Hey, guys, Adam here with americantrucks.com, and today we're taking a closer look at, installing,
and dyno testing the SCT X4 SF4 Power Flash tuner, available for the 2015 and newer 3.5
liter EcoBoost F150, excluding the Raptor.
Now, you should be taking a look at this device if you're looking to get a handheld tuner
that is capable of holding up to 10 custom tunes, but also comes with a preloaded tuner
or can tune right out of the box ready for your 3.5.
Before we jump into all the details of the tuner itself, let's look at the dyno graph.
We, of course, have our '16 EcoBoost strapped down to the dyno.
Quick note, guys, we have 35-inch tires which we're gonna take into account when we tune
it.
We also have 93 octane in the tank looking to maximize the performance, bone stock otherwise.
What do you say we head over to that graph?
All right, guys.
Taking a look at this graph here.
Of course, we strapped our '16 3.5 EcoBoost down to the dyno.
It's got 35-inch tires, as you saw with the parameters we modified in our tune.
It's also got 93 octane in the tank, bone stock otherwise.
We established our baseline numbers, walked away with 307 horsepower and about 338 pound-feet
of torque at the rear wheels.
We then, of course, uploaded our preloaded tuner on the X4 from SCT, modified those 93
octane and tire size parameters, ran it again under the same conditions, walked away with
321 horsepower, 389 pound-feet of torque at the rear wheels.
Good for peak gains of 14 horsepower and 51 pound-feet of torque at the rear.
Those are really impressive, straight on the peak numbers.
It's really the curve gain that's gonna be what you feel out on the street.
Now, curve gain is coming in at right around 4000 rpms, 30 horsepower and 39 torque, we're
gaining, at 4000.
So, low-to-mid range power picking up really noticeable numbers, that's definitely what's
gonna make a difference on the street.
And we all know there's a little bit of turbo lag with these EcoBoosts, so having a little
bit more torque can make it feel like it's less sluggish.
It's gonna have better throttle response and acceleration, it's just gonna feel more alive.
And with these big rigs, that's always a bonus to have at the low-to-mid range.
I'm really happy with the results of a very simple, preloaded 93 octane tune.
Now, taking a look at the X4 aside from those numbers, guys, this is a great tuner that
has that stock tune or that preloaded tune that you can modify in order to make it a
little more custom to your vehicle without getting a full on custom tune.
Can also take advantage of holding up to 10 customs on this device if you wanna work with
your own tuner separately, whether it be BAMA, whether it be 5 Star, whatever the case may
be.
You also have a number of other features on this device that you need to take advantage
of.
Gauges and data logging is super useful for anyone looking to track live engine data on
the fly.
Things like boost, air-fuel ratio, air intake temp, coolant temp, so on and so forth, you
can track that right here.
You can also record data logs to monitor your engine's performance, your tune's performance,
and make any revisions with your tuner that you may need to, all can be done right on
that device.
You're also gonna be able to track up to eight pieces of information at once.
You can track eight gauges, right here, without needing all those A-pillar gauges or dashboard
gauges, none of that nonsense.
Right here on the device, super useful.
Also, you're gonna be able to read and clear DTC codes, or diagnostic trouble codes.
When that check engine light comes on you're not gonna need a different device, all can
be done right on the X4.
Now, in addition to all that, you're also getting Wi-Fi access, cloud access, wireless
update capabilities, you can use this in landscape or portrait mode.
It's got two built-in slots on the back to mount to a windshield mount.
SCT does provide that windshield mount separately if you wanna pick that up, great for guys
who are taking advantage of the gauges and data log screen.
Now, this device comes in at right around 500 bucks, and the install gets one of the
three wrenches on our difficulty meter.
Anybody can tackle this in the driveway at home with about 30 minutes from start to finish.
I'm gonna take you through every step of the process for tuning your vehicle.
Again, we're gonna focus on that preloaded tune as we talked about at the dyno graph.
But if you're using a custom tune, the process is exactly the same, you're just gonna select
your custom tune.
Now, I'm gonna show you all that process and then we're gonna walk through to the features.
Let's get started.
All right.
Now, jumping into things, guys.
Once you have your device plugged in, put your key in the ignition and turn it on but
don't start your engine.
Wanna jump right into tuning.
So, we're gonna go into "Program vehicle," from the main menu, hit the "Continue," on
the street notice, make sure your key is in the on position, again, and press "Continue."
Now, from here, of course, we're gonna go right into our preloaded tune on our X4, but
if you're using a custom tune from your own tuner, you can select that at the bottom.
So, again, this is right out of the box.
We're using the preloaded for the 3.5, so I'm gonna select that.
Now, if your tuner needs updates, you can do so now, you will need to be connected to
Wi-Fi.
So, make sure that you're being able to connect to a network in range and then you'll be able
to continue.
All right.
From there, you're gonna be able to make any adjustments to that preloaded tune that you
want to.
Now, of course, we wanna change our octane from 87 to 93, so we're gonna go ahead and
do that.
Then you can scan down and see if you wanna change anything else.
Rev limiter for driving is at 6200, neutral is at 4200, idle, all those things we can
keep the same.
All we really wanna worry about is the octane level.
So, we've got it set to 93 octane, and we're gonna hit "Approve."
Continue on special options.
"Do you want to change your tire size?"
Now, we have 35s on, so we're gonna select "Yes."
Tire size in inches, we'll go to 35, press "Done."
So, we've got 35s, we've got 93 octane, "Continue."
Turn your key off as directed and just wait.
Now, it will say the same thing, "Turn the key on," and you're gonna wait, and it will
update move forward.
From here, it's gonna save your stock tune to the device, and then it'll move forward
with actually flashing it to the tune that you selected, in our case, that modified preloaded.
As you can see, it's downloading the tune now, so let it load zero to 100.
It may do this several times, you don't wanna unplug the device or turn the key off unless
directed by the screen.
So, we'll come back at the end.
Once that's done, it'll say it's clearing your DTC codes, and then download complete.
From here, you can turn the key off, you can press "Done," take you back to the main menu,
and you're good to go.
All right, guys.
So, I wanna take you through some of the other features of the X4.
So, underneath "Program vehicle," which not only can do the preloaded but also custom
tunes, you'll be able to read gauges and you can data log your vehicle's performance.
So, gauges, you get to monitor live engine vitals.
Once you press "Continue," "Key on," it'll bring up configurations, and I'll take you
through that.
So, select your vehicle that it applies to.
So, we're in a '16, so we wanna hit "Ford gas 08' and newer," press "Continue."
From there, you'll be able to track things like boost, air-fuel ratio, coolant temp,
intake temp, voltage, so on and so forth.
So, just off the bat here, we have two gauges, top one says "Boost and PSI," and bottom,
"Control module voltage."
Now, obviously, car's not on, so we're not actually reading any boost.
But if we wanted to change that, we just select that, then "Item."
Say we wanna monitor intake air temp, select it, hit "Approve," and it changes that gauge.
So, really interesting stuff, you can monitor on the fly, every single day.
Now, if we wanted to change the gauge layout, you can monitor up to eight vitals at once.
So, we can select that from the menu, and now we have eight different gauges, and we
can change all of them to monitor whatever we want out of the list.
You can also start recording data.
So, if you get a new custom tune from your own tuner here, you can data log, you can
send that to them via email.
Plug this into your laptop, you'll have access to it.
So, that's really useful, right here on the device.
So, if we wanna hit "Stop data log," goes back to the main menu.
"Vehicle functions," under that, "Read and clear DTC," or diagnostic trouble code.
So, check engine light comes on, plug this guy in, read the code, get the code and description,
and then you can clear it.
"Special functions," most people won't touch, something like cam relearn, most people won't
have to worry about that.
If we go back to "Exit," "Vehicle info" will display your VIN, your ECU strategy code,
and things of that nature.
So, whenever you're requesting a custom tune, you'll most likely need that piece of information
you can access right on the device.
"Device info" will give you software update, firmware version, how many pairs you have
left, married status.
You'll also get device serial number, things also needed for writing a tune, but the serial
number is also located on the back of the device.
"Device settings."
You can check for updates and you can connect to Wi-Fi.
So, these kind of go hand-in-hand.
If you wanna check for updates, you're gonna need to be on a Wi-Fi network.
So, you can connect that here.
You can also control the brightness of the device itself during the day and night, it
can automatically change.
You can rotate this from portrait to landscape, change the theme.
There's red, blue, and then dark, blue just switches things up, dark changes the whites
to black.
Under that, you have "Sensors," "Management mode," "Audio," has a little beep every time
you hit a button.
And "Startup function" I think is pretty interesting too.
So, if anyone wants to actually read the gauges on the fly every day, you might mount this
to a windshield mount.
It has these two mounts on the back here, so you can hook that on if you wanted to buy
the SCT windshield mount.
Now, if you were driving and you want this on all the time, you can select this to start
up directly into the gauges screen.
Anytime you put your key in and this is plugged in, it'll go right there.
So, from there, you can hit "Factory reset," or hit "Exit," back to the main menu, and
you're done.
Well, guys, that's gonna wrap up my quick review, install, and dyno test of the SCT
X4 SF4 Power Flash tuner, focusing on that preloaded tune for our 3.5, which is available
for all 2015 and newer 3.5 EcoBoost F150s, excluding the Raptors.
You can get your X4 right here at americantrucks.com.