Input on Headers + E85/93 Flex Fuel Tune

[cobruh]

Hello all,
I have been enjoying my 2022 Mach 1 HP as is with a simple H pipe for around 7,500 miles since I purchased it in December of 2022. That being said, I'm looking to wake the car up with catted headers and a e85/93 tune.

I have the following questions:
- Kooks, Stainless Works or BBK ? Leaning on Kooks 1-3/4-Inch Long Tube Headers; Catted.
- Do I need just the headers or a connection pipe and/or o2 sensor harness extension as well?
- What tuning device should I purchase?
- Who is the best tuner for a 93/e85 tune?
- Can a Gen 3 Coyote run e85 with just a e85 tune?

I will get them installed by a trusted shop here in NJ, so installation is not a worry.

Any responses to my questions or any general information regarding this setup would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Sponsored

 

[DougS550]

Hello all,
I have been enjoying my 2022 Mach 1 HP as is with a simple H pipe for around 7,500 miles since I purchased it in December of 2022. That being said, I'm looking to wake the car up with catted headers and a e85/93 tune.

I have the following questions:
- Kooks, Stainless Works or BBK ? Leaning on Kooks 1-3/4-Inch Long Tube Headers; Catted.
- Do I need just the headers or a connection pipe and/or o2 sensor harness extension as well?
- What tuning device should I purchase?
- Who is the best tuner for a 93/e85 tune?
- Can a Gen 3 Coyote run e85 with just a e85 tune?

I will get them installed by a trusted shop here in NJ, so installation is not a worry.

Any responses to my questions or any general information regarding this setup would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

For me, I went with LTH High Flow cat Long Tube Headers. Comparable to Kooks Green. Even though they have the "Titan" finish, I went on a wrapped them with Titanium DEI Header wrap. For tuning I am going with Wengerd, very reliable for tuning. Good Luck

 

[Turbeau]

I have the Kooks 1 3/4 with green cats on my 22 Mach. If you buy the "OEM" kit it will come with everything needed to install them including 02 extension harnesses and x-over to fit it to your stock mid pipe or other style meant to replace the stock suitcase. I've been told tuning is not required - that said I had a CEL immediately afterwards. I opted for a Wengerd 91 tune. I removed my carbon trap and installed the high flow airraid filter. I am very pleased with the service (especially since I am in a different country) and the intake mods were incorporated into the tune.

I have also needed to install 02 sensor spacers as I still get a CEL from time to time (I opted for the Vibrant 90deg). I purchased the RDT+ from Wengerd with the tune for convivence. My mild setup changed the way the car makes power and has a huge impact on sound. Many more smiles per mile! On E85 yours will be a riot.

 

[tdstuart]

- Kooks, Stainless Works or BBK ? Leaning on Kooks 1-3/4-Inch Long Tube Headers; Catted.
I recommend getting headers with slanted o2 fittings. This is done to prevent water buildup in the o2 sensors which will kill them. E85 attracts water so this becomes a concern.

- Do I need just the headers or a connection pipe and/or o2 sensor harness extension as well?
Headers will probably come with a connection pipe to connect to the factory resonator. You will basically have 3" to factory to the h-pipe size.

- What tuning device should I purchase?
Depends on the tuner. HPT RTD is popular, and can pair with phone. Ngague is cool because it acts as a real-time data gauge but only a few tuners support it and it's expensive and hard to get.

- Who is the best tuner for a 93/e85 tune?
Many people will have different answers, very debated question. I suggest Lund, JP, tricky, and shoemaker. Trickyperformance is what all the hardcore N/A guys are leaning too right now, may just be a trend and probably not your end goal. Lund and Shoemaker have been tuning forever and should be able to give you a tune that runs smoothly (smooth shifting, idle, etc.). JP is a little newer I think but beefcake is pushing them really hard and I think they have better support than Lund.

- Can a Gen 3 Coyote run e85 with just a e85 tune?
Yep!

 

[Wolfys11]

Wengerds great for tuning
Kooks headers worked well for me for fitment, though most of the main brands work well.

 

[Zelek]

Wengerd Performance all day man. My car drives so nice on 93 and E85 with Kook's 1-7/8" green catted headers and the Borla ATAK GT500 system. Customer service is top notch too. They recently started a customer group on Facebook too that's not a toxic group at all like Lund's group became. I'm so glad I switched. Derel knows this platform for sure.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Wengerd Performance all day man. My car drives so nice on 93 and E85 with Kook's 1-7/8" green catted headers and the Borla ATAK GT500 system. Customer service is top notch too. They recently started a customer group on Facebook too that's not a toxic group at all like Lund's group became. I'm so glad I switched. Derel knows this platform for sure.

I am thinking to go with 91 and E85 tune, its a flextune right? How do you like E85 on the Mach 1? I am leaning towards doing this since Whipple is STILL not CARB legal in Cali for 22-23 model years. This is my daily so I want to be able to effortlessly switch between 91 and E85. Any info is appreciated Thanks

 

[shogun32]

Skip the headers. Talk to @Mikepol2 about the Livernois tuning solution.

Seriously, don't do headers. Unless you just want to collect noise citations

 

[Mikepol2]

I am thinking to go with 91 and E85 tune, its a flextune right? How do you like E85 on the Mach 1? I am leaning towards doing this since Whipple is STILL not CARB legal in Cali for 22-23 model years. This is my daily so I want to be able to effortlessly switch between 91 and E85. Any info is appreciated Thanks

Skip the headers. Talk to @Mikepol2 about the Livernois tuning solution.

Seriously, don't do headers. Unless you just want to collect noise citations

Definitely a fan of the Livernois flex tune. @shogun32 can verify how it feels to drive it. I like having to do one tune load and put the tuner away, no worries about E85 testing or about continually loading tunes if you want to go back and forth with 93. Drive to almost empty, fill up with the new fuel whether it's pump gas or flex, drive at moderate throttle for 15-20 minutes so the car learns the new E ratio, and you're good to go. Of course they are able to squeeze a little more HP out of the tune if you promise to always give it E85 but it's hard to imagine how much livelier an E85 tune would feel over the flex tune.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Definitely a fan of the Livernois flex tune. @shogun32 can verify how it feels to drive it. I like having to do one tune load and put the tuner away, no worries about E85 testing or about continually loading tunes if you want to go back and forth with 93. Drive to almost empty, fill up with the new fuel whether it's pump gas or flex, drive at moderate throttle for 15-20 minutes so the car learns the new E ratio, and you're good to go. Of course they are able to squeeze a little more HP out of the tune if you promise to always give it E85 but it's hard to imagine how much livelier an E85 tune would feel over the flex tune.

Thank you for the info.

 

[Zelek]

I am thinking to go with 91 and E85 tune, its a flextune right? How do you like E85 on the Mach 1? I am leaning towards doing this since Whipple is STILL not CARB legal in Cali for 22-23 model years. This is my daily so I want to be able to effortlessly switch between 91 and E85. Any info is appreciated Thanks

No, they are separate tunes. Wengerd does not do flex tunes. I just drive it till it's about empty, swap fuels, idle for a few minutes then flash over to the new tune. Easy swap and no issues.

 

[vinny89gt]

Definitely a fan of the Livernois flex tune. @shogun32 can verify how it feels to drive it. I like having to do one tune load and put the tuner away, no worries about E85 testing or about continually loading tunes if you want to go back and forth with 93. Drive to almost empty, fill up with the new fuel whether it's pump gas or flex, drive at moderate throttle for 15-20 minutes so the car learns the new E ratio, and you're good to go. Of course they are able to squeeze a little more HP out of the tune if you promise to always give it E85 but it's hard to imagine how much livelier an E85 tune would feel over the flex tune.

I'm also currently doing research on flex fuel tunes. From what I've read the coyotes don't actually sample the fuel, they use the o2 sensors to infer the ethanol percentage whereas GM actually has a fuel sampling port stock upstream from the fuel rails.

What I haven't really been able to find a solid answer on is whether inferring the E percentage is really much of a hinderance versus direct sampling. Must have been some disadvantage if Lund did away with flex fuel tuning all together.

 

[K4fxd]

What I haven't really been able to find a solid answer on is whether inferring the E percentage is really much of a hinderance versus direct sampling.

The Ford flex fuel logic works pretty good. It does have some limitatrions as the F150 tune file has more flex parameters available and these cannot be added to the mustang tune file.

If you are N/A there is nothing to worry about just wait till your in dash A/F gauge settles down before you hammer the car.

Lund and a few others are coming out with a canbus flex system that uses a fuel sensor. The tuning software is from PCMtec.

@engineermike has the ford flex fuel system working reliably on his FI 3rd gen mustang.

 

[vinny89gt]

The Ford flex fuel logic works pretty good. It does have some limitatrions as the F150 tune file has more flex parameters available and these cannot be added to the mustang tune file.

If you are N/A there is nothing to worry about just wait till your in dash A/F gauge settles down before you hammer the car.

Lund and a few others are coming out with a canbus flex system that uses a fuel sensor. The tuning software is from PCMtec.

@engineermike has the ford flex fuel system working reliably on his FI 3rd gen mustang.

That's awesome news. Something to consider in the future. Appreciate the reply.

 

[Need4SpeedMotors]

Hello all,
I have been enjoying my 2022 Mach 1 HP as is with a simple H pipe for around 7,500 miles since I purchased it in December of 2022. That being said, I'm looking to wake the car up with catted headers and a e85/93 tune.

I have the following questions:
- Kooks, Stainless Works or BBK ? Leaning on Kooks 1-3/4-Inch Long Tube Headers; Catted.
- Do I need just the headers or a connection pipe and/or o2 sensor harness extension as well?
- What tuning device should I purchase?
- Who is the best tuner for a 93/e85 tune?
- Can a Gen 3 Coyote run e85 with just a e85 tune?

I will get them installed by a trusted shop here in NJ, so installation is not a worry.

Any responses to my questions or any general information regarding this setup would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey this is Junior from N4SM. For headers I would do either the Kooks or stainless works and forsure go with the 1 7/8 inch catted headers that is what is most common on these s550 mustangs. Usually they sell the headers with the connection pipes but depending on what mid pipe you have they offer factory 2.5" connect or race 3" connection pipes if you have a 3" catback. As far as tuner my car is tuned by Lund Racing. In my opinion the best tuner for mustangs. Drivability is most important for me, I tried a couple other tuners and the drivability and customer service is the best with Lund Racing. If you decide to go with them or anyone else I would speak to them and see what tuning device the recommend. Every tuner is different. Lastly the Gen 3 coyotes can run e85 with just a tune if the car isn't boosted.

Sponsored