For all those so inclined..................
I recommend those who are going to go w\ SCT Advantage to tune these 3V's, to also get at some point the Calibrated Success Advanced Ford Tuning DVD from Greg Banish (access thru his website Calibrated Success.com) along w\ all 3 of his tuning books (available thru Amazon or thru Greg's web site) so that you get an overall tuning perspective from an actual OEM Calibration Engineer who actually worked for Ford before, during & after this 3V platform's development..........who knows\understands the Spanish Oak ECU OS's code line processing & how Ford used this & the most important reason........why Ford set\programmed this OS the way\manner that they did.
I also have all this in hand myself as well as other helpful materials................
Greg also uses SCT Advantage\Live Link II software suite to do all his Ford tuning (also some of the tuning examples he uses in his books.......some is also thru Greg using HPTuners VCM Suite on GM platforms to teach\show the common teachings that transcends across platforms......) thus should be familiar to those using SCT.
Once 1 gets familiar enough w\ the Ford Spanish Oaks ECU OS's code line processing though, it won't matter whose software interface you're using to identify the OS coding thus the maps & settings being tuned then relate to them thru the tuning software you're familiar with........the layouts will be essentially the same.......only the naming conventions may be different.
This can help you to then determine how you need to evaluate what others are teaching you is actually the way you need to go about it to achieve the results you want out of your 3V.................
It will pay for you as a DIY tuner to get\gain perspective from other tuners as well so don't discount them either..............don't allow complacency to dictate your success as you WILL come up short at some point...........hopefully it doesn't cost you an engine or worse, an accident or your life.
Don't make it a habit of bypassing\disabling safeties in the tune calibrations in order to get something to "work"........learn to tune correctly so it does what you want AND don't trip any operational safeties out of hand in the tune........the safeties are there mainly for component failure protection.......but they also provide some protection from shoddy tuning (the cause of the majority of the Mustang crashing memes you've seen\heard of.......someone bypassed a safety.......the IPC Wheel TQ Error & TQ Intervention safeties are the most bypassed\disabled in Spanish Oaks ECU tunes......these prevent an engine RPM runaway from poor ETC TB calibration tuning for TQ control--the most common mistake--OR a TB TPS sensor\TB actuator\APP--accelerator pedal position--sensor failure that causes the TB to go full open & the ECU has lost control of it).......if they're not disabled or bypassed.
You'd be surprised by how much this is still actually being done in these Spanish Oaks ECU's.........................
1 more thing..............I would highly suggest that you go into the knock sensor retard section ASAP & set very high knock retard settings in the max knock retard timing map........in the range of at least -10* to -12* or more..........until you get a handle on everything then set this to your comfort level.......not where someone else says to. The ECU can protect the engine MUCH better & faster than you can so let it do so until you get up to speed & sure of what you're doing concerning setting\optimizing spark timing as well as cam timing. Not only by doing this helps protect the engine, but the data can also help you in knowing WHERE to set the timing to stay out of knock in the 1st place if you're recording\datalogging the knock sensor activity thus can help speed up the tuning process while keeping the engine protected.
Running out of knock retard timing is 1 of the main reasons why modern engines end up destroying themselves from detonation..........because most folks excessively limit the amount of knock retard timing the ECU is allowed to pull when knock is present......even the OEM's set this tighter than I think is prudent............I'd much rather have the engine drop a bunch of power but still be in good working order than pop a ring land, throw a rod, spin a bearing or lift a head cause you're trying to get a low 1.x sec 60 ft time so I can't have the ECU pulling timing during launch...................much cheaper to find\correct the issue causing the excess knock than having to repair\replace the engine and STILL have to find\correct the issue that caused the excessive knock...........
Remember this............if you do all your tuning correctly it won't matter how much knock retard timing you put in cause the ECU won't need it thus won't use it.........but if it DOES need it, it will BE THERE.
Enjoy & have FUN!
