Risk with Tuners?

Jason

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So, I got my ranger, put 2800 miles on it now. Thinking of adding a tune to it.

It is a daily driver, 100 miles round trip to work and back 5 days a week.

I'm also a closet speed junkie, and have reached the point in life where I can afford to do things right. I bought my motorcycle new last year and my truck less than a month ago.

I understand a tune can add significant power gains, we only have 91 octane here where I live in Colorado though.

My biggest concern is how does it affect the engine. If I get a 91 octane performance tune, is it going to run a risk of blowing up if I decide to drag race some random dude on the street?

How badly does it affect fuel economy as well? I'm averaging 22mpg almost all freeway miles, though it's not flat, elevation goes up and down a couple thousand feet twice.

I love my ranger, and would love to get some extra smiles out of the gas pedal, but I don't fully understand the risks associated with adding a tune.

I think maybe it's just my engineering side of me throwing up caution flags lol.
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Marshal.

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The old saying is the candle that burns twice as bright, burns twice as fast.
Anyone who can give you a better answer than “it depends”, either doesn’t know, doesn’t understand, or is lying to you. It depends how much risk you want to assume.
One assumes that when being engineered, Ford took the max limit of the components, and scaled back the production version to that. Some engineers at Ford have been quite public that the focus RS limit is around that 400hp. Sure lots are at that limit and “daily driving” them, and then there are those with less who have gone through motors. Obviously a custom tune is going to be far safer than a generic one. These motors have lots of sensors that see danger points and dial back from there.
Lots of guys tune their vehicles, but they also may trade their vehicles in every 3-5 years. There’s a long list of guys with tuned ecoboost engines, putting down serious power, and high mileage. There’s also an equivalent list of guys with holes in their blocks or melted pistons. Hard to get concrete info if it was from the tune or not.

I know my answer doesn’t really help.
 
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Jason

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Yeah, and these haven't been out long enough to see long term impact on the engine with a 60hp 100ft/lb torque increase I guess too.
 

Marshal.

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It’s not really a “new” engine, as it shares a lot of the same components with other 2.3 ecoboost platforms. Realistically how often do you drive at 10/10ths of the engines capability? Did ford even engineer it to operate at 10/10 under factory conditions? I doubt you’ll get an answer, but these are the questions that keep me up at night when I debate tuning my truck.
My dealership tried to tell me my warranty was void because I changed my own oil so you can imagine what they’d say if they detected a tune haha. Luckily for me there’s two dealerships in town
 

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This engine can stand a tune. It's pretty dumbed down for a 2.3. It's capable of over 300HP without straining. They have used this engine tuned to 385HP for their
  • 2016–2017 VUHL 05 RR I have used Tuners before on bikes and sports cars. They are pretty benign as far as harming the engine. Hell people without a tune can blow up their engines. I prefer a piggyback tune though to hide from the ECU, That said there are wicked Tunes generating another 40HP available already
For more info
In March 2015 (this engine has been around awhile)

Ford announced the official production start of the all-new twin-scroll 2.0-liter and 2.3-liter EcoBoost engines for North America at its Cleveland Engine Plant in Ohio.[48]

Applications
  • 270 hp (201 kW; 274 PS) at 5500 rpm, 310 lbâ‹…ft (420 Nâ‹…m) at 3000 rpm
  • 280 hp (209 kW; 284 PS) at 5600 rpm, 310 lbâ‹…ft (420 Nâ‹…m) at 3000 rpm
  • 285 hp (213 kW; 289 PS) at 5500 rpm, 305 lbâ‹…ft (414 Nâ‹…m) at 2750 rpm
  • 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS) at 5500 rpm, 310 lbâ‹…ft (420 Nâ‹…m) at 3000 rpm
  • 310 hp (231 kW; 314 PS) at 5500 rpm, 320–350 lbâ‹…ft (434–475 Nâ‹…m) at 3000 rpm
  • 350 hp (261 kW; 355 PS) at 6000 rpm, 350 lbâ‹…ft (475 Nâ‹…m) at 3200 rpm
  • 385 hp (287 kW; 390 PS) at 6000 rpm, 369 lbâ‹…ft (500 Nâ‹…m) at 3200 rpm
  • 276 hp (206 kW; 280 PS) at 5500 rpm, 310 lbâ‹…ft (420 Nâ‹…m) at 3000–4000 rpm
 
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NOVA_Ranger

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The internals in these engines are more than enough for any tune a company like Livernois, Unleash, and others offer. The fuel system is likely going to hit a wall before any engine components start to go boom, as is the case with most other Ecoboost engines. I plan to tune my truck in the future and I have zero concerns, given past experience doing so.

The only cases I've heard of major problems, with the 3.5L Ecoboost engine, involved user error by guys pushing the limits with various bolt-on modifications. With that engine I don't recall hearing about any mechanical problems up to about 600 HP (stock HP was 365) on stock internals, just the stock fuel system not being able to push more fuel in order to go higher. I believe Ford addressed this by adding port injection on other high-performance platforms that use the 3.5L engine.
 
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Rick - Saber

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I've had a GIAC tune on my Jetta for about 15 years. Very happy with it and the performance boost. If the engine is producing more power then it will move the vehicle along more easily. My mpg went up as long as I kept my foot out of the throttle and stayed away from heavy boost. A jump from @14 PSI to 22+ PSI is a hoot with the hp and torque gain. You won't blow your engine up with just a tune. Tuning companies would be going out of business from law suits if they were destroying peoples engines.
 

DentonB

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I've had a GIAC tune on my Jetta for about 15 years. Very happy with it and the performance boost. If the engine is producing more power then it will move the vehicle along more easily. My mpg went up as long as I kept my foot out of the throttle and stayed away from heavy boost. A jump from @14 PSI to 22+ PSI is a hoot with the hp and torque gain. You won't blow your engine up with just a tune. Tuning companies would be going out of business from law suits if they were destroying peoples engines.
Had APR tune on my Audi A4 2.0T for four years and 50k without issue. That little 2.0 ran strong. I only regretted waiting so long to tune it.
 

Rick - Saber

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@DentonB Very nice. Sounds like you had the big brother to my little Jetta. You are right, a tune makes it feel like a whole new engine. I put over 160K tuned miles on my '03 1.8T. Will be trading it in when my Ranger gets here in about a week. I considered APR but the GIAC folks were local at the time. Been a great little vehicle but I have outgrown it and prefer to have the utility of a truck again. This new Ranger is a big leap up from the late 80's compact Toyota 2WD single cab 4 speed manual truck I used to have long ago. :)
 

doug910

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I have no doubts that the engineers at Ford have this engine dialed back so there is definitely some room for more power. My only concern is that I don't like the idea that these tuning companies don't really do true durability tests on vehicles with these tunes. I'm sure reputable companies make smart choices on their tunes, but I'll wait a few years since I don't want to be the durability test subject. Just my two cents.
 
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t4thfavor

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Had a pretty tuned and bolted Focus ST, the only major issue I had was the clutch was failing at the 100K mark. I'm sure the addition of launch control didn't help that at all. I'd say they conservatively rated the Ranger because of it's towing capacity. I see that the new explorer with the same engine is rated at 300HP and 310FT/LBS. I'd be comfortable with 310HP/350LBS, but most tuners bring the wheel HP/TQ up past those levels. For me, I plan to tow a big trailer, so I want it to be as reliable as possible. As long as it can safely move my trailer, I'm happy.
 
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Jason

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Had a pretty tuned and bolted Focus ST, the only major issue I had was the clutch was failing at the 100K mark. I'm sure the addition of launch control didn't help that at all. I'd say they conservatively rated the Ranger because of it's towing capacity. I see that the new explorer with the same engine is rated at 300HP and 310FT/LBS. I'd be comfortable with 310HP/350LBS, but most tuners bring the wheel HP/TQ up past those levels. For me, I plan to tow a big trailer, so I want it to be as reliable as possible. As long as it can safely move my trailer, I'm happy.
Yeah, mine is a daily driver. I commute 50 miles one way to my office. But I do things in my off time too, I may take my motorcycle to the track on a trailer a few times a year, I may haul some mulch for my wife to do yard work with a few times a year, I may go up in the mountains camping once or twice a year. Now that I have 4wd I may go find some lighter 4x4 trails to do once in a while. I may go out with buddies and do some impromptu street racing in the boonies and would want to make their jaws drop when my mid size 4 cylinder truck keeps ups with or beats their little cars.

Kind of an all around truck.
 

RCMUSTANG

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I have tunes from Torrie at Unleashed. I've never heard of anything blowing up from him. He's been around for a while. 20k+ tune on my Fusion. He knows where the limit for a tune is. He tunes big but very safe. He also mentioned it's familiar territory compared to the Mustang. He's tuned tons of Mustangs.
 

t4thfavor

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Yeah, mine is a daily driver. I commute 50 miles one way to my office. But I do things in my off time too, I may take my motorcycle to the track on a trailer a few times a year, I may haul some mulch for my wife to do yard work with a few times a year, I may go up in the mountains camping once or twice a year. Now that I have 4wd I may go find some lighter 4x4 trails to do once in a while. I may go out with buddies and do some impromptu street racing in the boonies and would want to make their jaws drop when my mid size 4 cylinder truck keeps ups with or beats their little cars.

Kind of an all around truck.
My commute is 108 miles round trip, so I definitely understand having a fun commuter car to drive. I'd tune it if I didn't plan to tow semi regularly.
 
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P. A. Schilke

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Ya pay the price and ya take ya chances. If you knew the hours involved and the dollars invested in Ford proving out a change in "tune" you might leave well enough alone.

These "tuners" can't afford the time and money to prove every aspect we at Ford must validate.

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Phil Schilke
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