Considering a COBB TUNE.... Is the transmission tune required?

COBB Tuning said:

Let us know if you have any other questions!

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I am about finished on all my initial mods, visual and electronic and now about ready to beef up the slow 450HP truck. What sort of power gains can I expect at some of your upper level package combinations? (2019 Raptor)

Xtinct said:

I am about finished on all my initial mods, visual and electronic and now about ready to beef up the slow 450HP truck. What sort of power gains can I expect at some of your upper level package combinations? (2019 Raptor)

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With 93 OCT fuel, an upgraded intercooler, and our Stage 2 93 map, you'll see around a 23% increase in horsepower and a 20% increase in torque. We always rate our power/torque gains in percentage form at the wheels to avoid customer confusion with different dynos reading different WHP/WTQ figures. To put some real numbers to this, a stock Raptor will put down around ~370WHP and ~480WTQ on our Dynojet here at COBB HQ. With the Stage 2 93 map, we'll see ~450WHP and ~575WTQ. More info on power gains can be found in our map notes page linked below:

https://cobbtuning.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PRS/pages/725155894/Ford+F-150+Raptor+Map+Notes

COBB Tuning said:

With 93 OCT fuel, an upgraded intercooler, and our Stage 2 93 map, you'll see around a 23% increase in horsepower and a 20% increase in torque.

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Thanks, so is this your top of the line package you are referring to? I was not sure because I saw a few listed as Stage 2 package.

https://www.cobbtuning.com/products...silver-with-tcm-f-150-ecoboost-raptor-limited


What if 100 additional HP is not enough. Any other choices available?

What about the 91 octane tune? That’s as high as we get in Commiefornia...

Flash1034 said:

What about the 91 octane tune? That’s as high as we get in Commiefornia...

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Good question because I can get 93 octain here but that is with Ethanol so I normally use 91 without Ethanol. So which is best for this tune?

Xtinct said:

Thanks, so is this your top of the line package you are referring to? I was not sure because I saw a few listed as Stage 2 package.

https://www.cobbtuning.com/products...silver-with-tcm-f-150-ecoboost-raptor-limited

What if 100 additional HP is not enough. Any other choices available?

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Yessir, the Stage 2 Redline package is the fanciest bit of kit that we currently sell for the Raptor. The variety of Stage 2 packages will depend on whether or not the Accessport has or does not have TCM tuning, and whether or not the intake is our normal design or the carbon 'Redline' edition intake.

If Stage 2 power is still not enough, your next best bang-for-the-buck modification would be a custom tune for an ethanol blend fuel. If I recall correctly, Goosetuned put down just over 500WHP with E50 (50% ethanol fuel), an intercooler, and stock fuel system. I don't know what a stock baseline on his dyno is, but it definitely represents good gains over the limitations of 93/91 OCT pump fuel!

Beyond that, you can look into upgrading the fueling system to run a higher percentage of ethanol. I don't have any good data on what sort of power gains, if any, are available jumping from E50 to E85, but hopefully one of our Protuners will be able to share some insight. Since the Raptor has both a direct injection system and a port injection system, you can upgrade either one to increase fueling capacity. On the DI side, the HPFP is the weak link - the stock DI injectors will be able to outflow the pump's ability to deliver adequate pressure. Using an aftermarket HPFP will keep pressure higher for longer, and allow you to take full advantage of the stock DI injectors. Alternatively, you could get a set of port injectors to replace the factory units - this will likely be the more economical solution to increasing fueling capability. Some folks swear by running as much DI as possible for best power output and suggest HPFP over PI upgrade, which would seem to make sense, but I'm not aware of a good A-B comparison to say to what extent this is true.

Beyond that, there aren't a lot of turbo options on the market at the moment. Modified stock turbos can make for a nice increase in power over the stock pair. And then with kits like Full Race's EFRs, the sky is the limit (or really, the stock bottom end is the limit). RMB Motorworks has put a lot of time and effort into advancing the Gen2 (and Gen1) 3.5 market for head-work, cams, and sturdy rotating assemblies. Worth a look if only to see some neat parts.

Flash1034 said:

What about the 91 octane tune? That’s as high as we get in Commiefornia...

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Check the map notes page linked above to see the percentage gains for the 91 OCT OTS maps. We developed these maps to be pretty conservative given the fuel quality in the ACN91 states (Arizona, California, Nevada). I would imagine that a good portion of 91 OCT OTS customers could get away with adding in a little bit of timing to get a bit more power; should you want to, we offer an end-user version of our Accesstuner tuning software that would let you make those timing changes, and gives you a peek under the hood of all that we're changing in our performance maps. I don't think anyone else in the industry gives customers as clear of a look or understanding of what they're changing tune-wise as we do.

Xtinct said:

Good question because I can get 93 octain here but that is with Ethanol so I normally use 91 without Ethanol. So which is best for this tune?

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Ethanol is not to be avoided, ethanol is your friend! 93 OCT E10 or E15 fuel will out perform 91 OCT E0 fuel, no question. Run the 93 OCT E10 blend fuel with our 93 OCT OTS maps.

COBB Tuning said:

Thanks for the kind words, folks!

To reiterate what has already been said, the transmission tune is not required to run our engine tunes, but I do highly recommend it. If you buy an ECU-only Accessport, you can purchase the software license to enable TCM tuning at any point - this is done remotely, so no need to ship the Accessport anywhere. The only thing to consider here is that all software licenses sales are final, so there is no return on a remote TCM feature activation.

HOWEVER, if you want to try the TCM tuning and see if it is worth it to you, you could purchase an Accessport new that has ECU and TCM tuning. Install it to your truck and try out the different TCM maps. If you decide that the TCM tuning isn't for you, you can uninstall that Accessport from the ECU and TCM and return it via our 30-day return policy (full refund, but you do pay for return shipping). Then, re-order an Accessport that has ECU-only support. Or, keep the ECU and TCM Accessport if you do like it! Keep in mind that returns need to be processed through the party you purchased the device from - if you purchase through us directly, you would process a return to us; if you purchase through an authorized dealer/Protuner, you would need to process the return through them.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

Thanks,
Sam@COBB

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Hi Sam. Big fan of Cobb here. Many parts including Accessports on my STi and Porsche. Really like the ability to use Accestuner to make my own maps.

Can you provide additional information on what the TCM tuning for the Raptor does? Is it adjustable, and if so, how? The normal shift settings are too slow and soft, and in sport mode they are quicker and firmer but tend to hang onto gears when coasting after hard acceleration and not shift when revs stay high.

Looking forward to adding all of the Cobb upgrades to my 2020 Raptor very soon.

TopElement said:

in sport mode they are quicker and firmer but tend to hang onto gears when coasting after hard acceleration and not shift when revs stay high.

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That is how sport mode is supposed to work. The last thing you want to happen is for the transmission to shift gears mid corner. It will only shift gears after a large enough time with no throttle input to be certain you are ready for the shift.

Sport mode is meant for the twisties, not street driving.

goblues38 said:

That is how sport mode is supposed to work. The last thing you want to happen is for the transmission to shift gears mid corner. It will only shift gears after a large enough time with no throttle input to be certain you are ready for the shift.

Sport mode is meant for the twisties, not street driving.

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My experience with my current Porsche and previous M3 or other cars with better developed shift logic tells me that the Raptor transmission tuning can definitely be improved. Of course one doesn't want shifting mid corner, but that input should come from steering angle or G sensors. In a straight line with steady throttle or even letting off the throttle, there's not usually a good reason to hang on to the lower gear and keep revs really high.

If the Cobb TCM upgrade allows for shift points to be selected and executions to be faster, that would be great. The delay to upshift/downshift after pulling the paddles is so slow!

TopElement said:

Hi Sam. Big fan of Cobb here. Many parts including Accessports on my STi and Porsche. Really like the ability to use Accestuner to make my own maps.

Can you provide additional information on what the TCM tuning for the Raptor does? Is it adjustable, and if so, how? The normal shift settings are too slow and soft, and in sport mode they are quicker and firmer but tend to hang onto gears when coasting after hard acceleration and not shift when revs stay high.

Looking forward to adding all of the Cobb upgrades to my 2020 Raptor very soon.

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Thanks for your support on our other platforms!

We have a write-up of differences made to TCM calibrations in our TCM map notes page here: https://cobbtuning.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PRS/pages/826805715/Ford+Raptor+TCM+Notes

In terms of what is noticeable from behind the wheel, shift schedules (upshift, downshift, and coastdown) for Normal and Sport drive modes have been modified to (in general) hold gears longer and downshift sooner to give a more sporty and responsive driving experience. We have also modified the torque modulation during shifts to firm up shift feel.

We have also made some changes to the Upshift Backout Inhibit system, which is what controls the behavior you described in your post. On the stock TCM tune, if you are in Sport mode and depress the gas pedal to 100% APP and then let off the throttle completely, the stock TCM control strategy will prevent the trans. from upshifting until you get back onto the throttle past ~10% APP. This is the intent of the Upshift Backout Inhibit system - you 'backout' of the throttle, and upshifts are inhibited. I always found this to be really annoying, so in our COBB OEM+ and COBB Sport TCM maps, we have modified how this system works. Basically, rather than fully inhibiting upshifts in backout conditions, you get a temporary delay until an upshift occurs. This way, when you're out in the desert and romping on the car, the trans. doesn't immediately upshift as soon as you get off the throttle. But when you're just trying to pass someone on the street, the trans. doesn't get "stuck" in gear. Definitely one of my favorite changes that we've made to the TCM OTS.

We unfortunately do not have a way for you to personalize shift points or shift speeds, beyond loading up one of our OTS maps or a custom TCM tune. TCM tuning is currently only available in our AccesstunerPro software that is exclusive to our Protuner network.

Thanks,
Sam@COBB