SO, is the S650 PCM locked or not?

[young at heart]

And is it a big deal to anyone else?

OK, I like the new car just fine. But then again I love my two S550s as well and I don’t see anything about the S650 that makes me want to run out to the garage and light my new 500 mile GT on fire. At a glance, especially to a non-enthusiast the new car looks just like the 18-23 so if you like those you’ll like the new one too.

But I am interested in the mechanical details, and for some reason whether or not the PCM is locked has become a bit of a big deal for me. The 450-460 hp of my S550s may be all I ever need or want but somehow it gives me peace of mind knowing I can get a second helping if I want one. I don’t know, sometimes I think I just hate being told what to do and what not to do.

What say you?

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[Schwerin]

Locked or not it will get hacked if people really want to. For Ford to update it there must be one authorization/encryption key. For Roush to tune it with Ford then there is likely multiple keys that will let you flash a tune. If thats the case someone just has to find where the key is stored. Similar in how people cracked the Playstation and Bluray encryption.

Ford is not going to just tell Whipple, Roush, Paxton, Hellion, ect "sorry guys no more tuning" on a car that many people buy it FOR tuning it. If they did people would be jumping ship to the last chargers/challengers, and the new Z and Supra quite easily.

 

[young at heart]

Locked or not it will get hacked if people really want to. For Ford to update it there must be one authorization/encryption key. For Roush to tune it with Ford then there is likely multiple keys that will let you flash a tune. If thats the case someone just has to find where the key is stored. Similar in how people cracked the Playstation and Bluray encryption.

Ford is not going to just tell Whipple, Roush, Paxton, Hellion, ect "sorry guys no more tuning" on a car that many people buy it FOR tuning it. If they did people would be jumping ship to the last chargers/challengers, and the new Z and Supra quite easily.

If one had to go through multiple steps to unlock the PCM for a tune to be applied, I would consider that to be Ford telling you not to do it In the first place. If you had to hack in to tune it I’d say there’s a good chance it would never be right, or at least trustworthy.

I am constantly amused when guys ask for help with a problem peculiar to their S550 on the forum. Maybe their wipers come on with the car in the garage when someone flushes a toilet in their house, I don’t know. Then you read on to find that they have an aftermarket tune. Duh!! What did you think was gonna happen?

I guess I’d just hate to spend $60K+ on a new S650 then another $10-12K on a supercharger only to have to fiddle with it forever. Who needs that?

 

[KINGKONA]

....Ford is not going to just tell Whipple, Roush, Paxton, Hellion, ect "sorry guys no more tuning" on a car that many people buy it FOR tuning it.....

If it is indeed locked, that's exactly what they're saying. You just gotta follow the money.....like always.

There will be hundreds of millions of annual sales dollars in after-market performance products that will be non-existent for this car. Tunes, tuners, intakes, headers, exhaust, forced induction, etc.

So it will be Ford Performance or nothing, and that makes a lot of financial sense for FoMoCo.

 

[KINGKONA]

I am constantly amused when guys ask for help with a problem peculiar to their S550 on the forum. Maybe their wipers come on with the car in the garage when someone flushes a toilet in their house, I don’t know. Then you read on to find that they have an aftermarket tune. Duh!! What did you think was gonna happen?

Provided one example of someone having a problem specifically related to their tune. Just one.

Tuners have it figured out, up to now. It's not rocket science, it's easy and cheap power and drivability.

I guess I’d just hate to spend $60K+ on a new S650 then another $10-12K on a supercharger only to have to fiddle with it forever. Who needs that?

Most supercharger kits come with canned tunes that work perfectly well, no problems.

 

[Schwerin]

If one had to go through multiple steps to unlock the PCM for a tune to be applied, I would consider that to be Ford telling you not to do it In the first place. If you had to hack in to tune it I’d say there’s a good chance it would never be right, or at least trustworthy.

I am constantly amused when guys ask for help with a problem peculiar to their S550 on the forum. Maybe their wipers come on with the car in the garage when someone flushes a toilet in their house, I don’t know. Then you read on to find that they have an aftermarket tune. Duh!! What did you think was gonna happen?

I guess I’d just hate to spend $60K+ on a new S650 then another $10-12K on a supercharger only to have to fiddle with it forever. Who needs that?

ALL ECU's are hacked to enable tuning. How do you think they unlock them?

 

[showbbq]

And is it a big deal to anyone else?

OK, I like the new car just fine. But then again I love my two S550s as well and I don’t see anything about the S650 that makes me want to run out to the garage and light my new 500 mile GT on fire. At a glance, especially to a non-enthusiast the new car looks just like the 18-23 so if you like those you’ll like the new one too.

Were you aware there was a new gen being unveiled? If you wanted to play with the newest toy, I imagine most would wait to buy a brand new mustang, especially if now you have two S550s.

 

[Schwerin]

If it is indeed locked, that's exactly what they're saying. You just gotta follow the money.....like always.

There will be hundreds of millions of annual sales dollars in after-market performance products that will be non-existent for this car. Tunes, tuners, intakes, headers, exhaust, forced induction, etc.

So it will be Ford Performance or nothing, and that makes a lot of financial sense for FoMoCo.

Which also takes away from the whole hting they went on about how people customize their cars. it will be impossible to make any car YOURS as it will be limited in what you can do to it. When you are limited to just 1 super charger that everyone else has.... personally why would I care about it then? I'll just go from having a car 100% like everyone else that buys a red GT to a car thats 100% like everyone else that bought a red GT and supercharged it down to the tune and amount of boost. The most "custom" thing would be what wheels I picked from a 3rd party vendor.

 

[Firsttexan]

And is it a big deal to anyone else?

OK, I like the new car just fine. But then again I love my two S550s as well and I don’t see anything about the S650 that makes me want to run out to the garage and light my new 500 mile GT on fire. At a glance, especially to a non-enthusiast the new car looks just like the 18-23 so if you like those you’ll like the new one too.

But I am interested in the mechanical details, and for some reason whether or not the PCM is locked has become a bit of a big deal for me. The 450-460 hp of my S550s may be all I ever need or want but somehow it gives me peace of mind knowing I can get a second helping if I want one. I don’t know, sometimes I think I just hate being told what to do and what not to do.

What say you?

Not an actual concern for me. The S650 has plenty of stock HP and I am fond of long term warranties.

They finally added 4 piston rear calipers to the Brembo package.

The Dark Horse S is appealing.

The appearance is a step backwards IMO. That may change with time. Camaroish

 

[KINGKONA]

Which also takes away from the whole hting they went on about how people customize their cars. it will be impossible to make any car YOURS as it will be limited in what you can do to it. When you are limited to just 1 super charger that everyone else has.... personally why would I care about it then? I'll just go from having a car 100% like everyone else that buys a red GT to a car thats 100% like everyone else that bought a red GT and supercharged it down to the tune and amount of boost. The most "custom" thing would be what wheels I picked from a 3rd party vendor.

I missed the parts about customization of the 2024 car. What are their claims?

I'm assuming it's smoke a mirrors. Representing different model-specific wheels/colors/etc as being available across the line of cars.

 

[Schwerin]

I missed the parts about customization of the 2024 car. What are their claims?

I'm assuming it's smoke a mirrors. Representing different model-specific wheels/colors/etc as being available across the line of cars.

They mention during the event how they know people LOVE to customize their mustangs and make it theirs then went on to talk about the 3 brake options and many wheel and color options they will be introducing. Limiting how you can modify your car is the OPPOSITE of embracing that.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

ALL ECU's are hacked to enable tuning. How do you think they unlock them?

What's the deal then with the C8?

That said, an E85 tune would be very cool

 

[Biggus Dickus]

The Dark Horse S is appealing.

So is the fact that you can make the dash guages look like your 92 LX

 

[Schwerin]

What's the deal then with the C8?

That said, an E85 tune would be very cool

What about it? Hacking things takes time. Its not like the movies where you can crack it in 45minutes or its utterly impossible.

 

[paulm1]

If theres any self driving features in this model the pcm has to be locked. Think about it.

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