To benefit from the latest changes, Superchips says that its Cortex programmers can be updated for free using the Internet, and the Cortex tuner carries an industry-exclusive, two-year limited powertrain warranty that covers your '08 vehicle.
 The readout on the Superchips...  The readout on the Superchips dyno at 11:03 a.m. established the baseline figure for the Super Duty at 302 hp and 537 lb-ft of torque. |  The first step was downloading...  The first step was downloading the stock tune into the Cortex. The '08 Ford Super Duty has two separate computers, one for the engine and a second for the 5R110 transmission. The Cortex read and copied both, which allowed us to return to stock settings. |  Once the Cortex finished the...  Once the Cortex finished the recognition process, the upload began. Our choices included its Standard Performance file that provides maximum increases in horsepower and torque, a Towing Performance file that maximizes the towing capabilities, and the Transmission file that tightens up shift points and other changes, but does not affect the engine. |
 There were other choices as...  There were other choices as well, like changing the rev limiter, eliminating the speed limiter, recalibrating the speedometer for larger tire sizes, and adjusting shift points in the transmission. |  We followed the prompts and...  We followed the prompts and when the series was completed, we clicked "Yes" to install the Performance file. It only took a few minutes. |  Nine minutes later the upgrade...  Nine minutes later the upgrade was completed, and the dyno showed how easy it was to gain 117 hp and 201 lb-ft of torque. The new readings on the F-250 with the Cortex tune were 419 hp (up from 302 hp) and 738 lb-ft of torque (up from 537 lb-ft). Surprisingly, improved fuel economy was a byproduct of the extra power. See our sidebar for details. |