[Updated] Ranger Ford Performance Power Pack Performance Tune Software (M-9603-REB) Released!

[Romac]

Tivct, I’m curious as to your thoughts on someone like Mountune in particular, as they’ve worked so closely with Ford and even dealer installed with warranty provided parts through Ford dealers etc on the ST cars?

I’ve played with and modded basically all my cars and I’ve had too many to count sadly. Originally I planned to run the Ford performance tune, then Mountune, and then back and forth. I had a Focus and Fiesta ST I ran mountunes stuff on and absolutely loved it, no problems as you said, but I’m assuming their quality levels are much more stringent again because of their relationship with Ford, as opposed to more independent tuners? Maybe a step between an independent shop and Ford themselves? I’m lucky in that I’ve tried had a lot of fun and no problems with tunes from anyone, whether that’s canned or mail order custom or more thought out, so I don’t have a dog in the fight so to speak.

Just genuinely curious on how they’re perceived from the other end. I’m also a Ford employee but far removed from tuning lol. I do like the idea of a ’safer’ tune as far as more thought out/reliable, even if that means reduced power and a higher cost. I guess I’m finally getting old. Lol.

edit - my wife told me she’s tired of watching me monitor this thread on my iPad every night and to just order the damn thing already. So at least I have approval if I decide to jump lol.

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[Sandman Ranger]

It also depends how one drives a stock or tuned vehicle.
The old saying "Burn a candle at both ends!"
0-60 red light burns everyday and all day will wear out and vehicle.
Production cars are not built to race.
Even race cars can not race forever without maintenance or rebuilds.
Your tune will increase risk but it also improves, drivablity. In traffic one can pick up speed to lane change if needed. Having power makes it easier to merge in heavy trafic. Runs from a dead stop are hard on anything. Hard smooth acceleration is better. One can have fun and take care of the vehicle. Tunes are like mods, before you do, make sure you can pay to play. If you are living paycheck to paycheck then stay stock. Save money for payments and maintenance.
If you want to race, buy a used VW MK7 GTI and tune it stage 1. Have fun. A GTI engine is strong and has been developing for years. But any engine can be broken. A mild tune on the Ranger should be good. Mustang 2.3L is tuned for higher HP so the engine can do more.
I am new to GTI's, 5 years now but from forum reading tunes can do well. From my reading the guys who drive very hard (race) eventually have the issues. So, tune and drive with common sense.
The Ford Tune would be a great option after the stock warranty is over.
Getting a tune at that point extends the warranty. Getting a tune with 1,000 miles does away with some warranty as they over lap.

But, a tune is fun, life is short, enjoy.

 

[joeb427]

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/04/16/2019-ford-ranger-2018-ford-mustang-engine-tune/

Just called my dealer and am awaiting a call back on availability.

 

[tivct]

Tivct, I’m curious as to your thoughts on someone like Mountune in particular, as they’ve worked so closely with Ford and even dealer installed with warranty provided parts through Ford dealers etc on the ST cars?

I’ve played with and modded basically all my cars and I’ve had too many to count sadly. Originally I planned to run the Ford performance tune, then Mountune, and then back and forth. I had a Focus and Fiesta ST I ran mountunes stuff on and absolutely loved it, no problems as you said, but I’m assuming their quality levels are much more stringent again because of their relationship with Ford, as opposed to more independent tuners? Maybe a step between an independent shop and Ford themselves? I’m lucky in that I’ve tried had a lot of fun and no problems with tunes from anyone, whether that’s canned or mail order custom or more thought out, so I don’t have a dog in the fight so to speak.

Just genuinely curious on how they’re perceived from the other end. I’m also a Ford employee but far removed from tuning lol. I do like the idea of a ’safer’ tune as far as more thought out/reliable, even if that means reduced power and a higher cost. I guess I’m finally getting old. Lol.

edit - my wife told me she’s tired of watching me monitor this thread on my iPad every night and to just order the damn thing already. So at least I have approval if I decide to jump lol.

Mountune is good stuff. They are similar to Roush in that they have access to actual Ford development PCMs and to some extent Ford facilities (although not as much as Roush there.) Back when Mountune released the warranty-approved RS calibration, the data was sent to Ford for review & signoff.

When Mountune does a warranty-backed calibration, it's very similar to the FP process I outlined above. However, they also go well above & beyond those levels too, so you need to understand that risk as well. They have 500hp+ packages for the RS, for example.

But, since they have access to Ford resources, they really know what they're doing. A lot of tuners don't understand Ford's software, and don't bother to reverse engineer it, so they turn a lot of functionality off or calibrate around it in a sloppy way, which can really get you into trouble.

For example, many of them don't understand how to correctly calibrate torque control, so they just disable it and run "x pedal = y throttle & wastegate" calibrations. Which is extremely sloppy & dangerous on these engines. The power density of the Ecoboost engines is so high for one reason: torque control only allows those levels when conditions are safe for it.

Super quick example: You need less boost in cold air to make a given torque due to denser air. Say you need 19psi at 80f to make 270hp, you may only need 14psi at 20F to make the same 270. Ford models the air density, and knows to correctly open the wastegate to give you 270hp in cold air.

A lot of the tuners don't bother figuring this stuff out. They just set a fixed wastegate and call it good. For example, they'll give you a blanket 25psi everywhere. Cool, that 350hp is awesome and safe on a nice day. But if you floor it on a 10 degree day... still 25psi, but now 400hp... bad things can happen. There have been MANY blown up RS & Mustang 2.3L engines for this exact reason.

On the other hand, I have development files for some of the Mountune calibrations and can confirm they do things correctly.

That was a bit meandering but hopefully answered a few questions.

 

[Clump]

I have the good fortune of also owning a Mustang GT. On the Mustang 5G forum there has been discussion about Ecoboost engine failures with tunes, especially the Ford Performance tune. The failures have been catastrophic - broken rods, broken blocks, etc.

There's some horrific pictures here:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...ost-tune-released.118424/page-15#post-2869353

Since our Ranger blocks are based on the RS engine they should be stronger, but TBH I have not payed a lot of attention to the Mustang Ecoboost.

I haven't seen any reports of catastrophic Ranger engine failures with any tunes, so maybe no concern.

 

[BDUb]

I have the good fortune of also owning a Mustang GT. On the Mustang 5G forum there has been discussion about Ecoboost engine failures with tunes, especially the Ford Performance tune. The failures have been catastrophic - broken rods, broken blocks, etc.

There's some horrific pictures here:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...ost-tune-released.118424/page-15#post-2869353

Since our Ranger blocks are based on the RS engine they should be stronger, but TBH I have not payed a lot of attention to the Mustang Ecoboost.

I haven't seen any reports of catastrophic Ranger engine failures with any tunes, so maybe no concern.

Aren't our Ranger engines de-tuned? Wouldn't that mean re-tuning them back to the original spec's would seem like a reasonable thing to do...

 

[tivct]

Aren't our Ranger engines de-tuned? Wouldn't that mean re-tuning them back to the original spec's would seem like a reasonable thing to do...

De-tuned for a reason. They wouldn't reduce power in a much heavier vehicle as an oversight. In Ford development, truck engines need to pass much more stressful fatigue tests. This is because they spend significantly more time at peak loads (hauling, pulling trailers, etc.) A 2.3L at RS power levels likely would have failed these fatigue tests.

 

[Kevin Franklin]

Mountune is good stuff. They are similar to Roush in that they have access to actual Ford development PCMs and to some extent Ford facilities (although not as much as Roush there.) Back when Mountune released the warranty-approved RS calibration, the data was sent to Ford for review & signoff.

When Mountune does a warranty-backed calibration, it's very similar to the FP process I outlined above. However, they also go well above & beyond those levels too, so you need to understand that risk as well. They have 500hp+ packages for the RS, for example.

But, since they have access to Ford resources, they really know what they're doing. A lot of tuners don't understand Ford's software, and don't bother to reverse engineer it, so they turn a lot of functionality off or calibrate around it in a sloppy way, which can really get you into trouble.

For example, many of them don't understand how to correctly calibrate torque control, so they just disable it and run "x pedal = y throttle & wastegate" calibrations. Which is extremely sloppy & dangerous on these engines. The power density of the Ecoboost engines is so high for one reason: torque control only allows those levels when conditions are safe for it.

Super quick example: You need less boost in cold air to make a given torque due to denser air. Say you need 19psi at 80f to make 270hp, you may only need 14psi at 20F to make the same 270. Ford models the air density, and knows to correctly open the wastegate to give you 270hp in cold air.

A lot of the tuners don't bother figuring this stuff out. They just set a fixed wastegate and call it good. For example, they'll give you a blanket 25psi everywhere. Cool, that 350hp is awesome and safe on a nice day. But if you floor it on a 10 degree day... still 25psi, but now 400hp... bad things can happen. There have been MANY blown up RS & Mustang 2.3L engines for this exact reason.

On the other hand, I have development files for some of the Mountune calibrations and can confirm they do things correctly.

That was a bit meandering but hopefully answered a few questions.

This is the best comment I have seen thus far! TIVCT is correct on the knowledge that Mountune has at hand. His first hand experience is well worth consideration and he explains it very well.

I have been running a Mountune product known as the MR300 Focus ST tune that was customized additionally for their exhaust. I been running this for over 3 years and it is the best modification I have made to any late model vehicle! A very dependable tune with ZERO issues. I would have to believe that the Ford Performance tune is based on a similar set of parameter changes and the gains that it produces are quite good and being a product that has had thousands of miles/hours of testing, I believe that it will satisfy most people's needs. Frankly, I was very impressed reading the numbers that it produces and I have no doubt they are true. Safe and favorable horsepower and torque gains at that price point is a BARGAIN!

 

[Juggar]

My brother has a 2007 Nissan Titan V8, the day he got it in 2007 he put a tune on it addin 80 HP and 100 lb ft of torque. He has well over 100,000 miles on it and no issues whatsever...never has. Oh and it was not a Nissan tune but an aftermarket one that "ran it 3 times on the dyno and shipped it." My father has been tuning every car he has had for years and once again has had no issues. 2012 Cadillac CTSV, 2016 Mustang GT 500, 2014 F-150, 2018 Focus RS, 2019 Edge ST, 2020 BMW M5 Competition. No problems with any car he has ever tuned even though the cars on this list are newer he has been tunning for many years and not had issues.

Issues can still happen but I would like to think companies making tunes have been doing so for a long time and know what pressures are acceptable or not. Its not like its their first time...

One last thing, my beother has never removed the tune amd it passes smog while tuned.

HAHAHA he did NOT add 80 HP/100 ft/lbs on a stock naturally aspirated factory engine with a simple tune.

He'd be DAMN lucky to have added 20 HP with a 93 octane tune on a fully stock engine.

80 HP/100 ft/lbs is a LOT, even for a forced induction engine.... For example, its about how much you add with a Stage 1 tune on a GTI and those engines are forced induction and VERY strong (stock block can handle 500 HP, its only 2.0 liters).

Dude lied to you, be smarter. I would call him out on the spot spouting BS like that. Better have a turbo, Supercharger or a Nitrious system on that Titan to be making power like that!

As I understand it, the ranger has a graphite iron block, much like a Golf R/Audi S3/RS3. No doubt it can take boost to the moon.

 

[Danger Ranger 09]

Does premium fuel only mean you can't run regular or does it mean to get that power you have to us premium

 

[Frenchy]

Does premium fuel only mean you can't run regular or does it mean to get that power you have to us premium

Rivet will verify soon but if it says premium only then you use premium only. I use premium only as it is since I noticed how much better it does.

 

[JetEngr19]

When Ford says premium fuel, do they mean 93 or 91 octane? I can easily get 91, but 93 isn’t available in my neck of the woods.

 

[Frenchy]

When Ford says premium fuel, do they mean 93 or 91 octane? I can easily get 91, but 93 isn’t available in my neck of the woods.

91 and higher is premium fuel

 

[tivct]

It will still be safe on 87, you just won’t see large power gains. You’ll still get the shift improvements, though.

 

[Sandman Ranger]

Regarding shift inprovements.
What are the details? Anyone know.
Are there two tunes or does the Ranger run everything through 1 ecu? The GTI can get two tunes. ECU and TCU.

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