TheLion
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Hello all. I'd like to share a few things I've learned from both other vehicles and in the short time I've owned a 16 EB, but this is more of an engineers perspective and it's not so much focused on big power, but rather efficiency, which I might add is actually the best place to also start when moving toward big power adders.
It's also somewhat cost minded as these things are carefully chosen as the most critical items to help create a reliable engine that makes consistent power when you beat the crap out of it pull after pull after pull in the worst conditions. Designing for the worst case is a mindset that is standard practice in Industrial, Aerospace and Military engineering disciplines (my expertise is Industrial).
These things are by no means the ONLY good solutions, just the best solutions I have been able to find at their particular price points. Please feel free to post your solutions, experiences and most valued would be documented / instrumented test data to back it up if you can.
While some people buy mustangs as weekend toys and are willing to perform rather risky mods to break 1/4 mile / track records or extreme bragging rights, there are those of us who also drive them daily and depend upon them year around. Longevity and reliability of the car are even more important than just going fast. I love driving, weather its cruising down country back roads, 1/4 mile drag strip or down hill mountainous slaloms, I just enjoy driving, that's why I bought a mustang.
1. Oil $40~$75- While I would recommend following the service interval on the first oil change (approximately 10k is when you should expect the change oil indication to come on) to allow proper break in of bearing and cam surfaces thus allowing the highest efficiency, after the period when optimal wear in is achieved, we would want to then focus on preservation. There are quite a few motor oil vendors out there, all of the big names at least meet the SAE standards, however some are quite a bit better than others.
The following is a very interesting instrumented and certified test comparison using industry standard benchmarks (an one non-standard test). I've used Mobil 1 15k Extended performance in the past on my 2007 Focus ST (172k miles and it still runs like a champ), however that was an NA engine, not a highly boosted FI making double the HP and torque (literally its about 2x, 164 ft-lbs vs 320). I will be using AMSOIL Signature 5W-30 on my 16 EB Stang once I reach the 10k first service interval as I cannot find a better performing oil: http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g3115.pdf
Note that you want an Oil that performs good in ALL categories. While a few of the oils edge out the Signature series in a few categories, they perform significantly worse in others. The signature series performs in the top bracket in every category. As I stated, I run the Mobil 1 in my NA focuses, but will switch to AMSOIL Signature in the Mustang when it comes due. I wasn't aware of the AMSOIL signature series performance until a colleague of mine told me about it, which he runs in his S2000.
2. Spark Plugs $40~$75- si (silver) has the highest conductivity of any base metal, including Gold and Copper. Copper would be second in line to silver in terms of conductivity for electrode use in plugs and has very similar electrical properties at a slightly lower cost. Iridium and Platinum have the worst performance due to lower electrical conductivity, however they offer the highest life span due to high melting points and density. Most factory plugs are Iridium (slightly higher conductivity than Platinum, but also more expensive to produce) for low maintenance / reliability but at the cost of consistent ignition which results in loss of fuel economy / power. My own experience is that running 91 or 93 octane in my NA focus using silver electrode plugs resulted in much more consistent power and significantly reduced the dead torque band in the 3k to 4k rpm range before hitting the torque peak at 4k8 rpm. Brisk makes some excellent plugs (well over 50k in 07 ST and Id get 28~29 mpg on average with spirited driving, EPA for that car was 24/31). Prior to running premium and the LGS silver plugs I would average around 26~27 and have a dead torque band in the described range with the OEM iridiums. While I doubt you would notice any power difference in your seat of the pants dyno, you may see it in your mileage averaging up a bit and you may see it on a dyno. More modded EB's will likely see a bigger benefit. It's worth a look (also great info, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look through the links): http://www.briskusa.com/techinfo
The plugs most appropriate for the EB from Brisk are RR14YS, you can find them on Americanmuscle, ebay etc. Their price point is nearly identicle to the Motorcraft Iridiums, but with a slightly shorter service interval (25-30k change invertvale vs 30-45k). To me this is a worth while investment, changing plugs once every other year on an in-line mounted inline 4-cyl isn't exactly difficult or time consuming either. Maybe on a transversely mounted 3.5L EB I might think twice...making consistent ignition matters and plugs are by far one of the most overlooked component yet are highly critical to fuel ignition.
3. Inter Cooler $500~$1,200 - the infamous factory IC, the most worthless piece of Sh** to ever burden a forced induction engine on a factory engine (at least to my knowledge). This is a very worth while change and probably one of the most important component changes you could make. There is a plethora of documented testing which shows that the factory IC is not only under sized for its application, but is also poorly designed, compounding the issues.
In essence the only consideration when designing the factory IC is cost and it's not high dollar to say the least. It is largely responsible for inconsistent power production or the "mustang ecoboost getting slow" phenomenon. Running a tune with the stock inter cooler only masks the issue. The engine is still making less and less power as the IC heat soaks, your just raising the height from which it will taper off from (thus raising the minimum) and pushing the engine closer to a point of no return. After just a single gear pull, outlet temps reach around 145F, PCM safe guards kick in at 150F. At the end of a second single gear pull outlets temps reach approximately 185F. At the end of a third consecutive pull temps reach between 200 and 230F!
There is a multitude of IC's on the market in different sizes and configurations, but one thing remains constant, the bigger the inter cooler (assuming it's flow vs. pressure drop characteristics are properly balanced of optimal cooling), the more power you can make or conversely the harder and longer you can push the 2.3L without saturating the exchanger. I would suggest going with a full size front mount IC and avoiding the smaller units all together if you plan on any sustained hard driving.
The smaller "stage 1" drop in units are adequate for stock power levels and are how the factory IC should have been designed, but they are still a far cry from the larger performance type IC's in their capabilities and the cost difference doesn't seem to justify the performance gap. Full Race, ATM, Levels, MAP and other full size IC's are probably the best choice, but in terms of Cost vs. Performance the Gen 3 Levels Street Core (20x14x3.5) with cast end tanks provides by far the best performance per dollar at around $525 shipped through Adam or $550 directly from Levels. I have one on order myself and the dyno-graphs speak for themselves, especially since it can be repeated back to back without cool down times needed to keep temps well within safe operating ranges (typically low 100's even after 6 pulls back to back). Remember most dyno's also have poorer air flow than real world conditions where speeds can easily exceed 60mph. Most dyno fans produce equivalency of about 30~40 mph conditions, so that is my "worst case" condition met already.
4. Clutch Assist Spring Delete or 35lb Spring $0~$22 - this is a simple mod to give you better clutch engagement feedback. I had trouble with the factory clutch engagement, it's numb, very numb. I've been driving stick for over 10 years and it's an automatic process at this point. I stalled the EB Stang just getting out of the dealership parking lot. I got better as I drove it, but it still felt like a lot of concentrated work to find the engagement and it wasn't easy to do in a hurry = slower and less enjoyable driving. I've run the no assist spring mod for a while, it was great, I honestly didn't find the heavier clutch modulation to be an issue. With the light weight Steeda Assist spring, it was even better by preserving the no assist spring level of feedback while lightening the clutch similar to stock weight and providing a full pedal return (as the seals wear and let fluid pass, without a full return you pedal travel will get shorter and shorter until your barely disengaging it unless you pull it back out manually). For $15 it's worth a try and very easy to do, even if you find the stock clutch ok I suggest you give this a try as I'll bet you will find it a notable improvement.
5. Lowering Springs $310~$435 - There's a plethora of options out there, I haven't done this to my 16 EB YET, but I did with my 07 Focus ST. I chose the Ford Racing Autocross springs for the Focus and they were great, providing notably better handling, lowering the car to rid it of that horrid SUVish wheel gap. Right height was just right for a street car. Be sure to take note of the springs purpose as track springs can be too stiff for street and may drop the car more than an inch. With race spring you may have ground clearance issues and handling issues on rougher road surfaces.
Price range assumes an alignment as well which typically runs about $100 average cost. It is my understanding that if you use Ford Racing springs you also preserve the warranty as they are approved by Ford as a warranty acceptable modification. Their X springs have great reviews: http://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-x-springs-2015gt.html
I'm not sure if the damping rate of the struts are the same between the base I have and PP options, however these X springs seem to be quite a bit better tuned than the PP springs from what people are saying, part of that is going to come from a lower CG by dropping ride height, part of it may also come from their progressive pressure curve, which may be better suited for not so perfect roads with bumps and other uneven elements.
6. Oil Catch Can $140~$250 - A secondary separation system to catch anything the factory oil separator doesn't. While there is a factory separator on the car, I have not seen any evidence to suggest it's near 100% efficient. Especially if you have the original design from 2015 / early 2016 which causes abnormally high crank case pressure at low RPM and ends up pushing oil out the turbo bearings into the exhaust. If you have a 2015 / early 2016, I'd suggest getting it replaced or even doing it yourself, it's a $15 part and solves the high crank case pressure issue at idle. Then add a catch can system to essentially eliminate any oil vapor which passes the factory separator / PCV valve.
I have on order a dual valve can. Single valve can's will not function at WOT as the vaccume source is no longer present for operation. The dual valve system will function during partial and WOT conditions. For a daily driver / cruiser that mostly sees partial throttle the single valve system is still a good investment.
If your a more spirited driver that also takes your car to the drag strip, track or you routinely perform WOT sprints I'd suggest the dual valve can, which is what I have on order from UPR.
Total Cost (assuming max cost on all items except the IC, which I priced at the Levels Gen 3 Street core): $1,212
Most of these changes are fairly warranty safe. While there is potential for issues on a few of them (IC and springs would be the only real risk that a dealer could possibly point to), even the riskest items are relatively low risk (and could certainly be reversed even if the car isn't running) that attempt to correct deficiencies / enhance the cars performance from stock without pushing beyond safe boundaries.
They are intended to make the most consistent power under the most severe and sustained driving conditions other than straight track use. By worst case I mean high ambients, multi-gear sprints (1/4 mile drag) or sustained spirited driving on back roads in near WOT or full WOT. The only item I included for handling were the springs as they provide the biggest gain for the least cost and fairly warranty safe, similar to how the IC upgrade provides such a measurable difference in engine response, consistent performance even average power increase.
I did not include a tune because at the present time the Ford Racing tune is the only tune that's warranty safe (or ever will be) and it's not currently available, if ever... However, if your not concerned about preserving power train warranty, there are a plethora of good canned tunes available from Cobb, Livernois, Lund etc. or tailored tunes from Tune+ etc.
Running a tune without upgrading the IC is asking for trouble however. While there are extensive safe guards built in to the control system, your still going to make less and less power as the IC heats up even with a tune. I've seen documented cases where power drops by as much as 50HP after multiple pulls.
My advice is to fix the IC deficiency and then tune. The down pipe is another upgrade potential, however the gains are far less and only really worth while if your running a hot tune and really pushing the stock internals to the limits. Some of the better tunes do a very good job of flattening out the power band and giving you a very usable top end even with the factory down pipe. Most 3" down pipes also require a tune to be used as the turbo will over boost during mid since we've reduced the back pressure that was assumed to be there with the factory down pipe.
For track use an Oil Cooler and upgraded Radiator are a must (assuming your have a base, but I believe the PP radiator is reasonably good for track use if you just add an oil cooler). But the cost is going to add another $500 to $1k. If you have a base then add another $1k for breaks...I think I'll stick to drag, slalem and back roads for now ;-)
For the cost, your gain is fairly limited until you have already implemented other more notable changes. CAI's are in the same category as the down pipe, for aggressive tunes, it makes sense, but otherwise there is little to no (or in some cases negative) gain. Please feel free to post questions, comments and suggestions. Please also be respectful of others opinions, the whole point to help people understand how to make the most of what they have by applying your hard earned cash in the most critical areas first, which is what efficiency is all about, making the most for the least amount of cost.
It's also somewhat cost minded as these things are carefully chosen as the most critical items to help create a reliable engine that makes consistent power when you beat the crap out of it pull after pull after pull in the worst conditions. Designing for the worst case is a mindset that is standard practice in Industrial, Aerospace and Military engineering disciplines (my expertise is Industrial).
These things are by no means the ONLY good solutions, just the best solutions I have been able to find at their particular price points. Please feel free to post your solutions, experiences and most valued would be documented / instrumented test data to back it up if you can.
While some people buy mustangs as weekend toys and are willing to perform rather risky mods to break 1/4 mile / track records or extreme bragging rights, there are those of us who also drive them daily and depend upon them year around. Longevity and reliability of the car are even more important than just going fast. I love driving, weather its cruising down country back roads, 1/4 mile drag strip or down hill mountainous slaloms, I just enjoy driving, that's why I bought a mustang.
1. Oil $40~$75- While I would recommend following the service interval on the first oil change (approximately 10k is when you should expect the change oil indication to come on) to allow proper break in of bearing and cam surfaces thus allowing the highest efficiency, after the period when optimal wear in is achieved, we would want to then focus on preservation. There are quite a few motor oil vendors out there, all of the big names at least meet the SAE standards, however some are quite a bit better than others.
The following is a very interesting instrumented and certified test comparison using industry standard benchmarks (an one non-standard test). I've used Mobil 1 15k Extended performance in the past on my 2007 Focus ST (172k miles and it still runs like a champ), however that was an NA engine, not a highly boosted FI making double the HP and torque (literally its about 2x, 164 ft-lbs vs 320). I will be using AMSOIL Signature 5W-30 on my 16 EB Stang once I reach the 10k first service interval as I cannot find a better performing oil: http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g3115.pdf
Note that you want an Oil that performs good in ALL categories. While a few of the oils edge out the Signature series in a few categories, they perform significantly worse in others. The signature series performs in the top bracket in every category. As I stated, I run the Mobil 1 in my NA focuses, but will switch to AMSOIL Signature in the Mustang when it comes due. I wasn't aware of the AMSOIL signature series performance until a colleague of mine told me about it, which he runs in his S2000.
2. Spark Plugs $40~$75- si (silver) has the highest conductivity of any base metal, including Gold and Copper. Copper would be second in line to silver in terms of conductivity for electrode use in plugs and has very similar electrical properties at a slightly lower cost. Iridium and Platinum have the worst performance due to lower electrical conductivity, however they offer the highest life span due to high melting points and density. Most factory plugs are Iridium (slightly higher conductivity than Platinum, but also more expensive to produce) for low maintenance / reliability but at the cost of consistent ignition which results in loss of fuel economy / power. My own experience is that running 91 or 93 octane in my NA focus using silver electrode plugs resulted in much more consistent power and significantly reduced the dead torque band in the 3k to 4k rpm range before hitting the torque peak at 4k8 rpm. Brisk makes some excellent plugs (well over 50k in 07 ST and Id get 28~29 mpg on average with spirited driving, EPA for that car was 24/31). Prior to running premium and the LGS silver plugs I would average around 26~27 and have a dead torque band in the described range with the OEM iridiums. While I doubt you would notice any power difference in your seat of the pants dyno, you may see it in your mileage averaging up a bit and you may see it on a dyno. More modded EB's will likely see a bigger benefit. It's worth a look (also great info, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look through the links): http://www.briskusa.com/techinfo
The plugs most appropriate for the EB from Brisk are RR14YS, you can find them on Americanmuscle, ebay etc. Their price point is nearly identicle to the Motorcraft Iridiums, but with a slightly shorter service interval (25-30k change invertvale vs 30-45k). To me this is a worth while investment, changing plugs once every other year on an in-line mounted inline 4-cyl isn't exactly difficult or time consuming either. Maybe on a transversely mounted 3.5L EB I might think twice...making consistent ignition matters and plugs are by far one of the most overlooked component yet are highly critical to fuel ignition.
3. Inter Cooler $500~$1,200 - the infamous factory IC, the most worthless piece of Sh** to ever burden a forced induction engine on a factory engine (at least to my knowledge). This is a very worth while change and probably one of the most important component changes you could make. There is a plethora of documented testing which shows that the factory IC is not only under sized for its application, but is also poorly designed, compounding the issues.
In essence the only consideration when designing the factory IC is cost and it's not high dollar to say the least. It is largely responsible for inconsistent power production or the "mustang ecoboost getting slow" phenomenon. Running a tune with the stock inter cooler only masks the issue. The engine is still making less and less power as the IC heat soaks, your just raising the height from which it will taper off from (thus raising the minimum) and pushing the engine closer to a point of no return. After just a single gear pull, outlet temps reach around 145F, PCM safe guards kick in at 150F. At the end of a second single gear pull outlets temps reach approximately 185F. At the end of a third consecutive pull temps reach between 200 and 230F!
There is a multitude of IC's on the market in different sizes and configurations, but one thing remains constant, the bigger the inter cooler (assuming it's flow vs. pressure drop characteristics are properly balanced of optimal cooling), the more power you can make or conversely the harder and longer you can push the 2.3L without saturating the exchanger. I would suggest going with a full size front mount IC and avoiding the smaller units all together if you plan on any sustained hard driving.
The smaller "stage 1" drop in units are adequate for stock power levels and are how the factory IC should have been designed, but they are still a far cry from the larger performance type IC's in their capabilities and the cost difference doesn't seem to justify the performance gap. Full Race, ATM, Levels, MAP and other full size IC's are probably the best choice, but in terms of Cost vs. Performance the Gen 3 Levels Street Core (20x14x3.5) with cast end tanks provides by far the best performance per dollar at around $525 shipped through Adam or $550 directly from Levels. I have one on order myself and the dyno-graphs speak for themselves, especially since it can be repeated back to back without cool down times needed to keep temps well within safe operating ranges (typically low 100's even after 6 pulls back to back). Remember most dyno's also have poorer air flow than real world conditions where speeds can easily exceed 60mph. Most dyno fans produce equivalency of about 30~40 mph conditions, so that is my "worst case" condition met already.
4. Clutch Assist Spring Delete or 35lb Spring $0~$22 - this is a simple mod to give you better clutch engagement feedback. I had trouble with the factory clutch engagement, it's numb, very numb. I've been driving stick for over 10 years and it's an automatic process at this point. I stalled the EB Stang just getting out of the dealership parking lot. I got better as I drove it, but it still felt like a lot of concentrated work to find the engagement and it wasn't easy to do in a hurry = slower and less enjoyable driving. I've run the no assist spring mod for a while, it was great, I honestly didn't find the heavier clutch modulation to be an issue. With the light weight Steeda Assist spring, it was even better by preserving the no assist spring level of feedback while lightening the clutch similar to stock weight and providing a full pedal return (as the seals wear and let fluid pass, without a full return you pedal travel will get shorter and shorter until your barely disengaging it unless you pull it back out manually). For $15 it's worth a try and very easy to do, even if you find the stock clutch ok I suggest you give this a try as I'll bet you will find it a notable improvement.
5. Lowering Springs $310~$435 - There's a plethora of options out there, I haven't done this to my 16 EB YET, but I did with my 07 Focus ST. I chose the Ford Racing Autocross springs for the Focus and they were great, providing notably better handling, lowering the car to rid it of that horrid SUVish wheel gap. Right height was just right for a street car. Be sure to take note of the springs purpose as track springs can be too stiff for street and may drop the car more than an inch. With race spring you may have ground clearance issues and handling issues on rougher road surfaces.
Price range assumes an alignment as well which typically runs about $100 average cost. It is my understanding that if you use Ford Racing springs you also preserve the warranty as they are approved by Ford as a warranty acceptable modification. Their X springs have great reviews: http://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-x-springs-2015gt.html
I'm not sure if the damping rate of the struts are the same between the base I have and PP options, however these X springs seem to be quite a bit better tuned than the PP springs from what people are saying, part of that is going to come from a lower CG by dropping ride height, part of it may also come from their progressive pressure curve, which may be better suited for not so perfect roads with bumps and other uneven elements.
6. Oil Catch Can $140~$250 - A secondary separation system to catch anything the factory oil separator doesn't. While there is a factory separator on the car, I have not seen any evidence to suggest it's near 100% efficient. Especially if you have the original design from 2015 / early 2016 which causes abnormally high crank case pressure at low RPM and ends up pushing oil out the turbo bearings into the exhaust. If you have a 2015 / early 2016, I'd suggest getting it replaced or even doing it yourself, it's a $15 part and solves the high crank case pressure issue at idle. Then add a catch can system to essentially eliminate any oil vapor which passes the factory separator / PCV valve.
I have on order a dual valve can. Single valve can's will not function at WOT as the vaccume source is no longer present for operation. The dual valve system will function during partial and WOT conditions. For a daily driver / cruiser that mostly sees partial throttle the single valve system is still a good investment.
If your a more spirited driver that also takes your car to the drag strip, track or you routinely perform WOT sprints I'd suggest the dual valve can, which is what I have on order from UPR.
Total Cost (assuming max cost on all items except the IC, which I priced at the Levels Gen 3 Street core): $1,212
Most of these changes are fairly warranty safe. While there is potential for issues on a few of them (IC and springs would be the only real risk that a dealer could possibly point to), even the riskest items are relatively low risk (and could certainly be reversed even if the car isn't running) that attempt to correct deficiencies / enhance the cars performance from stock without pushing beyond safe boundaries.
They are intended to make the most consistent power under the most severe and sustained driving conditions other than straight track use. By worst case I mean high ambients, multi-gear sprints (1/4 mile drag) or sustained spirited driving on back roads in near WOT or full WOT. The only item I included for handling were the springs as they provide the biggest gain for the least cost and fairly warranty safe, similar to how the IC upgrade provides such a measurable difference in engine response, consistent performance even average power increase.
I did not include a tune because at the present time the Ford Racing tune is the only tune that's warranty safe (or ever will be) and it's not currently available, if ever... However, if your not concerned about preserving power train warranty, there are a plethora of good canned tunes available from Cobb, Livernois, Lund etc. or tailored tunes from Tune+ etc.
Running a tune without upgrading the IC is asking for trouble however. While there are extensive safe guards built in to the control system, your still going to make less and less power as the IC heats up even with a tune. I've seen documented cases where power drops by as much as 50HP after multiple pulls.
My advice is to fix the IC deficiency and then tune. The down pipe is another upgrade potential, however the gains are far less and only really worth while if your running a hot tune and really pushing the stock internals to the limits. Some of the better tunes do a very good job of flattening out the power band and giving you a very usable top end even with the factory down pipe. Most 3" down pipes also require a tune to be used as the turbo will over boost during mid since we've reduced the back pressure that was assumed to be there with the factory down pipe.
For track use an Oil Cooler and upgraded Radiator are a must (assuming your have a base, but I believe the PP radiator is reasonably good for track use if you just add an oil cooler). But the cost is going to add another $500 to $1k. If you have a base then add another $1k for breaks...I think I'll stick to drag, slalem and back roads for now ;-)
For the cost, your gain is fairly limited until you have already implemented other more notable changes. CAI's are in the same category as the down pipe, for aggressive tunes, it makes sense, but otherwise there is little to no (or in some cases negative) gain. Please feel free to post questions, comments and suggestions. Please also be respectful of others opinions, the whole point to help people understand how to make the most of what they have by applying your hard earned cash in the most critical areas first, which is what efficiency is all about, making the most for the least amount of cost.
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