Sniper tune....

ripped camel

ripped camel

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I'm contemplating going with a Sniper tune.

1. What's the difference between a Sniper tune and a SCT tune?

2. Are both handheld tuners?

3. I know the SCT can check trouble codes. Can Sniper?

4. How much WHP & WTQ can I expect to gain on an otherwise stock 97 Base Mark with only a K&N drop in filter?

5. Lastly, I saw it said you need to purchase bullets for additional vehicles. But can I alter my own tune on my car as many times as I want?

Any other opinions would be great.
 
1. Depends, they can do the same things.
2. Sniper is laptop software, you make files and upload them to an interface which holds up to 6 tunes on it, from the interface you upload it to the car through the OBD2 port.
3. Sniper can check codes for your car and any other Ford OBD2 vehicle.
4. Probably around 10-15 horsepower.
5. With the Sniper you get 2 bullets, meaning you can tune 2 cars and you can purchase more bullets to tune other cars as well. With the SCT you can only program your own car.
 
You need to understand how the systems work...

With SCT you can get a tune done by another person or make one yourself using the Pro Racer Package. Then you need to put them on your car using either an Xcal flashing device or a chip.

The Sniper stuff was pretty well covered by above as to how it works...

Now your questions...

1. The SCT tune works without bugs...

2. Depends...

3. Both companies flashing devices can

4. Hard to say, the real gains are to be had in the trans tuning

5. With SCT you can only use 1 hand held device per car at a time, and the chip can also only be used with one car at a time. The Pro Racer software si vehicle specific too.
 
FWIW, I bought one in the group buy back in Feb, installed it at the end of March when I got my Mark out of storage, and one of the biggest reasons I wanted it was because the stock tune will not turn on the fan until the temp reaches 215-IF the AC is not running. It then will turn the fan on, and it'll bring the temp down to 200, and I have a 160 thermostat in it. In cooler weather, it never gets up to 215 , so I really wanted to be able to adjust the setting with Sniper so that the fan would come on earlier when the weather got hotter, like now. In high ambient temps, in traffic, this would help alot. Unfortunately, it does NOT work at all-even though I have tunes that have the low speed fan coming on at 165, high speed at 185, it still does what it did stock-in other words, it does NOT work as advertised.
I have sent my files to Pat, he only replied that he did not know why it does not work since it should-that was over two months ago, no other efforts on Sniper's part to correct this. other than to say that I can return it to Gino for a refund. I do like the way it shifts, I have a shift kit and when 'firmed' up, it is even better-but honestly, that is about all it seems to do. For some reason, early on, my original tune, which was supposed to reside in location 6 on the interface, disappeared-don't know why, but it is on my laptop, so I suppose I can reload it onto an open location on the interface, install it onto my ECU, and then put in into location 6 then back onto my ECU so that the bullet is restored-then I can return it...a PITA, but whatever. All things considered, $300 for 'firmer' shifts...I'm sure they are nice guys and all. but I get the impression that they are kind of sorry they (Sniper) decided to make this available to Mark owners-they are oriented to Mustangs, not Lincolns, and I actually was told by someone at Sniper that they were probably not going to sell for Lincolns anymore.
 
can some one chime in that likes sniper? i have an xcal 2 and could not be happier. i still am the biggest newb with it and do not have the pro racer package yet (300+) and there are still things i can change up but you are a little limited to what you do with the extreme tune program (included software)

i almost bought the sniper until i figured you can find used xcals for under 150 on ebay, you dont see snipers for Lincolns on ebay. after 150 bucks for the xcal2 am sure you will never look back at a sniper

weird thing is i never heard or read anything bad about snipers until (after i already bought a xcal2) there has been an influx of people on here asking about the difference between the two, and all there is is negative sniper comments especially from the people who own them.
 
There is no HP or TQ advantage between the two systems.

"gains" as you put it, depend greatly on the experience of the person who writes the tunes..

The benifits of the SCT software is
1. it was designed, by a ford drivetrain engineer, which means the guy that put it all together knows ALL the "ins and outs" of the ford PCM.

2. the Pro Racer SCT software gives 100% full control of the ford PCM, you dont need to "upgrade" to a more expensive solution to get 100% control as you do with Sniper.

3. SCT is supported by many well known and trusted vendors/tuners many of which frequent these boards.

The drawbacks to SCT
1. it is "married" to a single vehicle, more vehicles can be added for an additional charge.


The benifits of Sniper tuning
1. you can tune TWO cars (whoopie)

The drawbacks of Sniper
1. it's poorly supported by the manufactuer
2. most people need help from "pat" to write then custom tunes because the software doesnt work as advertised.
3. the support for the Lincoln Platform is marginal at best.
4. not having 100% full control without spending more money to upgrade to the premium tuning software after it's discovered the "budget" solution wont do what you want it to do.


I will openly admit I am biased, I've used the SCT software for almost 5 years.
But I did ALOT of research before hand and SCT was hands down the best solution for the dollar spent.. it "just works".

You dont waste your time trying to figure out "WHY" it doesnt work and you can concentrate your efforts on making your tune file work the way you want it to work.

That being said...

If a tuner used both packages, it's likely the HP and TQ gains would be very close, unless Sniper didn't allow access to a much needed paramemeter, which has been the case over and over, and there are many sniper users that aren't "really happy" with the solution they purchased.

YES the "entry level" sniper tuning software IS cheaper than SCT.

but many that have allowed "price" to dictate their options have found that they needed to spend a great deal MORE money to have access to the parameters they seek, require or want.

With the SCT stuff, you get access to ALL of it, SO MUCH that at "first glance" it seems "really daunting".

The learning curve with the SCT stuff is fairly steep.
If you THINK your gonna buy this on friday and have your car "tuned" on saturday you are mistaken.

IF you need a "quick" solution described above you need to
1. purchase the software from a trusted and well known vendor who will support you and provide you with a good "starter file".
9 times out of 10 these starter files are very very close to being perfect and only require some minor changes to Shift pressures and TC lock up schedules to make them right for the individual person.
Since shift pressures, shift feel, TC lock up points and rates are all subjective to personal opinion.

If it we "ME".. I would not let "price" dictate my tuning solution.
There is far more to consider than "cost" when it comes to tuning these cars.

5 years ago I paid 1097 dollars for a chip, chip burner and the software., and today I'd shell out that cash again in a SECOND. The "new" doesnt wear off this product, like it does on the "bargain basement" tuning solutions.

The reason my package was so expensive was due to the hardware.
The chip burner is 450.00, plus 200 for the chip itself.

Since your working on an OBD2 car, you dont need the additional hardware that "I" needed.

For example, you could get the SCT software alone for 329.00
pick up a used XCal on ebay for 100ish dollars
{I paid 50.00 for the Xcal that I'm currently using on my 98 LSC)

for converstations sake.
A stock 98 LSC runs between 15.0 and 15.3 in the 1/4 mile
With ONLY my SCT tune my 98 ran 14.7
That's a 6 car length advantage over a stock mark 8, and IMHO that is a significant gain for "just a tune".
 
normohl said:
there has been an influx of people on here asking about the difference between the two, and all there is is negative sniper comments especially from the people who own them.
Click to expand...

well many jumped on the bandwagon because sniper was "cheaper"..and I can understand that.

Then they found out "certain" things didnt' work as advertised..and I can understand their frustration.

there are a few that regardless of the fact it doesn't "work right" will still come and say that "it's the best".. or whatever.

"those people" aren't doing the community or newbies any service by suggesting they purchase something the manufacturer wont support.

most of the issues brought to snipers attention have been met with "that's an old car, we're not gonna spend alot of time fixing things for the OLD CARS".

That right there says, sniper isn't the best choice for the Mark 8 crowd.
 
I am a current sniper user. With that said I would not recommend this for any mark 8 owners. It has made good gains on my mark but it has also been very triing. In order to get it to work properly it was very difficult. Many calls to sniper and alot of time wasted. It still doesn't work right. With this known I would have gotten the SCT from the start.
Issues with sniper
-anti theft flashes
-speed limiter not adjustable
-fans not adjustable
-Fuel adjustments are wrong(don't follow the directions)

Go with SCT
 
htrdlincoln98 said:
I am a current sniper user. With that said I would not recommend this for any mark 8 owners.
Go with SCT
Click to expand...

Sniper might be great for the mustang crowd, but it's shown over and over and over that the folks at sniper cannot/will not support the mark 8 in an acceptable manner
 
Wow...

I can actually see XLRVIII doing the quote thing with his fingers as I read his posts LOL!

Good Stuff...
 
I must add, that IF I were jumping into the SCT ball game "today".
I'd have to say "steer clear" of the "latest and greatest" devices for the time being.
includes
X-3
Livewire
and that "touch screen xtreme" thing.

while these are neat and exciting "things" they haven't proven to be totally "bug free".
Get an Xcal 2 or a chip, they are "tried and true" and they just plain work.
 
Stack said:
Wow...

I can actually see XLRVIII doing the quote thing with his fingers as I read his posts LOL!

Good Stuff...
Click to expand...

is this the "fingers" thing your referring to?
flipbird.gif
 
I had driveability problems with my SCT chip that I had on my 98 LSC. The lockup TQ schedule was changed and it would cause the rpm to jump back and forth on deacceleration. No driveability problems with the Sniper and I like the way it shifts better. It does have some bugs that have yet to be resolved but none that bother me more than what I had with the SCT chip. I also love the ability to tune two cars, that's a huge plus when you have two OBD2 Mark VIII's! My 2 cents...
 
98LSC32V said:
I had driveability problems with my SCT chip that I had on my 98 LSC. The lockup TQ schedule was changed and it would cause the rpm to jump back and forth on deacceleration. No driveability problems with the Sniper and I like the way it shifts better. It does have some bugs that have yet to be resolved but none that bother me more than what I had with the SCT chip. I also love the ability to tune two cars, that's a huge plus when you have two OBD2 Mark VIII's! My 2 cents...
Click to expand...

the "issue" you had with the sct was not due to the hardware or software, that was a "tuning related issue".

the "decelleration" shuffle is easily solved.
 
WOW! Thanks for all the good info guys! I was considering an SCT but all I could find from lincoln tuners was the X3 which I was told had bugs. I was told as you guys said the X2 was better but I can't find them new.

Any ideas where to get them new? And if I can get them new don't I have to have a specific tune put on it for my Lincoln?
 
all the "new" Xcal 2 are gone...

I got a used on off ebay, but be forwarned.. you have to make sure your not getting a locked unit.

usually the unlocked ones are selling between 150-200ish.

If you get a used Xcal you will still need specific tunes for your car, prices vary from SCT dealer to SCT dealer.

I chose to get the software myself, and do the tuning...
 
there was 1 yesterday that had a 100.00 buy it now price, it ended last night.

also there was a brand new Xcal 1 that sold for 4.99
 
I have no idea why I didn't just pick one up when I bought everything else!
 
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