Power? Tune?

[berlow94]

That is correct - I had good conversation with the service tech writer at my local Ford Dealership in Pensacola, World Ford. First, the cost - it's about $1200 or so to do the upgrade. Second, it does void the 5y/60K powertrain factory warranty and drops it to the standard 3y/36K. I asked why, since Ford was doing it, and he said it had something to do with Ford Racing. Third, the tech told me that they've done that upgrade for one Ranger. The owner was extremely disappointed, and couldn't notice a discernible difference at all in the horsepower or torque - he in fact, asked the dealer to return to stock. With out openly saying it, the tech intimated not doing the upgrade. I can appreciate that type of honesty - he could have told me everything was great with the upgrade and I wouldn't have known any difference. So for now, I'm sticking with the 270HP/310 torque from the factory.
One last thing, when I mentioned that I run Shell 93 Octane in my Ranger; the tech said it might be better to run 87 in it since that is the gasoline grade for which the engine was designed. He said the detergents in the Shell gas would keep the engine cleaner, but the 87 octane would actually enhance the engine performance better than the 93 Octane. I'm not really sure about that - I feel my Ranger runs better on the Shell 93 Octane , but it could be in my mind. Anyone with thoughts on 93 Octane vs. 87? The owner's manual recommends nothing lower than 87, but says that higher octane gasoline is perfectly acceptable and could enhance performance.

I would say that the particular tech you were speaking with doesn’t really understand these newer ecoboost engines or how the O.A.R. function of the ECU works.
It says right in your owners manual that it can use 87 but was designed around using 91+...

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[RedlandRanger]

I would say that the particular tech you were speaking with doesn’t really understand these newer ecoboost engines or how the O.A.R. function of the ECU works.
It says right in your owners manual that it can use 87 but was designed around using 91+...

And I can add some more anecdotal evidence..... With all the talk of premium performing better and potentially getting better mileage, I thought I would try it out and do a couple tanks. I did about half a tank (fill up) of premium(I'm not sure if it was 91 or 93) yesterday. Went hiking and did about 100 miles. First thing I noticed was the mileage on the truck was higher than usual on this trip. I can't say I noticed a change in performance, but I absolutely noticed a change in mileage, probably 1.5 MPG or so. I'm interested to see what happens on the remainder of this tank and when I do a full tank of premium. With the little bit I'm driving these days, it will be a few weeks before I can make any conclusions, but thus far it seems very promising.

 

[Dunedain Ranger]

Hi Thomas,

Couple things. The engine will perform better on 93 as the engine can extend the ECM parameters and generate HP and Torque. He is correct that the motor was designed for 87 octane but also has the enhanced performance capability available when 93 octane is used.

He is correct...Ford Racing gets to define the warranty period for a Ford released MOD. I concur to leave well enough alone on a tune upgrade. JMO

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thank you very much for that enlightening information, Phil. I really appreciate you taking time to answer my inquiry on octanes and your comments regarding the upgrade.

This is my third Ford Vehicle - I've owned a 2006 F-150 (Motor Trend Truck of the Year for 2006) with the 5.4L Triton V8 - awesome vehicle until a friend to whom I lent the vehicle totaled the vehicle (I almost had it paid off...)

The second vehicle was a 2014 Ford Focus - everything was fine with that except vehicle for the chronic tranny problems. Ford graciously upgraded the power train warranty for me to 10y/100K, but we decided to trade it anyway.
My 2020 Ranger is the third Ford Vehicle - love this vehicle. I intend to drive it until the wheels fall off (God Willing and the creek don't rise).

Big Kudos to your engineering group for coming up with this winner. My friend's wife purchased the 2020 Ranger Lariat 4WD and absolutely adores it. I read that in a CNBC article on 07/02, that while Ford had a dismal 2nd quarter down 33% due to the corona virus, Ranger sales were actually up 19% - which is awesome - a great testament despite the corona virus. Slowly but surely, I've noticed more Rangers on the road.

Thank you again, Phil!!

 

[Mustangman02232]

That is correct - I had good conversation with the service tech writer at my local Ford Dealership in Pensacola, World Ford. First, the cost - it's about $1200 or so to do the upgrade. Second, it does void the 5y/60K powertrain factory warranty and drops it to the standard 3y/36K. I asked why, since Ford was doing it, and he said it had something to do with Ford Racing. Third, the tech told me that they've done that upgrade for one Ranger. The owner was extremely disappointed, and couldn't notice a discernible difference at all in the horsepower or torque - he in fact, asked the dealer to return to stock. With out openly saying it, the tech intimated not doing the upgrade. I can appreciate that type of honesty - he could have told me everything was great with the upgrade and I wouldn't have known any difference. So for now, I'm sticking with the 270HP/310 torque from the factory.
One last thing, when I mentioned that I run Shell 93 Octane in my Ranger; the tech said it might be better to run 87 in it since that is the gasoline grade for which the engine was designed. He said the detergents in the Shell gas would keep the engine cleaner, but the 87 octane would actually enhance the engine performance better than the 93 Octane. I'm not really sure about that - I feel my Ranger runs better on the Shell 93 Octane , but it could be in my mind. Anyone with thoughts on 93 Octane vs. 87? The owner's manual recommends nothing lower than 87, but says that higher octane gasoline is perfectly acceptable and could enhance performance.

That parts swapper you were talking to sounds like an idiot

 

[Frenchy]

That is correct - I had good conversation with the service tech writer at my local Ford Dealership in Pensacola, World Ford. First, the cost - it's about $1200 or so to do the upgrade. Second, it does void the 5y/60K powertrain factory warranty and drops it to the standard 3y/36K. I asked why, since Ford was doing it, and he said it had something to do with Ford Racing. Third, the tech told me that they've done that upgrade for one Ranger. The owner was extremely disappointed, and couldn't notice a discernible difference at all in the horsepower or torque - he in fact, asked the dealer to return to stock. With out openly saying it, the tech intimated not doing the upgrade. I can appreciate that type of honesty - he could have told me everything was great with the upgrade and I wouldn't have known any difference. So for now, I'm sticking with the 270HP/310 torque from the factory.
One last thing, when I mentioned that I run Shell 93 Octane in my Ranger; the tech said it might be better to run 87 in it since that is the gasoline grade for which the engine was designed. He said the detergents in the Shell gas would keep the engine cleaner, but the 87 octane would actually enhance the engine performance better than the 93 Octane. I'm not really sure about that - I feel my Ranger runs better on the Shell 93 Octane , but it could be in my mind. Anyone with thoughts on 93 Octane vs. 87? The owner's manual recommends nothing lower than 87, but says that higher octane gasoline is perfectly acceptable and could enhance performance.

Sooooooo........ That technician is an idiot....... I own a Ranger like most of us here and have learned that these truck are designed where you can use 87 but it is still preferred to use premium fuel (91-93). Why they made it to where you can run 87 is because people are not always that bright out there and want the cheapes fuel they can get and as we all know that isnt always the case with every vehicle. If i were you I would keep putting in 93 as it will provide the best overall performance on your truck both stock and tuned.

 

[Doc]

Sooooooo........ That technician is an idiot....... I own a Ranger like most of us here and have learned that these truck are designed where you can use 87 but it is still preferred to use premium fuel (91-93). Why they made it to where you can run 87 is because people are not always that bright out there and want the cheapes fuel they can get and as we all know that isnt always the case with every vehicle. If i were you I would keep putting in 93 as it will provide the best overall performance on your truck both stock and tuned.

My wife has a 2020 HPP 2.3 Turbo Mustang same motor bigger turbo and the book said 87...We run 93 Shell in both vehicles...
Regards

 

[Frenchy]

My wife has a 2020 HPP 2.3 Turbo Mustang same motor bigger turbo and the book said 87...We run 93 Shell in both vehicles...
Regards

I wont doubt that the book say you can run 87 as a minimum. I wont doubt that it also say for better performance to use premium fuel as well just like the ranger.

 

[CO2Ranger]

That is correct - I had good conversation with the service tech writer at my local Ford Dealership in Pensacola, World Ford. First, the cost - it's about $1200 or so to do the upgrade. Second, it does void the 5y/60K powertrain factory warranty and drops it to the standard 3y/36K. I asked why, since Ford was doing it, and he said it had something to do with Ford Racing. Third, the tech told me that they've done that upgrade for one Ranger. The owner was extremely disappointed, and couldn't notice a discernible difference at all in the horsepower or torque - he in fact, asked the dealer to return to stock. With out openly saying it, the tech intimated not doing the upgrade. I can appreciate that type of honesty - he could have told me everything was great with the upgrade and I wouldn't have known any difference. So for now, I'm sticking with the 270HP/310 torque from the factory.
One last thing, when I mentioned that I run Shell 93 Octane in my Ranger; the tech said it might be better to run 87 in it since that is the gasoline grade for which the engine was designed. He said the detergents in the Shell gas would keep the engine cleaner, but the 87 octane would actually enhance the engine performance better than the 93 Octane. I'm not really sure about that - I feel my Ranger runs better on the Shell 93 Octane , but it could be in my mind. Anyone with thoughts on 93 Octane vs. 87? The owner's manual recommends nothing lower than 87, but says that higher octane gasoline is perfectly acceptable and could enhance performance.

If you can, see if you can meet up with a local Ranger owner that has a tune. You can certainly tell the difference between the Livernois tune and stock. Can't speak for the FP tune but it would appear Ford left quite a bit of headroom on this powertrain setup and a tune gets you a noticeable gain that you can actually feel.

After spending hundreds of dollars on past vehicles for cold air intakes and other ECU-faker devices I can honestly say that the tune on this truck is the only performance mod I'll ever do to it and it's easily the best bang for the buck performance improvement.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

I've been running a LMS tune for a couple of months now and I couldn't be happier. The truck drives great, plenty of power, and I have zero concerns about the truck bursting into flames or anything. I get on it every now and then but I don't beat on the truck by any means.

 

[DMVRanger]

I've been running a LMS tune for a couple of months now and I couldn't be happier. The truck drives great, plenty of power, and I have zero concerns about the truck bursting into flames or anything. I get on it every now and then but I don't beat on the truck by any means.

Seems like my choice is becoming clearer haha! Only thing in my way is no home pc, just macs and I’m not sure how I’d get the tunes with no software

 

[landiscarrier]

If you can, see if you can meet up with a local Ranger owner that has a tune. You can certainly tell the difference between the Livernois tune and stock. Can't speak for the FP tune but it would appear Ford left quite a bit of headroom on this powertrain setup and a tune gets you a noticeable gain that you can actually feel.

After spending hundreds of dollars on past vehicles for cold air intakes and other ECU-faker devices I can honestly say that the tune on this truck is the only performance mod I'll ever do to it and it's easily the best bang for the buck performance improvement.

Exactly! A tune is the way to go. Cold air intakes, BOV’s, and exhaust add sound but very tiny gains (if any).

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Seems like my choice is becoming clearer haha! Only thing in my way is no home pc, just macs and I’m not sure how I’d get the tunes with no software

No need to purchase an additional computer just to run Windows.

Bootcamp your Mac (not a VM) and you should be fine since it is running on the native hardware.

If you don't want to use up any of your internal HDD space, get an external drive and set up Bootcamp there (a USB flash drive will work fine but some prefer an external HDD)

That way you simply plug in the external drive and hold down the Option key when booting to choose the Bootcamp drive. Use your Windows apps then power off and disconnect the drive. You're back to Mac with no Windoze creeping around on your system.

Get the Windows 10 ISO Here (get the Home edition, not Pro)

Windows 10 will run perfectly fine without buying an activation key. You just will not be able to customize the look and you will have an activation reminder that displays on the lower corner of your screen. Since you are not using Windows on a daily basis but just to do your tunes, this should be fine for what you need.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

Seems like my choice is becoming clearer haha! Only thing in my way is no home pc, just macs and I’m not sure how I’d get the tunes with no software

Find somebody with a PC and upload tunes from there. It is a 'one and done' thing, for me anyways. If LMS offers some major revision I might consider changing the tune but my plan is to run the 91/93 performance tune permanently, even during moderate towing. I really don't see any reason to constantly swap tunes and stuff.

 

[Dmax]

Anyone running the idrive throttle control? Any feedback appreciated.

 

[quangdog]

"I don't need to tune this truck. I don't need to tune this truck. I don't need to tune this truck. I don't need to tune this truck. I don't need to tune this truck."

I keep saying that over and over in my head. But then I keep reading about how much I need to tune this truck. Curse this forum!

Livernois got my money. Tuner arrives in a few days. *sigh* (ok, my inner 12-year-old is giddy...)

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