TracKey Has Arrived - Ford’s Email to All Ford and Lincoln Dealers
#241
Bullitt Member
Dave, I generally agree with your statements and echo that the Ford development team (and I specifically stated FoMoCo here NOT Ford Racing) has spend many hours and dollars developing TK. The goals were lofty. Bring over the FR500 tune and give it (or something reasonably close) to the Boss owners to enjoy on the track. That's what the marketing people put out there and what you (from your post above) expect to receive.
For reasons not fully understood, Ford engineers developed the TK software (or maybe an early version) threw the partially completed (or maybe completed) effort over the fence to Ford Racing and told them to certify this totally new calibration concept and offer TK as an aftermarket tune.
Bosses rolled off the assembly line and TK certification by FR (a non-OE manufacturer so low priority) languished for months. We do not know why. Was it the low priority issue or was the original Ford TK logic watered down because CARB bent the boys over? It is unlikely we will ever hear the truth. So those expecting TK to deliver the original marketing hype (from nearly 12 months ago) of the "race car tune" with a red key may not get this at all. We simply do not know the compromises which were made by FR to get this monkey off their back and realease SOMETHING, to quiet the owners up.
Sure it is an option. Buy it if you want. You just may need to recalibrate your expectations relative to the original marketing promises. I'll wait to see what others say and the before/after data they present.
For reasons not fully understood, Ford engineers developed the TK software (or maybe an early version) threw the partially completed (or maybe completed) effort over the fence to Ford Racing and told them to certify this totally new calibration concept and offer TK as an aftermarket tune.
Bosses rolled off the assembly line and TK certification by FR (a non-OE manufacturer so low priority) languished for months. We do not know why. Was it the low priority issue or was the original Ford TK logic watered down because CARB bent the boys over? It is unlikely we will ever hear the truth. So those expecting TK to deliver the original marketing hype (from nearly 12 months ago) of the "race car tune" with a red key may not get this at all. We simply do not know the compromises which were made by FR to get this monkey off their back and realease SOMETHING, to quiet the owners up.
Sure it is an option. Buy it if you want. You just may need to recalibrate your expectations relative to the original marketing promises. I'll wait to see what others say and the before/after data they present.
#242
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And Ford's "locate a dealer" function doesn't work on their FRPP site:
http://www.trackey.ford.com/wheretob...9806&radius=20
http://www.trackey.ford.com/wheretob...9806&radius=20
I checked on the FRPP site and it shows 2 dealers, one in Boyertown, PA and one in Bel Air, MD. Here is the link:http://www.fordracingparts.com/where...9806&radius=50. I hope that helps.
Deysha
#244
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Does anyone remember in 1969-1970 ford put a rev limiter on the Boss engines to help them live? And protect us against ourselves? Guess what? A lot of customers bypassed or disconnected the limiter, and Yep, they blew their engines. Now I have no way of knowing how Ford handled the warranty claims when that happened. I would find it hard to offer a warranty for being stupid.
The Ford engineers have worked on this for a long time. Over a year In fact. The Trackey is fully developed and will work great on your stock car.
Wow for 300-400 bucks you are tapping into tens of thousands of dollars Ford spent developing the Ultimate "tune" for your car on the track. ABS calibrations, throttle response calibrations, steering feel, traction control, stability control etc etc etc. All developed from the Boss 302R cars and early test mules with some great drivers. All tailored so you can safely enjoy the car as it was meant to be, on the track.
Ford would not put anything out there that would roast your car, in fact just the opposite. Like the rev limiter, they just want the Boss owner to have a great time with their car without having to risk the car's well being.
I have come to realize that the trackey is specifically for a Stock car. The reason is this adding things like after market parts introduce unknown parameters and results that the Ford engineers could not anticipate. Given the abundance of aftermarket parts and the thousands of combinations owners could have on their cars there is no way one program could cover it all. Therefore the stern warning, in the form of warranty reduction/invalidation, from Ford not to use aftermarket parts in combo with the trackey. Doing so would be the equivalent of removing the rev limiter in 1970.
All the information that Ford has ever published about trackey has stated that it is an aftermarket performance option. As for warranty, what racer would not love to have a 5yr 50k mile warranty? Ford does not build race cars with a warranty. Do you see any warranty info on the FR500 mustangs? Here is the info on aftermarket parts warranties :http://www.fordracingparts.com/announcements/news47.asp
I hope we can all support Ford's efforts and understand them for what they are. In this day and age of FMVSS nanny systems protecting stupid people from themselves, Ford has given us true drivers some options that most other car companies don't.
I support Ford and hope that they can introduce a calibration key that fixes the nannies, and also allows shops like Steeda and Roush to access the program to adjust for aftermarket parts and create engine tunes to match. And no I would not expect Ford to Warrant parts from another manufacturer or engine tuner.
The Ford engineers have worked on this for a long time. Over a year In fact. The Trackey is fully developed and will work great on your stock car.
Wow for 300-400 bucks you are tapping into tens of thousands of dollars Ford spent developing the Ultimate "tune" for your car on the track. ABS calibrations, throttle response calibrations, steering feel, traction control, stability control etc etc etc. All developed from the Boss 302R cars and early test mules with some great drivers. All tailored so you can safely enjoy the car as it was meant to be, on the track.
Ford would not put anything out there that would roast your car, in fact just the opposite. Like the rev limiter, they just want the Boss owner to have a great time with their car without having to risk the car's well being.
I have come to realize that the trackey is specifically for a Stock car. The reason is this adding things like after market parts introduce unknown parameters and results that the Ford engineers could not anticipate. Given the abundance of aftermarket parts and the thousands of combinations owners could have on their cars there is no way one program could cover it all. Therefore the stern warning, in the form of warranty reduction/invalidation, from Ford not to use aftermarket parts in combo with the trackey. Doing so would be the equivalent of removing the rev limiter in 1970.
All the information that Ford has ever published about trackey has stated that it is an aftermarket performance option. As for warranty, what racer would not love to have a 5yr 50k mile warranty? Ford does not build race cars with a warranty. Do you see any warranty info on the FR500 mustangs? Here is the info on aftermarket parts warranties :http://www.fordracingparts.com/announcements/news47.asp
I hope we can all support Ford's efforts and understand them for what they are. In this day and age of FMVSS nanny systems protecting stupid people from themselves, Ford has given us true drivers some options that most other car companies don't.
I support Ford and hope that they can introduce a calibration key that fixes the nannies, and also allows shops like Steeda and Roush to access the program to adjust for aftermarket parts and create engine tunes to match. And no I would not expect Ford to Warrant parts from another manufacturer or engine tuner.
#246
$302 for the part
$~30 for tax
$100 for labor. (labor rates are about $100 an hour).
----------------
$430
However I found one dealer willing to "deal", and I got it for $370 total.
#247
Originally Posted by farmboy90
I called several places, and the typical breakdown was like this:
$302 for the part
$~30 for tax
$100 for labor. (labor rates are about $100 an hour).
----------------
$430
However I found one dealer willing to "deal", and I got it for $370 total.
#248
Cobra Member
Hey MrBonus,
I checked on the FRPP site and it shows 2 dealers, one in Boyertown, PA and one in Bel Air, MD. Here is the link:http://www.fordracingparts.com/where...9806&radius=50. I hope that helps.
Deysha
I checked on the FRPP site and it shows 2 dealers, one in Boyertown, PA and one in Bel Air, MD. Here is the link:http://www.fordracingparts.com/where...9806&radius=50. I hope that helps.
Deysha
Tried to find the closest to me(Columbus, OH) & keeps coming up with Jeg's High Performance Auto Parts
So, can they install Trackey???
Thanks
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