Differences in tunes within same category

[Aaron B.]

Understood - the additional tunes are there to avoid excessive overlap between the highest tune in one category, and the lowest tune in the next category. Sounds like 65DD is a good fit for me, and 100P is there if I ever want to step it up a notch. Thanks for the explanation.

One more sort of general question regarding reliability. The extra 60, 70, 100 hp PHP and other tuners are getting out of a stock 7.3 - was Ford overly conservative in the OEM tuning, and the extra power is available with minimal or even trivial consequence to the engine? Or is there a pretty proportional relationship between extra power and decreasing longevity? Obviously PHP has a lot of satisfied customers, and I read that PHP is one of the more conservative tuners. Just curious about PHP's opinion on how much there tunes use of the 7.3's reliability margin, if any at all assuming normal driving and regular maintenance.

[cleatus12r]

Ford's tuning, albeit a bit weak, was also designed to fit into certain EPA emission standards. Also, the engineers who tuned the PCM didn't have the benefit of true 3D mapping capabilities so there are a few "rough edges" to smooth out.

Regardless of who "tunes" the truck, there is always going to be more stress in the drive train. There are trucks running around that left the dealer lot with aftermarket calibrations and have since run hundreds of thousands of miles. It all depends on how you drive it.

[Aaron B.]

Gotcha, thanks for the insight into the OEM calibration. You don't increase component life by adding stress - just trying to gauge how far if at all the needle is moving in the other direction. You are right, the driver's right foot will be the dominant factor.