What would you like me to measure before, during, and after bolt-ons and tune?

[gtr09]

I've got my new (used) 2020 stealth edition, put 1500 miles on it so far, time for upgrades! I have an S&B intake, titan v1 intercooler, 180 thermostat, Ruthenium plugs, and Go Fast Bits BOV sitting on the kitchen table. After 93 tune I'd like to enjoy that for a bit then upgrade the fuel pump and do E85 as well. Before ordering the intake I did 4-5 hours of interwebs research trying to determine exactly how much, if any, horsepower and torque an intake added. Or if it was just a cool noisemaker. Opinions vary widely. I did see a few videos with before and after dyno runs on trucks that showed up to 25HP gains. I saw quite a few rants that intakes are a scam and that Ford more or less already has a cold air intake. I'm skeptical about all of it. Same, somewhat, for intercoolers without any tune. So here is my plan - tell me what to do different and why.

0. Install plugs
1. Take stock vehicle running 93 octane to dyno, run 3 pulls with zero delay between them. (No delay is to see how much HP and torque are lost due to heat soak)
2. Install intake, go back to same dyno and do it again.
3. Install intercooler, go back to same dyno and do it again. (I don't expect much max HP upgrade, but I expect to see less loss on each subsequent run)
3. Install thermostat, go back to same dyno and do it again. (same as above for results)
4. Install BOV, go back to same dyno and do it again. (I realized the BOV almost assuredly makes no difference, is this completely worthless and I should just install BOV and intercooler together?)
5. Do 93 ZFG tune, go back to same dyno and do it again.

Would these steps generate the most informative data?
- I could do the ZFG tune on the stock motor first, then do the bolt-ons, then have ZFG retune the car.
- I could do 0-60 pulls with dragy or some other method in addition to each dyno, does that matter?
- Within 30 miles of me one shop charges $80 for 3 pulls, another charges $180, and another charges $200. All provide wideband output. Is there any reason I should choose the $180 or $200 over the $80? If so, I'll call each shop and figure out who has what that matters.
- I put the fancy spark plugs at 0 because I don't have any inkling of the best place to put them in that list of upgrades, any particular time I should install them? Would they really make any diff in performance at all without a tune, or even with a tune?

Let me know your thoughts!

Edit: The coolest way I think would be to tune/retune after each part, and run each part stock and tuned. But I'm not clear on how ZFG works with updating a tune after the initial work. I sent them an email a week or two ago but they didn't respond to it.

 

[ralix]

Awesome plan! I can't believe no responded yet!!! Please share all the dyno numbers and draggy results. One thing that a lot of the peps on this forum suggest is a catch can, sounds like it won't add much power, but it will keep your engine performing at its peak and the engine ages. Some one suggested this one: https://www.jlosc.com/j-l-oil-separ...oost-2022-2023-ford-expedition-3-5l-ecoboost/

What is the link the BOV you purchased?

IMHO CAI is worth it if you believe K&N dyno runs. I installed one on my '20 but did not notice any additional noise from the engine. Coupled with a 5 Star tune the truck was definitely quicker, verified by my Draggy runs.

I think a draggy run after each part would be cool to see too.

You don't happen to live in the Detroit area? If so what shop are you using?

 

[bmxandfmx]

I’m super interested in what you found. My wife just said today she wishes her timberline had more turbo noise. So I’m using that as an excuse to get some mods going!

 

[gtr09]

I didn't end up doing all the dyno before and after, didn't seem much interest in it. I do have all those parts installed now and am working through the first daily 91 octane tune. I will go and dyno the stock tune vs the ZFG tune when the tune is finalized. Here is my latest post on it.

As far as noise the S&B Intake did add a bit of air flow noise and slightly increased the whine, but not much. If someone didn't know how to recognize what a turbo sounds like I doubt they'd notice. The BOV does make noticeable but not obnoxious noise and it makes more noise more often after the tune than before - turbos just spool faster I think.

 

[bmxandfmx]

Thanks for the info. I am just hoping most of the parts fit as I haven’t found anyone that’s updated their part numbers for the 23 models.

 

[bmxandfmx]

Completed the S&B intake, catch can, and Turbosmart blow off today.
The wife loves the blow off!!!
The intake didn’t add much like you said but all together I was very disappointed by the flt and finish of the intake and the instructions on the blow off.
Now we just need a tune. Thanks for the info!

 

[gtr09]

Progress! What did you find lacking in the fit and finish of the S&B intake? It seemed ok to me, at least for being molded plastic. I have AMS turbo inlets on order and I've read anecdotal evidence they don't fit up well with the S&B Intake, but we will see. ZFG made a post on one of the ecoboost F150 forums that the AMS inlets actually had real world gains and increased turbo noise.

 

[gtr09]

Been having issues getting any scheduled dyno time that allows me to reflash between runs - so the Dragy just arrived today. Will do some pulls between different tunes and see what we see.

 

[bmxandfmx]

Excited to see what the dragy says!

Like you said it’s molded plastic but I swear their stuff in the pst for my super duties was miles better. Lots of issues with how they cut off the infection sections and the texture they added to some places overlapped their logos. The worst was all the crap in the filter itself. It was sealed in plastic like normal but had a few TBS of water or something similar to it inside, lists of filter fabric, some random string, and then it looked like someone dumped a hole puncher out inside it with cardboard punches lol. It was wild!

 

[bmxandfmx]

Haven’t heard of the AMS turbo inlet. Time to do some research! I’m thinking of going with ZFG for the tunes so works out they have played with them before.