Advice for Ecoboost options

[5Mad]

Looking forward to see your "blown engine" thread soon... sorry I had to say it ;) Running these engines modded with 87 is just asking for trouble and really doesnt make sense.

Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes!
Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Venkman: Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

Used to work with a bunch of engineers. The "dire consequences" thing got old fast. Told them I was more likely to see a Dire Wolf. If an air cleaner, intercooler, and plugs blow an engine Ford has much bigger problems.

Yo OP are you going to start a thread and not participate ?

I'm a patient person. I was waiting for the initial responses to complete. While that was happening I was reflecting on what jbailer had contributed. I checked the "you do not need a tune for FP cold air intake" claim he made. Mishimoto has a "technical report" on their CAI and it agrees with him. After giving that some thought it made sense. The air goes into the CAI and then the turbo adds air/pressure downstream. Ford would have to measure it after the turbo addition as checking before that wouldn't be useful on a turbo. So that made a lot of sense - he was insightful on that.

Yes, with unleashed you have to flash to the tune you want, whether to 87, 91 or 93, but you don't have to flash to stock to switch between tunes though, you can flash between the different octanes without needing to flash to stock.

The actual flash takes around 10 mins, not really sure that long, considering OP just wants to tune and leave it at 87. I use the 93 for summer and 91 for winter, haven't used the 87 so I can't tell you have much or a gain it is, but both the 91 and 93 have noticeable gains.

Also I would agree with @solodogg that on 93 is where most of the gains happen with this engine, but it's his money and car, he can do as he pleases.

More wisdom. Not being sarcastic.

Thank you all. I've read your responses and I'm forming the opinion that the aftermarket tuners are really for people that want to "play" with the settings long-term. People who intend to keep at it. Tinker with them as they should be. That said I'd be happy if the little toggle switch below the radio, that "normal, sport, etc.," thing could have 87 octane for normal and then a 93 tune when I flip it to sport. Just that. That would be perfect.

I'm still stewing it.
Plugs. Advise was plug swap isn't really needed for the limited changes I'm looking at. I'll take that advice.
Tune. Ford tune is getting consensus. I'll likely go with that after confirming with them that 87 octane won't make it force oceans to boil, brimstone to come down from the sky, and dogs slapping people world-wide.
CAI. Ford performance. Less expensive than Roush.
Intercooler. I already picked one.

Thank you all.

Ford designed the cars to be able to use 87 octane. Ford engineers. I'm aware that they perform better on better quality gas. My Lincoln requires 91+. I've been running it on 87. It's a 2003 with the V-8. That makes 14 years now on 87. The sky was up there this morning and the Lincoln runs fine. Knocks if you really nail it on 87, that isn't good, but I know that and don't hit it hard. If I wanted to hit it hard I'd put 93 in and run a tank first.

Thanks again.

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[Tommy556]

They dont break on 87 under regular driving, lets put it this way. In no way was that meant for a tuned vehicle though. The Ford Racing Tune doesnt require more Octane for no reason.

 

[solodogg]

Ford designed the cars to be able to use 87 octane. Ford engineers. I'm aware that they perform better on better quality gas. My Lincoln requires 91+. I've been running it on 87. It's a 2003 with the V-8. That makes 14 years now on 87. The sky was up there this morning and the Lincoln runs fine. Knocks if you really nail it on 87, that isn't good, but I know that and don't hit it hard. If I wanted to hit it hard I'd put 93 in and run a tank first.

So...might I ask why you would spend money to modify a car for better performance that you don't plan on "hitting hard"?

First...Ford designed the car to run on 91+, but also knew that there would be peop,e that refuse to run premium, so there were safeties put into place to prevent major damage from occurring when running 87. Seriously, the cost of your Ford intake will exceed the difference in premium fuel over 2 years, and will offer ZERO benefit.

Second, if you think a small n/a V8 and a high compression turbo 4 have anything in common, you are really messing with the wrong vehicle. Not trying to argue with you, but the comment about waiting for the ecoboost thread was not off base. You are playing with fire by modifying a turbo 4 for better performance, then expecting it to run on diluted piss water for any amount of time.

Honestly, you bought the wrong Mustang. You should have started this thread with "just bought a V6 convertible". Everything else you have mentioned is throwing money away, and if that's what you like to do then so be it. But coming on to a forum and asking what the best thing to do is, then arguing why you won't do it is simply ludicrous.

 

[MustangEcoboobs]

I'm not sure OP is a master troll or genuinely deluded.

 

[Elgyn]

I'm not sure OP is a master troll or genuinely deluded.

Both....

:dnftt: :headbonk:

 

[5Mad]

I'm not sure OP is a master troll or genuinely deluded.

False dilemma.

A troll is somebody adding nothing of value to a thread and simply posting negativity, e.g., your post.

I mentioned jbailer was one of the few providing post of value. Not alone but it was useful and insightful.

Actually it doesn't. They do that for best performance. This is the first they've done the tune that didn't require 91 or greater. Please don't just take my word for it though, call FP, they will tell you. It requires 91 to get the performance they claim though but will run on 87 octane just fine.

Given the mods I've listed that is really key. If Ford Performance clears the Ford tune for 87 octane then it's complete. If Ford is clear that's a no-no then it's one to the next step. What was clear from my posts, it's odd some are able to miss it, is the car will be operated on 87 with an 87 tune and higher octane with a higher octane tune. Nowhere did I state or imply that the car would be ran on a higher tune with lower octane. Except where I just did with regards to Ford. If Ford clears their tune on 87 though then it's not really a higher octane tune is it? The kind where running lower octane is a bad idea as it's overtuned?

Thanks to those who provided useful information.

 

[solodogg]

I'm not sure OP is a master troll or genuinely deluded.

I am beginning to agree...

$599 for a tune and intake, $500 for an intercooler, $200 for other misc BS he decides will make the car more fun to drive...and you have 5 years of premium fuel that will ACTUALLY make the car more enjoyable, and get better fuel economy. But who am I to argue, if he wants to run well water in his car and ask Ford if their tune will support it then so be it.

FWIW, Florida averages 50 cents extra over regular for premium fuel. If you fill up once every week and a half, you would spend $245 a YEAR on premium fuel. $35k car isn't worth $245 a year for piece of mind and enjoyment? :headbonk: :frusty:

I believe I will start fueling my car with diesel....it's cheaper right now, and makes damn good power in a Powerstroke!

 

[Tommy556]

Your mods will be a complete waste of money since you probably won't even make the same power as the stock Tune on 93. You are also not going to save money since the car will run with much less efficiency.

 

[AR306]

I don't get the logic in doing "performance" mods and running low grade fuel Lol.. that's contradictory.. you really can't have one without the other.

And no, you do not need a tune for a CAI, it will do next to nothing for performance and depending on the design may actually negatively impact IAT's perhaps hindering performance.

It seems to be a consensus here that the best intake setup is the stock box, with a green filter, air raid modular tube and GT Grille mod/or drilled out grille air inlet.

Intercooler is a worthwhile investment.. I wanted to get the ETS intercooler for mine but decided against it for fear of having warranty issues, which is the same reason I removed the MMR CAI and put the stock box back in.. now even considering putting the mufflers back on Lol.

As for a tune.. Why do you want a tune if you don't even want to run premium gas? Seems to me like you'd be opening a can of worms in this regard, whatever tune you get will not be optimal and can be potentially harmful. Shit happens, you don't want to void your warranty and take unnecessary risks running lower grade fuel to get less than optimal performance, that's just asking for trouble.

I've heard of guys running 87oct tunes on their car but still using 93oct gas for a safety buffer especially in the winter when they may be susceptible to bad gas.

 

[5Mad]

I'd like to thank jbailer and signal12 as their back and forth was the key.

I spoke to Ford Performance. They do not recommend running 87 octane on that tune as it'll knock - it really is meant for 91+. They also aren't big on the CAI replacement with 87 octane.

Your back and forth was key to me figuring out the method though. The tune "learns" as it goes. He mentioned getting out on the freeway and hitting it in 4th about 4 times speeds that process up. Takes about 100 miles to learn.

The performance tune comes with the Procal. That saves your original tune. It also has the performance tune on it. Those can be swapped back and forth. I confirmed that with them. They recommend swapping the CAI back if you revert to stock tune as well.

Install CAI. Get the tune.
Revert CAI and factory tune.
CAI and tune can be put back on when desired. Not terribly hard.

Again, thanks to jbailer and signal12. Your back and forth was key to figuring that out.

Thread done for me. It was helpful.

 

[AR306]

Again.. the CAI will do next to nothing.

If you go with the ford tune and plan on switching back and forth, save yourself the trouble and just leave the CAI on.. no need to remove it.

 

[Tommy556]

This is one of the worst modding plans I've read on here in a while.

 

[Ebm]

I'd like to thank jbailer and signal12 as their back and forth was the key.

I spoke to Ford Performance. They do not recommend running 87 octane on that tune as it'll knock - it really is meant for 91+. They also aren't big on the CAI replacement with 87 octane.

With all due respect, and I do mean all due respect, this thread ain't worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin gettin' it on.
- Ricky Bobby


Oh, you don't say? That's news to me... You should have called Sherlock Holmes, not Ford Performance.

Btw, instead of a tune, you could have saved yourself $400 or so and just ran premium fuel for a year. There's your 40 hp gain right there. And your warranty stays intact.

 

[solodogg]

In other news, I called Ford today and they advised me that running whale sperm is not a good alternative to unleaded fuel...there goes that idea. Guess it's back to well water and dolphin piss.

 

[ECOSLPR]

87? Even with the Ford Performance tune you need to run 91.

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