pit limiter, when enabled the RPM is 750 but the lopey idle is 10% of what I felt in the Miller cars. I have it, it is working correctly, besides the pit speed and LC it does make some slight differences but enough to know it is in.

As far as I know the the black key side and red key are two different things. I do not see the TK tune taking any cues on how the car was run previously with the black key. I suppose it could and I am not a computer programmer but man that would take a whole lot of code to do.

The codes I am getting are random misfire, there is a lot of posts about that issue. Many people are getting them and I have personally seen other Bosses at the track throwing the same code (s) P0305, p0306 etc.. The codes only affect the Idle and I clear them out. If the info released by Ford is correct Trackey does not stop working with a code just the idle. In any case I go prepared to the track with several code reader and clear them between rounds. The rumor was that TK was suppose to stop the codes, it has not. The good thing is it did not go into limp mode. However I have thrown plenty of codes without limp mode following so that is up in the air. I will need at least four more track days to know.

I am going to record and time some deceleration with the Boss this week and see what happens. I would still like to know this:

I am not trying to be a wise a$$ asking this, I really would like to know what you see.IMHO something needs to taking place for increased engine braking, it can not happen by magic. The dyno showed no increase in HP or torque so I am led to believe that timing does not change. If I go twist the distributor on my 70 and dyno it there will be a difference. What is left, the air/fuel mixture, I don't know how that would even work. That leave changing the RPM's, is anyone seeing that. If there is another way please educate me. I will post in bold type I am wrong. I have no point to prove here

1FAFP90

What I was trying to say, is the relative increase over the black key you experience when using the TK is going to be a lot less than the increase someone who hasn't tracked their car is going to feel when they use the TK. I'm not saying TK PCM code pulls from the black key PCM code.

2012YellowBoss

I don't know man but I would like to think the opposite, that I would be more in tune with any changes since I have had a few sessions out there. Not saying I'm an expert, but someone with a little seat time. That is why I wish some of the more experienced guys lived in warmer climates.

1FAFP90

Try to think of as someone going from a 4cyl Pinto to a Boss 429, and you going from a 428 Cobra Jet to a Boss 429. The increase (wow factor) will feel greater to the guy going from the Pinto.

nota4re

2012YellowBoss - I think you are doing an AWESOME job of reporting a LOT of information and doing so very objectively. VERY much appreciated!

adam81

Agree....

2012YellowBoss

Thanks guys for the replies

I am going to post a couple of videos. They are raw since I do not want to edit them and change the sound track as compared to the video for any reason. I did 30 to the idle, 50 to 30 and 30 to rev limiter which is about 60 (that is why I say 60). Same day stock tires, two different tunes.

First is the 30 to idle in second gear, coming to a complete stop would have been useless and the last few feet would had depended on any slight road grade. I call out when the car hits idle speed or the RPM's when they passed the point of slowing the car.

Red key, I let off at the end of the 6th second and was at idle at the end of the 20th second or even the beginning of the 21st. So 14 to 15 seconds total.



Black key I let off at the end of the 8th second and was at idle to the middle of the 20th second. Remember also the black key has an RPM 100 lower then RK. so about 12 seconds (I think more like 11.5)



For the record I do feel now with more time a little initial engine grab when letting off with RK, just for a second but the results are above.

more to follow .....

2012YellowBoss

Here are some runs starting at 30 MPH in second gear, no shifting. I called out one number incorrectly on the red key vid, no matter. Listen to when I say thirty because that is when I stomped it and listen for the sound of hitting of the rev limiter (Around 60)

BTW if someone has a stop watch have at it I do not

30 to 60 RK
First vid hit it at the end of the 15th second to the rev just as it hits 19 seconds then end of 38th to end of 41.
Second vid beginning of 7 to beginning of 10



So right about 3 seconds with one a hair more, someone break out a stopwatch please.

30 to 60 BK
First vid hit the gas at the middle of the 7th rev at middle of the 10th second. Next middle of 22nd to rev at end of 25th second
Second vid at the very end of 10 almost 11 to the the rev at beginning of 14



So all just a it more then 3 seconds.

Going by my voice to start, not the engine wind up. This gives RK an advantage since it is suppose to be quicker on the throttle response (the way it is suppose to be). Overall small advantage to RK.

2012YellowBoss

Next from 50 to 30 in second gear no shifting to test engine brake, this was the hardest to do by calling out when it hit 30. I could be off in any of these when I hit 30 and it would be better to do it with sophisticated equipment to see any difference. In real world terms there is little to be felt by me (1), maybe a machine could tell better but if we need to go that far to tell the difference then .... nevermind, just take it for what it's worth. Everyone is invited to do there own tests, in fact I welcome it

(1) After several runs I did feel that initial pull right as you let off the gas as some have mentioned. However that is at low speed the higher the speed the less it is felt. I don't understand how engine braking at low speeds helps on the track but I am just a beginner. When I did drive on track I did not feel any difference in the two tunes but as I have stated - beginner -

RK end of 7th second to middle of 14th second. Then middle of 28 to middle of 35.
So 6.5 to 7 seconds



BK middle of 7th to middle/end of 13th then end of 34th to end of 41st. Second vid middle of 3 to end of 10
So a 6+, 7, 7.5




The second one stop RK vid did not come out, sorry. So even if the BK recorded the lowest stop time, it had the highest In the long run about even or a small advantage to RK.

1FAFP90

What gear were you in from 30 to idle? If I did that with the RK in 1st or 2nd gear I'd end up going through the windshield.