Track Key Installation and Pricing

[Boss1309]

Well voucher is in and app. booked for Monday morning.hope all goes well. I think its the first one the dealer is doing so I am expecting some hick ups.

I just hope they don't expect me to pay for their tech's learning curve, if it takes longer than an hour.

Fingers crossed.......am I suppose to feel so apprehensive.

 

[stumpy]

Just got TracKey installed & test drove it on the way home. WOW! Big difference in throttle response. My dealer didn't charge me anything for the package or the installation. Took about an hour. They let me go back into the work area & actually watch them do the install. My salesman said the owner had made the decision to not charge anyone for the install as long as they bought the car there.
By the way, if anyone's looking they have 8 sitting on the lot & in the showroom (4 LS and 4 Regular). Call Mac Maclagan (770-868-5261) at Akins Ford, Winder, Georgia.

 

[ChuckP]

My dealer wanted $270.00 and then said they would do it for $160.00. That plus thr cost of the voucher is close to $500.00. I could get a nice tuner for that price.

True. But I would be concerned about warranty issues with aftermarket tune.

 

[ChuckP]

Install appointment: Monday, 11/7. Service mgr called to confirm they have the package in hand.
Price quoted: $302 + 1 hour labor.

Hopefully install will go without a hitch. Will be on VIR full course 11/12 - 11/13!
I'll also be doing a special driving event at Summit Point for Iraq/Afghanistan vets on 11/11 but don't know how much track time I'll actually see.

What was tempting was a bunch of local guys have rented Maryland International Raceway for the day on 11/11. You can see a stock Boss run 11.72 there on YouTube (on drag radials). However, I'm not sure my Boss will ever see a drag strip...it's tough on stick shift drive trains, especially with a Chinese tranny of questionable durability. Be neat to check out the launch control though!

Road courses eat tires and brakes but they are not near as tough on the drive train (IMHO) as drag racing (at least from the clutch back to the rear end). I'm sure I'll probably get some disagreement on that viewpoint.

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

Went to my dealer yesterday and picked up my Boss car cover (didn't order the option). Nobody at that time has ordered track key from him. It is 302 dollars + instal labor of an hour, this is due to the instructions they have received from Ford. The parts room guy is a very old friend of mine and he got the wiz bang tech that was going to be the installer........the tech knows nothing of updating their tool to flash the PCM prior to downloading the tune. They got ready to order mine and I told him to wait untill all these bugs are smoothed out. I dont track my car........I want the trackey enabled though. $400 or so is not the stubling point, being a test bed is.......Ford has not preped these tech's...This tech at my dealer has his own gt500 and its a drag car........he knows whats going on but he is less informed as we are. I will get it but I'm going to make sure when I go there wil be no problems at all..........maybe just like the cars the trackey will et cheaper.

 

[ufnavy06]

So I took mine in on Wednesday. 2 hours later no trackey enabled. I had to take the car back to get to a meeting with family so I rescheduled the install for this morning. Then I get a call last night saying they are locked out of the system and thus to not bring my car in for the install. Why would they be locked out? Is it because they tried on Wednesday and they couldn't get it working properly?

I know the VIN is tied somehow to the voucher, so I'm just looking for guidance so I can guide them, since Ford isn't doing much of it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

@JEEPINOCALA..... Respectfully SHUT UP!..........I'm not wrong about being a test bed AT MY DEALERSHIP. I'm not letting abunch of bozo's try and figure out how to load something in my car...........Read my post again and try not to skip over the big words (and, but and or).

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

Stupid, hmmm...........I post something and your burst out and tell me I'm wrong. Where do get the idea to presume and interpret what I am writing about? It's pretty basic, if you don't know what your talking about , just shut up and keep your comments to yourself. Plain and simple.........in a manly way.

 

[Jeff Quinn]

I totally understand your frustration with this. My dealer has not done a track key program yet, either, so I am waiting until Ford gets the dealers up to speed on this. Seems like it would have been much better for Ford to have installed the program at the factory, and then just sold the red key as the aftermarket part, to those who wanted to use the program. I very badly want the red key programmed, but will wait a few days until my dealer knows what is happening, and after Ford Racing gets up to speed with the dealerships. Seems like they have had several months to get this thing ready. It might have been a good idea to send the mechanics to school on this.

Jeff

 

[LING952]

#1029


TRACK KEY ACTIVATED BUT cound not load program HELP?
« on: November 04, 2011, 09:37:55 PM » Quote Modify Remove

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I arrived at dealer 8:15am, and they started trying to configure key, 1 hour went by no luck so finally after I gave them tech line number, they were sent a new link, they finally got the instument cluster to display to show TRACK KEY ACTIVE TRACK USE ONLY, Went on to next step, entered voucher number, then tried to go to step 22, entering the part/kit number no drop down would ever come up, it stayed blue. They called three or four times, and the Ford Racing Tech told them to deactivate all firewalls, pop up blockers, active x controls this did not work, they were told to change computers with windows xp or better ,
they used windows xp, and windows 7 still never could get past line 22 on instructions. FORD RACING Guy told them to unbolt my computer box it up, ship it to him in michigan, he would flash it, and mail it back.
I am not going to do this, so after 3-1/2 hrs. no track key program in my computer.
ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED, Some one said for me to tell them to use land line, and not wi-fi to get the program to get a strong steady enough signal to go forward. I put a 350.00 down payment on mine, you might check other track key topics for more. THE LOCAL TECHS IN MOST DEALERSHIPS ARE NOT TRAINED TO DO THIS, ONE MISTAKE AID ITS GOING TO BE FUN. JUST MY THOUGHTS. I WAS GIVEN MY PACKAGE WITH VOUCHER, GREEN/BLUE SHEET WITH NUMBERS NEEDED TO DO THIS AND ALL PAPERS TO BRING BACK ONE DAY WHEN THEY FIGURE THIS OUT, THEY STILL HAVE MY MONEY...LOL. I HAVE PAPERS AND A KEY. WOW

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

Jeff................best idea yet!............car ready to go........can't activate till you buy the key. You my friend need a job in dearborn. I just am not willing for someone to learn on my car. My 2008 GT/CS got a nail in the tire.........took it to the dealer to be fixed.......the guy broke the TPS on the inside and then couldnt get the tire rim to balance..........found out it was his FIRST time using the machinery. It didn't cost anything extra out my pocket..........but did cost me 3 hours, and a scratched rim which I didnt see till 2 weeks later. From the posts I've seen almost every dealer has run into problems and all have had to call Ford engineering for answers.........Hey Ford, step up and teach these guys NOW............don't know if it's possible, but sooner or later sombodies PCM is going to go south and then the owner will be waiting for a new PCM.

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

yeah yeah yeah....blah blah blah..................what you are calling stupid is what you actually did. Im done with this.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Myself and another Boss owner arrived at the dealer at 7:20 for a 7:30 appointment. At 8:30 the service writer told us they hadn't pulled our cars into the service bay yet. Nice. Anyway at 11:20 both of our cars were finished with no issues other than asking about a tranny code. Turned out disabling ship shift throws a code. Does it really take that long to install? The dealer I used had installed one TK on the owner's Boss so they had already updated their software.

Just like the cars at Track Attack the lopey idle is much more prominent when the car is hot and after you've been driving it. It shakes my car and to me it's similar but not quite the same as I experienced with the Track Attack cars. The more aggressive throttle is a bit of a pain driving across parking lots and in slow traffic. Engine braking is noticeable but not excessive. I'll have to wait until I drive it on a track for final evaluation, it is called TracKey after all, but for now I'm very pleased. It does make the car feel more like a "race car with a license plate."

Total cost installed was $395 plus tax.

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

Sounds like you did alright, not being the first to be worked on at the dealer is the way to go. The engine braking will help I'm sure in your track time........extra torque out of the tight turn hopefully wont blow your tires off...........but sounds like a success story ..........way to go! ;D

 

[cloud9]

Just like the cars at Track Attack the lopey idle is much more prominent when the car is hot and after you've been driving it. It shakes my car and to me it's similar but not quite the same as I experienced with the Track Attack cars. The more aggressive throttle is a bit of a pain driving across parking lots and in slow traffic. Engine braking is noticeable but not excessive. I'll have to wait until I drive it on a track for final evaluation, it is called TracKey after all, but for now I'm very pleased. It does make the car feel more like a "race car with a license plate."

Total cost installed was $395 plus tax.

That pretty well matches my assessment too Rick. I drove it yesterday with the black key and it just didn't "feel" like the same car. Fun to drive as always, but not as aggressive and raw as with TK. I wish my mileage wasn't getting killed or I'd run TK all the time. However, it's really not that bad. I got almost 12mpg with a tank on TK and I'd only been getting about 13.5 with the black key. Since I was probably driving more aggressively with TK, the difference might be even less. It will be interesting to see what mileage is like on the track with TK.....better or worse?

 

[808Boss]

I was a little apprehensive bringing my Boss to the dealer the day after it came out, but unfortunately there's only one Ford dealer on Maui and I think I'm the only boss on island... Dropped it off real early to the dealer and told them to call Ford racing if there was any problems.... I called them 30 min into the install and they said the tech was on the phone with Ford racing.. I was thinking uh oh the install ain't happening today.. but 30 min later they were done and Track Key was in! Couldn't believe it.. Charged me 302 +110 for install.

In any case, I notice the skip shift message (1-4 skip shift for fuel economy) showing up on the console when I'm using the regular key now. Never had that b4, or at least never noticed it. Also When I remote start my car, and the stick the red key in to drive it, the track key tune does not load.. I have to actually start my car with the red key manually.. interesting..

 

[BossJockey]

Just like the cars at Track Attack the lopey idle is much more prominent when the car is hot and after you've been driving it. It shakes my car and to me it's similar but not quite the same as I experienced with the Track Attack cars. The more aggressive throttle is a bit of a pain driving across parking lots and in slow traffic. Engine braking is noticeable but not excessive. I'll have to wait until I drive it on a track for final evaluation, it is called TracKey after all, but for now I'm very pleased. It does make the car feel more like a "race car with a license plate."

Did you happen to notice what rpm your car was idling at when it was shaking your car?

I find it interesting that some people say the key makes a big difference and others say they see little change. I starting to wonder if some cars are not taking the program completely or something happening during the install that corrupting the code? Or is it just a perception thing.

 

[Vince]

In any case, I notice the skip shift message (1-4 skip shift for fuel economy) showing up on the console when I'm using the regular key now. Never had that b4, or at least never noticed it.

You still use the regular key? LOL

 

[Vince]

Did you happen to notice what rpm your car was idling at when it was shaking your car?

I find it interesting that some people say the key makes a big difference and others say they see little change. I starting to wonder if some cars are not taking the program completely or something happening during the install that corrupting the code? Or is it just a perception thing.

Mine shakes at idle, after I've driven it for awhile. As far as sounds go, I love the overrun. I can still smell a difference in the exhaust.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Did you happen to notice what rpm your car was idling at when it was shaking your car?

I didn't but I'll check for that the next time I drive it. I did notice when first starting using TK that the idle was a bit high.