SCT Livewire TS+ canned tune review - Soon to be 5 star

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jackjare9455

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A buddy of mine got a deal on a couple of programmers and offered to sell me one for a good price. I told him if he came over tonight and we hooked it up and everything loaded well, I would purchase it. So, he did, and we installed the 93 canned tune on the SCT Livewire TS+.

I only had one WTF moment. We were going through the options, and it asked if you had a CAI kit. I do have a S&B, but you had to choose your CAI model, and the only one available to choose was a JLT. I pondered for a moment, figured I shouldn't select that, but my buddy was all yee haw and told me to pick it, what could it hurt? Well, time passed and grass grew, and it finally finished writing the tune (note: your truck will do some weird stuff, lights will go off and on, notifications on the dash, it's freaky the first time you go through it). I fire it up, and my truck went full potato. It couldn't idle, it stumbled all over the place, the garage smelled of raw fuel, it was terrible. The only thing I can assume was that the MAF had no idea where it was or that it even existed, and I was running extremely rich. So, we killed it, changed the CAI option to "stock" and reloaded the 93 tune, and it cranked up and idled fine.

We spun it around town and down some back roads and did some full throttle pulls. Here are my takeaways:

The truck instantly had immediate throttle response. It shifted through the gears faster and just seemed to run overall better than before. The same throttle input from stock, would reach speeds much faster. During a WOT pull into third gear... 1-2 was firm enough to bark the tires pretty damn good! 2-3 felt like someone kicked my transmission as it shifted. It shifted hard enough to make me feel uncomfortable. I am all for a quick, firm shift... but that was a straight slam. Just to note, I only had this issue at WOT, not at part throttle. I only drove the truck for 20 minutes or so, so my experience is still limited, but I will get some more testing tomorrow to see if my mind changes.

However, the improvements were enough to make me want to invest in a custom tune to really get the most out of the truck. I know I want to stick with the 93 octane options, but I really don't want a 2-3 that feels like the transmission is going to fall out. I may purchase the performance and the daily tune, just to have something that shifts slightly softer.
 
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jackjare9455

jackjare9455

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So, it took 2 business days to get my tune emailed to me. I copied the 93 performance tune file over to the SCT Livewire TS+ and loaded it in the truck last night...
Wow... that's all I can say, and I am not exaggerating.

The idle instantly felt much smoother than it had factory, or with the canned tune, it literally just purred in the garage. I don't even know how that's possible to tune, but whatever they did, it was smooth as butter.
I got it down the driveway and instantly noticed a difference in the transmission tuning. It held gears longer, kind of like it does in tow/haul mode, but even better. It also downshifted as you deaccelerated to a stop light, which sounds great.

The throttle response was instant, at WOT, it revved higher, so when it shifted the truck felt like it was in its powerband instantly. The shifts were firm, but smooth. It just felt like it would keep pulling...
I am thoroughly impressed, money well spent. As others have said, it's the way it should have came from the factory. It's raining today, so I haven't gotten it out today for additional "testing" (just detailed it, don't judge me).

If you are on fence, get it.
 

Philly Raptor

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So, it took 2 business days to get my tune emailed to me. I copied the 93 performance tune file over to the SCT Livewire TS+ and loaded it in the truck last night...
Wow... that's all I can say, and I am not exaggerating.

The idle instantly felt much smoother than it had factory, or with the canned tune, it literally just purred in the garage. I don't even know how that's possible to tune, but whatever they did, it was smooth as butter.
I got it down the driveway and instantly noticed a difference in the transmission tuning. It held gears longer, kind of like it does in tow/haul mode, but even better. It also downshifted as you deaccelerated to a stop light, which sounds great.

The throttle response was instant, at WOT, it revved higher, so when it shifted the truck felt like it was in its powerband instantly. The shifts were firm, but smooth. It just felt like it would keep pulling...
I am thoroughly impressed, money well spent. As others have said, it's the way it should have came from the factory. It's raining today, so I haven't gotten it out today for additional "testing" (just detailed it, don't judge me).

If you are on fence, get it.
So you just ordered the 93 Performance tune and that's it? Or was this an actual custom tune?
 
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