Ford Performance Tune for 2018+ GT

[Issues]

Hopefully it's not a faulty throttle or maf, because I have a feeling ford performance will jerk me around on sending me new parts that are expensive lol

Can anyone with the kit take a picture of the top of the throttle body adapter where it meets the intake? I wanna see if it's supposed to have the gasket visible or not. If not then that's probably my issue, new gaskets don't stick in place nearly as well as the old smooshed one

The gaskets are visible

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[ice445]

The gaskets are visible

That's what I thought. For reference, this is pretty much as good as the intake fits. I know other people had this and this shouldn't be the issue, but still lol

 

[ice445]

Well, for now I gave up and went back to stock. I double checked all my work, didn't see any smoking guns. I appear to now have some fine dust in the intake manifold, so clearly there was a leak, but the gaskets were fine for both the adapter and the throttle body. They make a nice imprint on the surface where they were sealing, as you can see in the below photo. The only thing it can really be is the horrible fitment of the intake tube, which I couldn't adjust any further, unfortunately. The PCV return line was also butting up against the throttle body which put it under some tension. Other than that, couldn't find anything obvious.

I will call Ford Performance tomorrow and try to get some help from them on this, but for now I didn't want the car being down. I took my time with the install, used torque wrenches where applicable, etc. I'm not the kind of person that would normally struggle with an install like this (I've done far more difficult stuff), but it's definitely annoying to be the only one to run into these issues, lol. It seems like nothing ever wants to fit right on this car. Been through two catch cans now that also had fitment issues (I think the motor is very far forward for some reason).

As far as the issues with how the car actually drove, they seemed beyond a correctable air leak (the car won't set codes until you're over 20%). But maybe I just didn't know what to expect? The car definitely made more power than stock above 50% throttle, but at low speeds, the throttle just felt super dead. It was even more dead than my stock "normal" mode that I'm locked into. Like, the car was drivable like that, but is that normal? Bumping the clutch in particular barely did anything, whereas on the stock tune it resulted in far more movement. Revs fell faster than stock so that was nice, although a bit strange when you're used to the floaty nature of stock. Exhaust sounded more muted in general unless you were getting on it. I also had audible pinging going up the hill to my house in 2nd at the end, but that was the only time I heard it (and it's also not surprising if there was unmetered air).

 

[StangTime]

Sorry you're having all this trouble.

I assume this is new dirt in your intake? If so, you definitely have unmetered air getting in.
That intake tube is not really in a good position. Mine is on all the way on at the top and a little bit too far forward at the bottom. You should not be able to see the shiny machined ring on the throttle body. Take the airbox off and work the tube into the correct position. I found I had to use all my strength to hold it in position while I tightened the clamp.

Check the part numbers on the throttle body. Maybe you got the wrong one? Or you got a bad one. That would explain the sluggish part throttle response. How is the low RPM idle? I assume it's not throwing any codes? Can you log the throttle position? Forscan or other method? You might see it's not opening at part throttle. There is also this throttle body re-learn routine you can do:

 

[ice445]

Sorry you're having all this trouble.

I assume this is new dirt in your intake? If so, you definitely have unmetered air getting in.
That intake tube is not really in a good position. Mine is on all the way on at the top and a little bit too far forward at the bottom. You should not be able to see the shiny machined ring on the throttle body. Take the airbox off and work the tube into the correct position. I found I had to use all my strength to hold it in position while I tightened the clamp.

Check the part numbers on the throttle body. Maybe you got the wrong one? Or you got a bad one. That would explain the sluggish part throttle response. How is the low RPM idle? I assume it's not throwing any codes? Can you log the throttle position? Forscan or other method? You might see it's not opening at part throttle. There is also this throttle body re-learn routine you can do:

Yeah, that dirt wasn't there when I first did the install. Definitely had a leak, no question about it. I was a bit nervous to try and force the tube on there (didn't want to break anything), but I guess that's what you have to do. I saw a few other posts in this thread of people having the same sort of fitment, so I figured it was good enough, but clearly not. At least I'm of the type to datalog for no reason so I caught that. 10 miles of dust isn't a big deal, but thousands of miles....

As far as the throttle body, it's definitely possible that it's bad. In fact, that's kind of what I was leaning to. I didn't capture any actual codes, but I did in multiple situations get a wrench icon on the dash with some kind of service message, notably after flashing the tune, and again when I turned the ignition on yesterday. It hasn't appeared since I went back to stock. I really wish I had swapped to my adapter to try and read it with ForScan to see what it was, but my IQ seems to be diminished lately....I'm wondering if the message is because when the car wakes up, it tests the "limits" or stops of various actuators and I wouldn't be surprised if the throttle body is one of them and was falling outside of the acceptable range. It looks like the gap between the plate at rest seems pretty large, does that look normal to you? For whatever reason it didn't even come in its own box in my kit, it was just wrapped in brown paper.

 

[blue350gt]

Anybody have issue with the dealer not being able to read the pcm with the tune? I have the car at the dealer for transmission work and got call that I needed to remove the tune for them to read the pcm. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Superspirit]

Nope I called ford performance when I had the pcm recall, they said no need to remove tune. Your dealer doesn't know what he's talking about. Call ford performance they can verify this info.

 

[ice445]

Re-installed today, followed spec exactly (literally got out my angle gauge lol), and seems to be much better now. Looking like it was just installer error. I also found out a few interesting things. For one, I don't think anyone has noticed yet, but FP actually machines off the top edge of the throttle body so that the tube can seal better. This shows they expected this angle mismatch issue and that's their solution so that you don't have to get it perfectly on there.

I was still able to do much better on fitment the second time, including getting the foam to sit where it's supposed to.

Drove around a little bit to test things. Fuel trims were far better. At hot idle, the total trim was about 2%, compared to 12% before. Drivability seems good, manual shifting feels better. Power and torque wise it feels more powerful than stock, but nothing crazy. I didn't log the knock correction yet, but it feels strong. I also noticed they're running 42 degrees of timing advance at light load around 2000RPM, lol. No wonder they bumped the torque up so much there....
IAT's surprised me. I know it's not that hot today (72), but they took forever to raise, even sitting at idle waiting for the car wash. Must have a good seal going on here. Car in general runs really good. I installed new spark plugs (SP-589), and a new PCV valve before I did this install. I verified my engine with a late 2019 build date had the updated heat range 7 spark plugs already. Haven't heard any ping this time, but the 2K rattle definitely sounds different compared to before. We only have 91 octane here, so I'll drive it a bit more over the week and see how it does and report back.

 

[blue350gt]

Nope I called ford performance when I had the pcm recall, they said no need to remove tune. Your dealer doesn't know what he's talking about. Call ford performance they can verify this info.

I called ford performance and they said the dealer tech should have manually ID and used a tear tag procedure to read the PCM codes. It seems like it's a common occurrence, the techline knew exactly what they were doing wrong without me explaining much. Hopefully the dealer tech understands this, I took my car to a larger dealer then my local small town dealer thinking I'd get better service....

 

[Lbj]

Quick question do i have to disconnect the Battery when i put all the parts..?
Thanks

 

[Rooster66]

Hopefully it is not based on the Bullitt. A little more than +20 would be nice. But that's good that it's a CAI combo.

You do realize the Ford Performance tune knocks your 5 year power train warranty down to 3 years?

 

[GD~]

Anybody have issue with the dealer not being able to read the pcm with the tune? I have the car at the dealer for transmission work and got call that I needed to remove the tune for them to read the pcm. Has this happened to anyone else?

Yes. Took my dealer 9 hours to install because of issues with the procal. They kept calling me and asking if the car had a tune because the procal wouldn't read. Car didn't have a tune. Turned out they needed to do a software update on either the laptop they were using, or the procal. They did both at once, so they never determined which was the issue.

 

[ice445]

Review time! I thoroughly tested this kit on a 750 mile trip through mountainous terrain, and have learned quite a few things. Some of them have already been mentioned here, but as a data hound I've noticed some other things that other people probably haven't. I'll start with the positives and then delve into the issues...

Positives:
Car runs like a raped ape most all of the time. Downshift and she's ready to party. Top end power, low end torque. It's all there. The thing that shocked me the most is that the tune pretty much entirely masks the horsepower penalty of high altitude. I was over 9000ft multiple times, and driving normally you really don't feel it at all compared to the stock tune. Even with a bit of horseplay it still felt good. Obviously if you try to do a full pull you will notice, but that's pretty much the only time. Very unexpected benefit that I haven't seen mentioned. I have a feeling the intake portion is helping me way more than someone at sea level, since at that point you aren't really airflow limited, you're just torque table limited most of the time. Low end torque gains are hilarious btw. Want to go up a 5% grade hill in 6th at 85mph with 35% throttle? Car isn't phased (unless it's hot lol).

Manual trans dynamics are much improved. The revs and throttle response all just feel more natural, more like other manual cars. The stock tune has very artificial boundaries that you have to shift in, whereas with this tune, it just feels normal. Hill starts are easier, revs fall faster (to the point where on upshifts you have to actually time your reapplication of throttle properly like any other manual car), and letting it eat just feels good. I don't think there's actually better throttle response per se, but you have more "blade travel" compared to the stock tune, as in you get more airflow at all points so it feels smoother and more granular than the stock one.

Cold starts are quieter by about 15% (this is because the intake flows more air at a lower RPM, so it doesn't need to shoot RPM quite as high for catalyst light off). Plus for many people with loud exhausts. Exhaust sound in general is a bit different but nothing too wild.

Intake also looks cool, let's be honest.

Negatives:
Oh boy, here we go. To preface this, some of the issues are the fault of the kit, and some are the fault of the vehicle's design.

Knock Knock! To achieve the published gains, this kit pushes the base timing tables up. A lot. This is inherently problematic unless you're basically running race gas. On tip in (the most likely situation to encounter knock/ping), I'm pretty much always running positive knock retard/knock adder. In Utah we're limited to crappy 91 octane fuel, although the base altitude probably pushes that up to a solid 92 in the best of cases. Either way, that is what the kit is "rated" for as a minimum. But I still didn't like what I was seeing. Knock adder for normal tip in ranged from an average of 3-4 degrees of timing retard up to high 9's in some rare cases. Tip in is basically the condition when you first start accelerating hard from 2-3k rpm. That's where a lot of the high base timing lives, and most of it is basically unusable all the time. And it's not even summer yet! Intake temps were in the 80's for most of this testing. For clarification, 9.99 is the max timing reduction that knock adder can even make, so if you blow past that then you'll start hearing audible ping. It seems basically inevitable to me that this will happen on occasion (unless you run regular race gas or some high octane blend). Especially in the heat of summer. And that brings me to my next point.

It's hot in here. Really, it is. The stock cooling strategy for these cars is ATROCIOUS! After logging it and seeing how it really behaves, it baffles me that the FP tune doesn't try to adjust this or at least offer a less aggressive timing option like the old power pack did. The car seems to target around 210F coolant temps as to where it wants to be, probably for max efficiency and mpg. But this means head temps suffer, and thus knock/pre ignition becomes far more likely. With these cars, airflow is everything for cooling, and the base models with grille shutters seem to actively restrict that as much as possible. If you have a Performance Pack car, this doesn't apply to you. The shutters don't even fully open on my car until 223F cylinder head temp. That's absurd. The low speed fan will not come on until that temp either. This creates an awful feedback loop at what I call "the fun zone". Lower speed cruising with windows down. The power pack runs more timing all the time, which creates slightly more power and thus heat, and now you don't get enough airflow with the stock shutter programming. They're barely hitting 60% open once you're around 212F CHT. So essentially the car just sits around 219-225F CHT, not actually cooling down until the fan logic kicks on and opens the shutters all the way, then it cools down to about 207 or so, then repeats the cycle indefinitely. And god forbid you have an incline or something that throws extra heat into the mix. It's not even that my car CAN'T cool down, it's just programmed not to. How do I know this? For one, I swapped my base radiator for a PP rad a while ago. And secondly, on the highway when you're rolling heavy at 80-85, there's enough airflow to bypass the shutter restriction. Even with them 50% closed and the AC on, my CHT rapidly drops to around 187 and sits there for the entire drive. The car runs cooler in regular driving with the A/C on too, which is hilarious. For the simple reason that under 40mph, the fan is always running and the shutters are open much further than they are when it's off. Above around 45 the fan seems to turn off and the A/C system relies on passive airflow to function, and then it's more similar to the A/C off example.

I know that was a long paragraph, and the takeaway isn't that the stock programming isn't safe, because it is. The car doesn't really suffer running around 212F coolant temps. But it's very BAD for making power, especially when timing is pushed up so far. The difference in knock retard when my car is running at 190F CHT versus 220CHT is massive. At 190 there's barely anything, even with the crappy 91. At 220, 5-7 degrees of reduction is basically guaranteed. I'm going to try unplugging the shutters so they stay at 100% open and retest this at some point in the near future.

Intake woes. Everyone's already talked about it, IAT's suck. But what I didn't really consider is when they would suck the worst, and that's after taking the car to the store or to eat or something. Spend 15-20 minutes in the store? Enjoy coming out to 150F IAT's on warm start. Probably 180+ in actual summer. I know the stock box does this too somewhat, but nowhere near this bad. You pretty much can't even think of asking for power after leaving the parking lot, or your knock adder is going straight to 9.99. For autocross this will also suck, you pretty much have to open your hood after each run to avoid starting the next one with 130F+ IAT. FItment also sucks, but that's been beaten to death. I have to cut my hood liner where the brake aspirator is rubbing through it if I choose to keep this on.

Final thoughts:
I like this kit overall but those negatives are pretty rough. I don't necessarily think the tune isn't safe, as all of the crazy timing is just initial/low load timing, and it blends out the higher in the RPM and load you go. But I do strongly dislike the lack of buffer that you now have in that low end of the scale. Given it's not even summer yet, and I can already nearly max out KR in certain situations, where is there to go from here? The mythical 93 octane pump that we don't have? The only way I can address this is by trying to get the car to run cooler, which even then I'm somewhat limited in that department. Disabling/removing shutters is about it, and maybe a 170 thermostat. Altitude reduces cooling ability too. I suspect I'm still gonna be able to hit 215+ climbing long hills for example. With that said, there are really nice things about the kit that would be hard to give up after experiencing them. Like the per cylinder knock control with the much faster recovery times. It's a large part of what makes these cars feel so much more alive after you flash this. And of course the better manual shifting. But the anxious part of me sees this tune as just one bad tank of gas away from something bad happening. There are likely some gaps in my knowledge about some of the finer details about tuning these cars, and I do think the OE calibrators tend to know what they're doing. So that does put me at ease somewhat. But ultimately I'm gonna have to think if I want to go back to stock or not. I suppose it depends on how the shutter testing goes.

Thanks for coming to my long winded post. Tl;dr = tune make car go fast, heat make car not like it.

 

[boB]

Review time! I thoroughly tested this kit on a 750 mile trip through mountainous terrain, and have learned quite a few things. Some of them have already been mentioned here, but as a data hound I've noticed some other things that other people probably haven't. I'll start with the positives and then delve into the issues...

... ...

Thanks for coming to my long winded post. Tl;dr = tune make car go fast, heat make car not like it.

Thanks for your long winded post, for the time you put into it, and for all the information! Sadly, it looks like the kit has more downsides than value. Here in Florida it is likely to dial in 9.99 degrees of reduction most of the year. :( I really like the idea of more torque in the cruising rpm range but it looks like the reality is the benefit is rarely realized.

Update: a new post says the kit works great, maybe I should get it after all. Or not. Premium fuel around here is 93, that may make a difference.

 

[Dans18GT]

Here in the central valley of California at 89' elevation, 91 octane, and temps in the mid 90°s, the car still runs much better with the kit.

I got the kit as soon as it was available and there's no way I would go back.

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