F-150 Manifold Testing/Journey

[Type550]

My car's getting done now. Should be good to go in a couple hours! ;)

Update: Manifold is now on. Car certainly feels/pulls stronger than before. Acceleration is more effortless and it feeks like throttle response has improved. Low to midrange has a definite improvement. Didn't get a chance to take it in the upper range because of traffic. Ambient temps was quite warm today too.

My Tuner said it feels very strong, surprisingly. I think he was a bit sceptical going into this mod but was pleasantly surprised in the end. He said he'll do a custom tune in the coming weeks and he's confident he can squeeze more out of it as it's just running the same tune as before. Pure drop in swap for now.

Car has a Steeda ProFlow CAI, long tube headers, full 3" exhaust + custom tune (but not optimised for the F-150 manifold yet).

I'll revert back with results once tuned

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[Mustang_Lou]

The problem with that is, as a person that uses they car on a track with turns, "under the curve" is not a place where I hang out a lot. Neither is it for Drag cars once they are beyond first gear.

Totally agree and that's why I've always said that for a daily street-driven car this is best.

For sure, if you're racing where upper rpm's are key, stick with the GT mani. No question there.

 

[Type550]

Totally agree and that's why I've always said that for a daily street-driven car this is best.

For sure, if you're racing where upper rpm's are key, stick with the GT mani. No question there.

Hi Mustang_Lou, did you get a custom tune when you fitted the F-150 manifold? Or are you still running it with the original tune, pre-F150 mani?

 

[Mustang_Lou]

Hi Mustang_Lou, did you get a custom tune when you fitted the F-150 manifold? Or are you still running it with the original tune, pre-F150 mani?

Same tune that Livernois gave me when I had the GT mani. I asked about a revision but they said there's no need for it. Lund supposedly said the same thing to another member as well.

I'm curious to see if your tuner can find anything worth the cost.

 

[dbranger94]

What else is done or is it just the manifold?

Stainless Works Headers
JLT CAI
Magnaflow full 3" Exhaust
Lund E85 Tune at ~55% Ethanol

 

[dbranger94]

Yeah, does this car have a CAI + long tube headers + exhaust + tune? Numbers seem quite low, so I presume it was just a manifold swap since ~380RWHP = ~435 crank HP = stock GT.

The VMP manifold shoot-out showed the Trunk manifold resulted in approx 453RWHP and 413RWTQ on a FBO motor.

The car was dynoed at Fathouse Fab on a Dynojet dyno. 390.58 ÷ .85 = ~459.5hp, still lower than I'd expected, but only about 6rwhp different than the o.p. I'd talk to Lund, but I'm the one they told there's nothing else to do. But, it's hardly worth it to find another shop to tune the car and the $1000+ for another nGauge and custom tune and the dyno time to pick up another 0-15hp, at least to me.
What did impress me was the TQ. Similarly tuned cars with the GT manifold typically make ~350lb while I am making over 380lb. It's definitely something you can feel and it's fun to drive on the street.

 

[kenand1988]

Stainless Works Headers
JLT CAI
Magnaflow full 3" Exhaust
Lund E85 Tune at ~55% Ethanol

so its a full bolt on car just like the one in the vmp test BUT they got 450 to the wheels with the same mods and yours made 390... what kind of trickery is going on here.

 

[kenand1988]

The car was dynoed at Fathouse Fab on a Dynojet dyno. 390.58 ÷ .85 = ~459.5hp, still lower than I'd expected, but only about 6rwhp different than the o.p. I'd talk to Lund, but I'm the one they told there's nothing else to do. But, it's hardly worth it to find another shop to tune the car and the $1000+ for another nGauge and custom tune and the dyno time to pick up another 0-15hp, at least to me.
What did impress me was the TQ. Similarly tuned cars with the GT manifold typically make ~350lb while I am making over 380lb. It's definitely something you can feel and it's fun to drive on the street.

the estimated crank hp of 459 means there was only a gain of 24hp from headers, a CAI, 55% e-85 map, and a full catback exhaust. that is pretty abysmal. so either the car wasn't too strong to begin with, vmp's dyno is way generous, or the manifold really kills the peak # but that is not whats shown over all the manifolds test through VMP. Even if their dyno was generous it was to the same degree to all the manifolds tested and we did not see a huge drop going from the stock 16 to the truck manifold.

 

[dbranger94]

390-405hp is the norm for a FBO coyote with a canned street tune. I'm not sure why this is a surprise. I do have a full race tune from Lund, but that's not what I used for this test as I spend 99% of the time on the normal street tune.

 

[Biggsy]

So I understand this manifold is best for street happy drivers. According to the VMP chart the next peak tq was a ported 18 IM. The difference in their testing was 10 lbs. but driving wise how would they compare ? Will a ported 18 still give you that low end push close that is better than stock but close to a f150?

 

[kenand1988]

390-405hp is the norm for a FBO coyote with a canned street tune. I'm not sure why this is a surprise. I do have a full race tune from Lund, but that's not what I used for this test as I spend 99% of the time on the normal street tune.

Not sure where you're pulling that norm # from. There are numerous youtube videos from CJ pony parts, American Muscle, Steeda and other just running a canned tune and a CAI making over 390 to the wheels. It only makes sense to me if their dynos are not accurate or the one you ran on was not accurate.

 

[VooDooDaddy]

Same tune that Livernois gave me when I had the GT mani. I asked about a revision but they said there's no need for it. Lund supposedly said the same thing to another member as well.

That was me. I data-logged my car after the F-150 intake swap (Flex Fuel tune) and sent them to LUND to look over. They responded back saying no changes needed to be made with the F-150 intake manifold vs the stock GT manifold.

 

[5.0_SD]

So you guys with the F150 mani installed...how is it when your on the freeway doing 70-80 and mash the go pedal, better than stock gt mani or not?

 

[Mustang_Lou]

See my post on the previous page where I mention the 6th to 5th gear passing is great.

What kind of tranny do you have? Regardless, think of the rpm you end up in when you "mash the go pedal". If it's below 6000 rpm, advantage F150 mani, above advantage GT mani.

 

[VooDooDaddy]

So you guys with the F150 mani installed...how is it when your on the freeway doing 70-80 and mash the go pedal, better than stock gt mani or not?

Simply put, if you own a purely STREET driven '15-'17 GT, then the F-150 intake manifold is where it's at. You get anywhere from a 25lbs - 45lbs increase in torque from about 2,500 rpm to about 6,000 rpm. This is right in the "meat" of the powerband where a STREET car is going to run when passing/accelerating in traffic and from a dead stop.

Now if the F-150 intake manifold swap was..., oh, let's say $400 - $500 deal, then I might look at this with less-than-enthusiastic approval, BUT (if you can find one) they are usually selling in the $100 range. You can do the swap yourself, in your driveway with a good set of hand tools, and with a little help from YouTube, and no tune required.

Now, combine the F-150 manifold swap with a good CAI (I have the GT350), a free-flowing exhaust system (I have MAK cat deletes, Borla resonator, and Roush AB's), plus an E85 or Flex tune (I have a LUND FF tune), and you are looking at a combination that will put a smile on your face every time you drive your GT!

Lastly, if you are overly concerned about bragging rights on the interwebz and absolutely have to have that last 15 hp at 7,500 rpm (with the '18 GT manifold) to brag about to strangers (that you will never meet) on the interwebz, then the F-150 manifold may not be for you?

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