Aftermarket intercooler with stock tune

[Walt]

Hi all, I just ordered a CP-E delta core intercooler. I read that when fitting a larger intercooler, there is a drop in pressure. Some reported that it made 20psi before and after upgrading it only made 18psi.

This might sound stupid to some, but does this mean that an aftermarket intercooler will make an Ecoboost with stock tune/no other mods slower? Does fitting a bigger intercooler negatively affect the performance in any way on a stock car? I'm not intending to tune the car or modify it further, the only other mod I have is a catch can. The only reason I got an aftermarket intercooler is because occasionally I track the car (road course) and have been experiencing heat soak on warmer summer days. During daily driving it was never really an issue unless you floor it.

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[Deleted member]

On stock tune yes you can hit 20 or so psi, but that is only a pressure spike until the wastegate starts doing its thing. Stock tune and intercooler won't stay at 20 psi, as soon as the temps climb its going to pull boost.

The aftermarket intercooler may have a slight pressure drop but again its only going to affect that peak boost spike number when you first get into boost, but you'll have a much more consistent car not just a one run heat soak and done.

Now once you throw a tune on their then you can really maximize timing and fuel since you can keep those charge temps lower.

So no you will not loose power on the stock tune, won't gain a ton either maybe 10whp without a tune, but your car won't be heatsoaked, it will last longer and much happier overall.

 

[Walt]

So no you will not loose power on the stock tune, won't gain a ton either maybe 10whp without a tune, but your car won't be heatsoaked, it will last longer and much happier overall.

Thank you, I'm happy with the current power level so I'm not going to tune the car. Of course any additional power is welcome but my only goal was to stop the heatsoaking and timing being pulled. My only concern was if it would make the car slower or not so I'm relieved that you confirmed it won't.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Turbotigger604 hit the nail right on the head. These 2.3L cars really benefit from the upgraded intercoolers and our Evenflo colder thermostats are another great modification to add as well. Both mods can be run with or without a tune and the car will typically do nothing but better and love you for it at the end of the day. One of the largest hurdles back when we received our 2015 2.3L Mustang was the fact that you could only get one really great pull or two if you were lucky before it started losing power from heat soak. And while the colder thermostat helps either way tuned or stock, we also adjust the cooling fan temps to really take full advantage of the colder thermostat. So one mod helps with the charge temps and the other helps coolant / cylinder head temps which combined really work well especially on road race type of applications that get pushed for long periods of time. But you should be fine with the new intercooler with or without a custom tune, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[Walt]

Turbotigger604 hit the nail right on the head. These 2.3L cars really benefit from the upgraded intercoolers and our Evenflo colder thermostats as well. Both mods can be run with or without a tune and the car will typically do nothing but better and love you for it at the end of the day. One of the largest hurdles back when we received our 2015 2.3L Mustang was the fact that you could only get one really great pull or two if you were lucky before it started losing power from heat soak. But you should be fine with the new intercooler with or without a custom tune, I wouldn't sweat it.

That's great to hear thanks!

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

That's great to hear thanks!

No problem, happy to help out! I did add a bit more to that prior post also regarding the cooler thermostats just as a heads up. But feel free to give us a shout if there's anything we can help you with.

 

[Walt]

No problem, happy to help out! I did add a bit more to that prior post also regarding the cooler thermostats just as a heads up. But feel free to give us a shout if there's anything we can help you with.

Thanks for the tip about the thermostat, I'll look into it. So far my coolant and cylinder head temps were fine at the track, I only do 30min sessions so I usually stay well below the limits.

Btw I did some more research on the intercooler with stock tune and found out it loses some hp/torque down low at the rpm range but it gains some at the upper range. After about 5 pulls it gains nearly 40hp so it'll definitely help at the track. That's probably what you and turbotigger604 meant with lower psi when you first get into boost. After 4000rpm it increases power below it's like 10hp lower than stock and the difference decreases with each pull.

Ofcourse a tune will take care about that but I want to stay on the stock tune so I hope it's not too noticable on the street.

 

[Cardude99]

I have an aftermarket intercooler and I have a stock tune. I can say with 100% certainty that there is no reduction in power. An intercooler is the best mod you can do imo. if there is any pressure drop it's not noticable. I even notice significant performance gains even in 110° heat.

 

[Walt]

I have an aftermarket intercooler and I have a stock tune. I can say with 100% certainty that there is no reduction in power. An intercooler is the best mod you can do imo. if there is any pressure drop it's not noticable. I even notice significant performance gains even in 110° heat.

Yeah I was just a little worried since I found some data logs online, which showed about 10-15hp less at rmp ranges below 4000, which is where I stay 90% of the time. After that it increases but I only use that rpm range at the track. I'm installing it anyway though. In your case I think the stock intercooler pulls timing on the first run in that heat lol so it'll definitely help. The weather here is 80f at most so I don't really experience overheating when daily driving. View attachment 386086

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Thanks for the tip about the thermostat, I'll look into it. So far my coolant and cylinder head temps were fine at the track, I only do 30min sessions so I usually stay well below the limits.

Btw I did some more research on the intercooler with stock tune and found out it loses some hp/torque down low at the rpm range but it gains some at the upper range. After about 5 pulls it gains nearly 40hp so it'll definitely help at the track. That's probably what you and turbotigger604 meant with lower psi when you first get into boost. After 4000rpm it increases power below it's like 10hp lower than stock and the difference decreases with each pull.

Ofcourse a tune will take care about that but I want to stay on the stock tune so I hope it's not too noticable on the street.

You are very welcome. That is good to hear for sure, bet it's a blast on the track. Yeah we've never really experienced any major power loss from adding the intercooler but we are normally tuning them at the same time so don't really have a lot of specific before / after type of info on one with just the stock cal. These Ecoboost cars typically do not turn the fans on full speed high until the coolant / cylinder head temps are pretty high like 215-220 F* which by that point the car's already losing power and becoming inefficient. So opening the thermostat sooner and lowering those cooling fan temps helps to maintain peak power longer and tries to help prevent heat soak basically long as possible.

We actually have some road race specific custom tunes available that we've developed a while back with another gentleman that loves road racing his car. He had another calibrator's tuning and was having issues with the car getting hot and struggling during his races. So he ended up going with our intercooler package with charge pipe upgrades, the Evenflo thermostat, our Firestorm high pressure fuel pump, and some custom dyno tuning love which gave birth to the latest updated calibration for the road race clients. Since then he's fallen in love with the EcoStang all over again and said it's running better than ever on the street and especially at the track!

 

[Walt]

You are very welcome. That is good to hear for sure, bet it's a blast on the track. Yeah we've never really experienced any major power loss from adding the intercooler but we are normally tuning them at the same time so don't really have a lot of specific before / after type of info on one with just the stock cal. These Ecoboost cars typically do not turn the fans on full speed high until the coolant / cylinder head temps are pretty high like 215-220 F* which by that point the car's already losing power and becoming inefficient. So opening the thermostat sooner and lowering those cooling fan temps helps to maintain peak power longer and tries to help prevent heat soak basically long as possible.

We actually have some road race specific custom tunes available that we've developed a while back with another gentleman that loves road racing his car. He had another calibrator's tuning and was having issues with the car getting hot and struggling during his races. So he ended up going with our intercooler package with charge pipe upgrades, the Evenflo thermostat, our Firestorm high pressure fuel pump, and some custom dyno tuning love which gave birth to the latest updated calibration for the road race clients. Since then he's fallen in love with the EcoStang all over again and said it's running better than ever on the street and especially at the track!

Yes the car is really a blast on the track, I mainly go to the Nürburgring and Spa Francorchamps and the Ecoboost held up very well in most cases. Interested to see how it will perform there with the new intercooler. I don't have much options at this side of the pond, the CP-E was available locally so that spares me the added shipping and import costs.

I can't really run a "canned" tune since the European models are slightly different and we use a different fuel too. My only option would be a dyno tune locally but no one has experience with these cars since they are quite rare over here. I could get a pro tune and send my data logs overseas, but I would prefer it to be tuned in person. For me the stock power level is good enough, I don't want to risk a blown engine for a couple more horses. But I bet the car would perform even better with a tune, to me it's just not worth the added risk.

 

[SVO MkII]

Turbotigger604 hit the nail right on the head. These 2.3L cars really benefit from the upgraded intercoolers and our Evenflo colder thermostats are another great modification to add as well. Both mods can be run with or without a tune and the car will typically do nothing but better and love you for it at the end of the day. One of the largest hurdles back when we received our 2015 2.3L Mustang was the fact that you could only get one really great pull or two if you were lucky before it started losing power from heat soak. And while the colder thermostat helps either way tuned or stock, we also adjust the cooling fan temps to really take full advantage of the colder thermostat. So one mod helps with the charge temps and the other helps coolant / cylinder head temps which combined really work well especially on road race type of applications that get pushed for long periods of time. But you should be fine with the new intercooler with or without a custom tune, I wouldn't sweat it.

I'm surprised to hear about coolant temp issues with these cars. I've done a few HPDEs with it on warm days (90 deg+), and I never saw the temp gauge move past the midpoint. My car is a PP car, with the larger radiator. Maybe non-PP cars are more susceptible to this? I will say oil temp is an issue. It gets right to the top of the green range and can even dip into the yellow (time to start short shifting!). I will be adding an oil cooler next year.

 

[Hellman109]

My car is a PP car, with the larger radiator.

WHich is the same radiator Ford Performance use for their track car builds, if it can handle that, it can handle what we throw at them

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