Ford Racing ProCal Tune

[Berstuck]

The answer is no. I wonder if TheLion would be willing to edit his initial post with a FAQ, and common info regarding the tune. A few paragraphs about what mods do and don't mix plus info regarding HP and Torque and the other stuff that gets asked every couple of pages would be an awesome addition.

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[Marvinmadman]

I run a catless DP on my stock tune. What makes the Ford tune different?

 

[Berstuck]

I shouldn't say it can't be done, but it's been repeated ad nauseum around here that it's only recommended with a custom tune.

 

[Ryan412]

Gotcha. I definitely know you need a tune with a downpipe but was just wondering if the Ford Racing tune would be ok

 

[SteedaGT]

We are running a catless downpipe with the FRPP tune using a defouler. Runs just fine. No codes.

 

[TheLion]

Gotcha. I definitely know you need a tune with a downpipe but was just wondering if the Ford Racing tune would be ok

Here's a question, why would you want to run an aftermarket down pipe with the FRPP tune? If your going that route mine as well run an after market tune like LMS or Lund because you've already voided the warranty should something go boom ;-)

The FP tune isn't about making the most power period. It's about making the most power safely while preserving your new vehicle warranty and also remaining street legal (emissions) in all 50 states.

ANY aftermarket down pipe, catted or not will completely void that so what's the point? Mine as well get that extra power offered by LMS or Lund since they are focused on off-road applications (or if you don't have emissions testing you'd be ok too).

Even after market catted down pipes won't pass emissions. Their primary purpose for having a "high flow" cat is to get rid of the exhaust odor while preserving 90% the performance of a castles down pipe. The high flow cats aren't as effective as standard OE cats in terms of actually scrubbing the exhaust by heating it up. Different goals, different purpose.

 

[DUNDEM]

Here's a question, why would you want to run an aftermarket down pipe with the FRPP tune? If your going that route mine as well run an after market tune like LMS or Lund because you've already voided the warranty should something go boom ;-)

The FP tune isn't about making the most power period. It's about making the most power safely while preserving your new vehicle warranty and also remaining street legal (emissions) in all 50 states.

ANY aftermarket down pipe, catted or not will completely void that so what's the point? Mine as well get that extra power offered by LMS or Lund since they are focused on off-road applications (or if you don't have emissions testing you'd be ok too).

Even after market catted down pipes won't pass emissions. Their primary purpose for having a "high flow" cat is to get rid of the exhaust odor while preserving 90% the performance of a castles down pipe. The high flow cats aren't as effective as standard OE cats in terms of actually scrubbing the exhaust by heating it up. Different goals, different purpose.

Agreed.

Your build looks like where I want to go. I have 1500 miles left to 36k. Waiting till then to go custom tune. I really want one that works. Not looking to blow up the car to make more power.

 

[TheLion]

The answer is no. I wonder if TheLion would be willing to edit his initial post with a FAQ, and common info regarding the tune. A few paragraphs about what mods do and don't mix plus info regarding HP and Torque and the other stuff that gets asked every couple of pages would be an awesome addition.

Ford Performance Tune Bolt On FAQ Section:

1. Cooling system upgrades are permissible as they are not power adders, but simply allow the engine management software (aka the "tune") to make the maximum power up to it's pre-defined limits. The most important upgrade in conjunction with the FP Calibration is an Inter Cooler. Choose the biggest unit you can find with the lowest pressure drop / best cooling capacity.

Not all FMIC's are the same and designing a high efficiency FMIC does take some work to properly size it and configure it (shape) for the application. General rule is that flatter, taller and narrower cores are more efficient than longer, deeper and shorter cores, but that is in the context where there is adequate air flow to each part of the core.

There are certain cases where depth is more advantageous to a degree, due to significantly higher air flow in certain areas of the front of the car. This would be where stepped cores come in that combine both concepts to make the most efficient use of the available area.

2. Intake: the FP calibration comes with a GT350 CAI. Some people are using the stock air box, however the FP calibration was tested with their CAI. While it may not provide significantly more power, if any, it will provide better throttle response and MORE POWER OVER TIME. It's a simple fact that the conical filter has significantly more surface area = higher dust capacity. I can guarantee you it will take longer for the conical filter to start causing loss of power due to flow restrictions as it dirties than the stock filter sizing.

Also Ford Performance offers a synthetic "high flow" version which is re-usable. It's a good cost saving alternative, especially since it's very easy to clean. I would highly recomend avoiding oiled filters for street applications. While they do flow better, it's only going to make a couple HP difference and they allow significantly higher amounts and significantly larger particles of dust to enter. They also clog far quicker, typically having about 1/2 the dust capacity of synthetic media dry filters or paper filters. Plus, you could always buy both, just swap in the cotton filter for the track and put the paper filter / synthetic dry filter back in for daily driving.

Remember the wear on the piston rings is directly proportional to the dust contamination. Higher contamination = more wear = higher pressure loss = less power! How's it going to perform at 50k, 100k, 150k or even 200k? I have a buddy with a Honda S2000 that's run an oiled cotton filter since the car was new. It now has 100k on it and has 22% compression loss! His 14.2 quarter mile turned into a 14.8 quarter mile...I think there's a fair bed that the combination of high miles and poor filtration is largely responsible for that compression loss.

3. Ducting: ram air ducts are beneficial at higher speeds. If you use a ram air duct however, I would highly recommend using an outerwear's pre-filter over the top of the conical filter (paper or synthetic dry alike) as you'll get a lot of larger debris clogging up the top of the filter quickly. I run a Velossatek ram air duct / GT grill mod with the FP GT350 CAI and their blue synthetic dry filter with an outerwear's pre-filter, works great as a balance of performance / reliability. It's a simple fact that the more vacuum the turbo inlet has to generate to pull in air, the more energy is wasted, why not pressurize the airbox with air that's readily available when the car is already moving?

4. Charge Pipes: stock ones work fine if you can keep them clamped, but there is some minor benefit to charge pipes, a small bit of efficiency can be gained by using hard piping as most of the after market charge pipes have larger curve radius (sharper curves / bends cause pressure losses + turbulence). Most of the after market charge pipes do a better job at reducing pressure loss due to larger curve radius, but I don't have any hard data to show real world benefits other than stopping potential boost leaks.

5. Plugs: use stock or stock equivalent. Running 1 step colder with the FRPP tune will cause excessive fouling. Also 1 step colder plugs are also recessed more which is how they absorb less heat. The more recessed the plug the more negative the resulting timing. OE or OE equivalent is best with this tune.

6. Gearing: yuck! nobody wants to mess with drive train stuff right? But there's a huge benefit if your running a base model, especially a MT-82. For auto's 3.55 and for MT-82 the 3.73 is optimal for 1/4 mile / auto cross at these power levels. The GT Torsen diff's are an excellent way to go if your interested in track / auto cross. I love my 3.73 Torsen GT diff in my MT-82 EB for street use as well, I can power out of corners / on ramps with ease!

7. Short Throw and Clutch Assist Spring: these human interface mods are about efficiency. If your running the stick box, a short throw and clutch assist spring will go a long way in helping you make the most of what's there.

8. Radiator (base model only): go with the Ford Performance pack radiator. It's up-sized from the base model unit significantly, but it won't over cool your car.

9. Tires: what's more to say? If you can't put the power to the ground, it's not useful! 275's work good as an all around setup if you don't want to stagger for a daily driver. But you can stuff 305's on the back if you want to run staggered setup for drag.

10. Wheels: keep them light weight. Lower mass equals better acceleration and handling. RTR Tech 7's are good if you want durable and lightweight 19's as an example unless you want to pony up for actual forged wheels. Flow Formed wheels are close to the strength of an actual forged wheel and similar in weight, but significantly cheaper. If your on a budget, stick with factory 18's, while they are a heavier low pressure cast type, factory 18's are about the same weight as high end flow formed or forged 19's and still have plenty of tire choices (some 18's will fit performance pack brakes, but check first). Best you can get in terms of weight is forged 18's as they are the lightest option, but also quite expensive.

11. Oil: Oil IS my catch can. I ran a catch can for a while, with the OE oil I had a significant amount of boil off the can would filter out. However after I switched to Amsoil Signature series 5W-30 the boil off was almost non-existent. It was almost all water so there was no longer a legitimate need. Run a good quality oil and the factory separator is good enough for what little might boil off. You don't have to worry about forgetting to empty the can or how fast it will fill up.

Nothing beats a good quality oil either for cold start protection and wear protection especially when you push the car. I wouldn't worry about LSPI either, some people are still freaking out about LSPI, but it's generally a non-issue with current engine designs. While it can be mitigated further with newer oil technology, I'm not aware of any epidemic of LSPI failed Ecoboost engines like Mazda or Hyundai had back when they introduced TDI engines.

Also, consider the fact that while most high end synthetic oils have higher additives, because their boil off is so low, the actual levels of calcium that enter the combustion chamber is lower than the factory oil because the boil off rate is less than half of the OE oil's boil off rate. Example: 3 drops of OE oil boiling off at 2000 ppm will net more calcium in the chamber than 1 drop of a high end synthetic oil at 4000 ppm. So stop freaking out about LSPI!

These mods are focused on efficiency rather than power at any cost. They are a good balance of performance / reliability and drive ability. I put 23k miles on my EB in the first year (got in June 26th last year, now at 23,700 miles as of today). So drive ability is important to me, but I also like to go fast and do it without paying for Ford to put in a new engine! I think quite a few of us use our EB's as daily drivers and that's the reason we went with the FP Calibration in the first place. Blow an engine and you should have just bought a GT in the first place because the price difference is the cost of an engine replacement if your paying.

Keeping in line with the mindset the development engineers at Ford Performance had when developing the PCM software as well as their extensive testing, these modifications are focused on making the most power without making any significant sacrifices to the vehicles safety or drive ability. They also are in line with acceptable changes for warranty purposes pending they are properly installed according to FP.

 

[lizardrko]

Ford Performance Tune Bolt On FAQ Section:

1. Cooling system upgrades are permissible as they are not power adders, but simply allow the engine management software (aka the "tune") to make the maximum power up to it's pre-defined limits. The most important upgrade in conjunction with the FP Calibration is an Inter Cooler. Choose the biggest unit you can find with the lowest pressure drop / best cooling capacity.

Not all FMIC's are the same and designing a high efficiency FMIC does take some work to properly size it and configure it (shape) for the application. General rule is that flatter, taller and narrower cores are more efficient than longer, deeper and shorter cores, but that is in the context where there is adequate air flow to each part of the core.

There are certain cases where depth is more advantageous to a degree, due to significantly higher air flow in certain areas of the front of the car. This would be where stepped cores come in that combine both concepts to make the most efficient use of the available area.

Thanks for the information! Quick question, which intercooler would you recommend to pair the FP tune. I would like something of stock fitment that does not require removing the grill shutters, so no levels, etc. I was looking at the MAP one but after doing some research someone reported a decrease in throttle response/engine responsiveness. They also pointed out that MAP reports a 1-1.5 psi drop. Just looking for some recommendations for the ones that have installed a FMIC after installing the FP tune so they can share the differences.

 

[Ryan412]

Eh I think I'm likely to just upgrade to a GT. Thanks for the info guys!

 

[JamesinLittleSilver]

No inter cooler upgrade, it's not just heat soak that's an issue. The stock inter cooler also has a high back pressure due to it's small internal volume and very poor end tank design (not good for air distribution and 90 degree abrupt turns which cause pressure loss). It's only consideration was how cheap it could be made...remember pressure drop = wasted energy. Even if the turbo can generate enough additional pressure to meet boost targets, it's creating higher back pressure to the exhaust and being driven further away from it's peak efficiency range = lost power + more heat. It's just BAD.

Agree once you take the old one out and look at it, it is pretty obvious that quality was not Job 1. I noticed an improvement with just cp-e intercooler on stock. Had no noticeable heat soak on the track which I had before.

 

[JamesinLittleSilver]

Thanks for the information! Quick question, which intercooler would you recommend to pair the FP tune. I would like something of stock fitment that does not require removing the grill shutters, so no levels, etc. I was looking at the MAP one but after doing some research someone reported a decrease in throttle response/engine responsiveness. They also pointed out that MAP reports a 1-1.5 psi drop. Just looking for some recommendations for the ones that have installed a FMIC after installing the FP tune so they can share the differences.

cp-e is stock fit and no almost no loss of pressure. Order direct or CJ PP both are about the same as shipping is around 30 bucks which is the difference after CJPP discount. I have pics of the OEM and cp-e in my profie take a look at the difference. cp-e is also one of if not the largest core on standard fit.

 

[TheLion]

cp-e is stock fit and no almost no loss of pressure. Order direct or CJ PP both are about the same as shipping is around 30 bucks which is the difference after CJPP discount. I have pics of the OEM and cp-e in my profie take a look at the difference. cp-e is also one of if not the largest core on standard fit.

Agreed, the CP-e is the best stock location / stage 1 inter coolers available. It's a high efficiency unit with very low pressure drop compared to stock. The MAP stage 1 is also very good as an alternative.

Any of the stage 1 inter coolers in reality, even the MM, which is probably one of the most popular, are still a huge improvement over stock, but the CP-e unit has the best performance of the stage 1 units.

If you want to go full size, Levels has a really good unit at it's price point, same cost as most of the stage 1 FMIC's, but you get quite a bit of additional cooling capacity and possibly a lower pressure drop yet due to the optimal core shape. Disadvantage is you either need to modify or remove the grill shudders.

I'm looking at possibly testing the ATM stepped core with it's unique rounded bar design in comparison to the Levels to see if there's any performance improvement from the combination of the stepped core and rounded bars. The ATM unit is supposed to be the top dog in terms of cooling capacity / pressure drop as far as full sized street cores go (not going to get into the race cores like the Levels Race or Wagner Evo 2 etc.).

 

[TheLion]

Forgot, I do have the CPE intercooler, posted this about 3 hours past my bed time. The tune has been on the car for 10000 miles now. Don't forget, this is a mustang dyno so the numbers are 10-12% lower than what you are used to seeing on a dynojet. Both are correct, they just read differently due to design. In my head I had the car pegged at about 265 to the wheels because thats what it feels like (slow as shit tbh, this thing has a hard time keeping up with some newer family sedans) and I was spot on.

If it's that slow then why did you buy one....lol. I'm not sure what family sedans your talking about. Most Toyota corrola's, honda civics and ford focuses run 16-20 second 1/4 miles...then you can get into the super expensive exotic variants like the Focus ST or the Fusion ST etc. they run typically high to low 14's.

Consider the power at higher speeds as well. At lower speeds, like 0-60, the time differences are less because gearing comes more into play than raw power. Once you get into higher gears, the more powerful engines start to show through. How fast can a corrola hit 100 or 130 (if at all)?

That's just line power. Your NOT going to get .98g's of lateral acceleration from a Fusion ST or Taurus SHO...not without some very expensive and exotic suspension / chassis modifications and that's only a maybe. There's more to a fast car than it's 1/4 mile time alone (unless your only drag racing).

I think that statement about family sedans is more applicable to cars like the Subaru / Scion BRZ or the Mazda Miata (owned a 97 MX-5 M-edition back in college) etc. If you look at the 1/4 mile fast list on this forum, there's a guy that ran a 13.2 on a bone stock EB (well almost bone stock) by just removing some weight (passenger and rear seat + exhaust I think it was). Put that car on a track and lap after lap seconds become minutes.

There's tons of cars running in 11's, 12's and low 13's with just a few bolt-on's. Throw a enough money at it and you can make any car run a decent 1/4 mile (example is in the guineas book of records, 1200 HP Honda civic with a custom machined titanium engine block...lol). But for the price and additional cost of the FP calibration + FMIC, you can't beat the EB's performance.

 

[Bulma's Panties]

1. Cooling system upgrades are permissible as they are not power adders, but simply allow the engine management software (aka the "tune") to make the maximum power up to it's pre-defined limits. The most important upgrade in conjunction with the FP Calibration is an Inter Cooler. Choose the biggest unit you can find with the lowest pressure drop / best cooling capacity.

Not all FMIC's are the same and designing a high efficiency FMIC does take some work to properly size it and configure it (shape) for the application. General rule is that flatter, taller and narrower cores are more efficient than longer, deeper and shorter cores, but that is in the context where there is adequate air flow to each part of the core.

There are certain cases where depth is more advantageous to a degree, due to significantly higher air flow in certain areas of the front of the car. This would be where stepped cores come in that combine both concepts to make the most efficient use of the available area.

So if I already have the FRPP tune + CAI, upgrading the intercooler won't add any power? This seems antithetical to what I've been hearing.

Also, I've heard that an aftermarket intercooler requires a tune after install, does this mean I'd have to re-tune the vehicle to get any benefit of an added intercooler? Or if it already has a tune then it's g2g? Or is this all just nonsense and I was previously misguided?

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