Scarlet #JustA4Banger Ecoboost A6 Premium - Wife's Car turned GT Killer!

Nice work, its fun to read about some of the non-V8 cars.

I'm really wishing I got my ecoboost in automatic after driving a couple of them. The 6 speed just isn't the best match for this little 4 banger... first time in my life I would prefer the auto.

So after the first time out to the strip, I was definitely left wanting more out of the current setup, and also wanting more power overall. I headed down to the 1/4 mile track here closest to me, Bradenton Motorsports Park. I was able to damn near break into the 12's, and yet again was killed by the heat. :frusty:

As I eluded to previously, this brought me back to using the factory intake and a "green filter drop-in" in place of the JLT. It also meant that it was time to ditch the MAPerformance Street Core Intercooler, because I was still getting killed with the FL heat, and this intercooler just couldn't keep up with the task. While it was great for daily driving and for the cooler months, once it turned into the hot, humid, sticky summer months and I was drag racing it multiple times a week.... It was time for an Upgrade!

[Editor's Note: The intercooler still carries on the duty of chilling another Ecoboost in it's daily driving capacities, with some spirited driving and also some racing, behind the wheel of ZSorr4's Triple Yellow bolt-on car!]

Enter Nik @ Levels Performance & his amazing craftmanship on this badass Race Core. One of the main reasons I went with Nik / Levels Performance was because he was a local(ish) Florida small business owner, hand-making his products with great pride, and of course I love supporting "Made In USA" as much as possible, when feasible. Another reason was because I obviously needed the results.....

Well, let me tell you. Just by making the swap from the JLT to OEM intake and the MAP Street to Levels Race cores - I picked up 4 tenths in the 1/8th mile! Freaking awesome! And while still battling the FL heat & humidity, the Levels Race core cooled down far quicker between rounds, and kept the CAT's from climbing well over the 120's like it had done w/the MAP Street.

The install was relatively easy, even still, I had to sub it out to my friend John Conway at StangZone in Hudson on SR52. By this time, I was so blasted at work - I think we were carrying like 9 flips at this time trying to get them to market ASAP - that it just made all the sense in the world to let the pros handle the install while I worked. It helped that my business partner at the time, happened to be John's younger brother. So he didn't laugh me out of his shop when I asked him to work on a 4 cylinder :clap2:

And so it was on... The drag racing bug had already bit me hardcore. The car was hauling some pretty good ass for only having a couple bolt-on parts, stock exhaust, stock intake, and a stock turbo on it. I was getting the hang of the burnout, the staging, the reaction time, and I was off to the races - literally and figuratively!

I started getting a really good handle on the car, and with more refinement from Adam at Tune+, we were breaking out of the 8.0's in the 1/8th mile and having to feather foot it on the big end, or even tap the brakes sometimes to keep it in the 8s. And I was enjoying the hell out of it!

^^^ Also, I forgot to add that it was at this time (installing the Levels Performance Race Core FMIC) that we removed the Active Grille Shutters (AGS) from the nose of the car.

ForYourOwnGood said:

Nice work, its fun to read about some of the non-V8 cars.

I'm really wishing I got my ecoboost in automatic after driving a couple of them. The 6 speed just isn't the best match for this little 4 banger... first time in my life I would prefer the auto.

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Thanks [MENTION=25032]ForYourOwnGood[/MENTION]! While I'd love to have a V8 Coyote car, this was the path that God had in store for us and for Scarlet. Bonus baby wasn't going to fit in the back seat w/the other 2 monsters :doh:

And yes, I prefer the auto because of my desire to go fast in a straight line, and find it odd to actually be happy with the auto over the manual (especially w/all the issues I hear about w/the MT82 guys) :amen:

car looking good buddy!

Knucklehead said:

car looking good buddy!

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Thanks man! Just a few more posts and I should be able to bring this thread up to speed on the new build

SPOILER ALERT: We get to :first: in the DD list on Pony Up, and challenge the Race list with Scarlet #JustA4Banger Now we're shooting for *stupid* rwhp numbers and planning on giving the top of that list a run for their money (even though they've got several deeeeep 9 second cars, and one potentially 8 second car on the top of the list). I should be able to get into the top 4 or 5, regardless.

Okay, so let's recap where we've been, and let's try and speed this along... So far we've covered the following:

• WeatherTech Floor Mats & Trunk Mat from Precision Window Films
• 3M Crystalline Window Tint from Precision Window Films
• 3M Door Protection from Precision Window Films
• Sale of my beloved 100th Anniversary HD F150
• Purchase of the 3.5L TT AWD Ecoboost XSP to tote the Bonus Baby
• JLT Cold Air Intake from BG Racing (replaced with OEM and a Drop-In)
• Denso ITV22 Spark Plugs from Tune+
• MAP Intercooler, Cobb Accessport, UPR (not DVCC) Catch Can, Tune+ IWG from M6G
• GT Grille Deletes from M6G / ProFab Performance Plus
• WMS Catless Downpipe from M6G / ProFab Performance Plus
• Billet Dome Light Covers from eBay
• Billet Hood Latch & OBD Port Cover from Steeda
• Spacers from GarageLine
• PP Reps from American Muscle
• Sticky Tires from Mickey Thompson
• E30 from Tune+
• Race Core Intercooler from Levels Performance

And now we're here... The car was quick. It was good from a dig. I was anxious to go faster. And so I put a small shot of dry nitrous in the ole girl. Untuned. Like a ruhtard. But wanted to go faster and decided to give it a shot.

The car was good. Really good, esp. for being without a tune for it. We were able to click off 1.6X 60', with a 7.3X 1/8th mile time with relative ease. I was running consistently faster each time out to the 1/4 mile track, too. My best ET was an 11.3X, but it was a hail mary pass, and the majority of my passes were 11.6X's. I was struggling to figure out the entire (new) process for staging, launching, etc. on the squeeze and I wasn't pulling the button until shifting into 2nd (to be safe, and to avoid spinning, and avoid blowing it up).

I was able to pilot the car to the #1 Spot on the Daily Driven (DD) List from Pony Up, and was also able to challenge the "Big List" w/the spray. Once we put the new suspension on, the car was consistently in the 7.8X-7.9X range in the 1/8th mile, so we were on Team Pedalfest and sometimes had to hit the brakes to keep from breaking out and retaining our #1 Crown. :first: On the juice, she was good for another 0.5-0.6 seconds in the 1/8th mile. This was able to get me all the way up to the #3 spot on the Big List!

Couple of other smaller, less significant mods that I picked up along the way were:

• Boomba Racing Oil Cap in Anodized Red
• GT350 Push Button Start from Tasca Ford
• Blackout Visor Overlays
• CF Steering Wheel Pony
• Red Pony Overlay
• UPR "EB" Badge
• Scosche Mount for the Cobb Accessport
• CF Strut Bolt Covers
• CF Windshield Wiper Fluid Cap

At the time of picking up the American Muscle PP Rep wheels w/the Mickey Thompson ET Streets - I was able to score some insight from [MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION] about some suspension goodies that BMR Suspension had available for the S550. I also scored a set of the OEM GT (non-PP) brake calipers (loaded) from him in the package deal for the wheels and tires (thanks Kelly!) to be used later for a brake upgrade.

When we installed the nitrous, I also put on a set of Mishimoto Charge Pipes and Couplers w/T-Bolt Clamps. The cold side charge pipe was already plumbed for the nitrous nozzle & the upgraded clamps gave me some additional piece of mind that the pipes wouldn't pop off under full boost (sorry, no photos).

Also, the same day we were able to install the BMR Drag Springs SP086, BMR Vertical Links TCA045, and BMR Cradle Lockouts CB005 on ole Scarlet's rear end (I just finally got the front springs installed recently, lol). While the nitrous helped get the car up to speed on the big end, it was the suspension goodies that got us outta the hole way ahead of our competition time-after-time. We were typically winning every race within the first 60' - street or strip. Including the beheading of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat (4 different times), a GT500, a Roush-charged S550, and a Procharged S550 - to name a few. The suspension install was straight forward, and we've completed about 10-12 of these setups in our local friends' S550 cars since.

Nice car dude! Where the strut bolt covers worth it?

thehunterooo said:

Nice car dude! Where the strut bolt covers worth it?

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Thank you!

Yeah, they were cheap enough to be worth it. They're not some high end show finish CF piece, by any stretch of the imagination, yet they get the job done.

.

How do you like the GT grille delete? Any downsides? Gas mileage? Drag?

Could the intercooler fit with the ags or was it required to eliminate it?

what size are the front wheels and tire?

do you have a full side shot?

Ebm said:

How do you like the GT grille delete? Any downsides? Gas mileage? Drag?

Could the intercooler fit with the ags or was it required to eliminate it?

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I like the GT Grille Delete, for sure. The only downside that I've personally noticed is the amount of bugs it allows the intercooler to collect :lol: Other than that, none. I don't care about gas mileage, personally. I'm on a big turbo, E85, built motor, nitrous, and daily drive on drag radials.... I'm not looking for economy, :headbonk:

I didn't try to install it w/the AGS in place; they'd already been removed previously when I first installed the MAP Street Core Unit and the GT Grille Delete over with my friends at Pro Fab Performance Plus. But this particular core (race core) is so large, that I'd find it next to impossible to retain the AGS unit w/it. And again, I'm not looking for economy outta the car, so the AGS was a useless weight over the nose of the car for me. So..... It was "Bye Felicia"

*Note: I do have 2 sets in the attic if anyone wants AGS for their ride!*