Upgrade Path for Increasing Power

[treimche]

Has anyone figured out what parts should be changed in order to easily increase the power of these Rangers? Obviously a tune is the big one, but from there, what should we be changing next? Downpipe? Exhaust? Intake system? Intercooler piping?

I'm very interested in some bolt ons after I get a tune installed. One thing I don't want, is a loud exhaust system. My Ranger is my comfy/nice daily driver and winter beater so I want to keep it that way. I would definitely be open to adding an electric cutout in the exhaust if the cat-back is a big restriction. This way, if I wanted max power, I'd press a button and have open unrestricted exhaust.

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[I_smell_like_diesel]

In my experiences, with my personal vehicles being EcoBoost platforms over the past 6 years, the best bang for the buck has been a Tune and an Upgraded FMIC. Those 2 upgrades have served me well on a Daily Driver setup. Possibly an upgraded downpipe but I'm not sure how restrictive our OEM cat/downpipe really is. Wouldn't hurt to speak with an experienced Tuner and see what they recommend. There's a few on the board that should be able to point you in the right direction. How far you want to go with a Tune will ultimately determine what kind of hard parts you'll be needing.


Past setups I've had;

- 2014 Fiesta ST with Cobb Stage 2 Tune and Mishimoto J-Line Intercooler
- 2016 Fusion 2.0L SE AWD with a CPE FMIC

 

[treimche]

In my experiences, with my personal vehicles being EcoBoost platforms over the past 6 years, the best bang for the buck has been a Tune and an Upgraded FMIC. Those 2 upgrades have served me well on a Daily Driver setup. Possibly an upgraded downpipe but I'm not sure how restrictive our OEM cat/downpipe really is. Wouldn't hurt to speak with an experienced Tuner and see what they recommend. There's a few on the board that should be able to point you in the right direction. How far you want to go with a Tune will ultimately determine what kind of hard parts you'll be needing.


Past setups I've had;

- 2014 Fiesta ST with Cobb Stage 2 Tune and Mishimoto J-Line Intercooler
- 2016 Fusion 2.0L SE AWD with a CPE FMIC

Thanks for the input. I'm new to Fords and Ecoboost, but not to turbo vehicles. This definitely helps, and I will be asking some tuners what they recommend for hard parts too.

 

[808matt]

Has anyone figured out what parts should be changed in order to easily increase the power of these Rangers? Obviously a tune is the big one, but from there, what should we be changing next? Downpipe? Exhaust? Intake system? Intercooler piping?

I'm very interested in some bolt ons after I get a tune installed. One thing I don't want, is a loud exhaust system. My Ranger is my comfy/nice daily driver and winter beater so I want to keep it that way. I would definitely be open to adding an electric cutout in the exhaust if the cat-back is a big restriction. This way, if I wanted max power, I'd press a button and have open unrestricted exhaust.

Down pipe for sure. Turbo spool is a bit louder and quicker got SPD installed

 

[Jack]

Down pipe for sure. Turbo spool is a bit louder and quicker got SPD installed

I'm looking into the catted SPD downpipe as well; how much did installation cost? Is it significantly louder? How noticeable are the performance gains?

 

[treimche]

I was in contact with 2 different companies this weekend about this question. One said the next bottleneck would be downpipe and exhaust, and the other said the intake and intercooler pipes. So I'm still wondering, and will be asking my tuner what they recommend.

 

[Richard Conley]

Has anyone figured out what parts should be changed in order to easily increase the power of these Rangers? Obviously a tune is the big one, but from there, what should we be changing next? Downpipe? Exhaust? Intake system? Intercooler piping?

I'm very interested in some bolt ons after I get a tune installed. One thing I don't want, is a loud exhaust system. My Ranger is my comfy/nice daily driver and winter beater so I want to keep it that way. I would definitely be open to adding an electric cutout in the exhaust if the cat-back is a big restriction. This way, if I wanted max power, I'd press a button and have open unrestricted exhaust.

What about this? https://www.stage3motorsports.com/4...oBoost-aFe-Bladerunner-Intercooler-Black.html

 

[treimche]

What about this? https://www.stage3motorsports.com/4...oBoost-aFe-Bladerunner-Intercooler-Black.html

Those look good. The dyno graphs show nice gains during low RPMs and spool up, but don't seem to do much for peak power gains. Maybe its different with the truck tuned and some other airflow changes.

 

[beetlespin]

You just need one part. A 5.0 Coyote crate motor.

 

[Psykostevo]

Those look good. The dyno graphs show nice gains during low RPMs and spool up, but don't seem to do much for peak power gains. Maybe its different with the truck tuned and some other airflow changes.

Most of the Bolt-on mods will only show baby gains on a stock truck. The stock parts work decently with the stock airmass levels.

once you turn the boost and subsequent airflow up the difference in flow between stock and improved will be more dramatic.

From my experience with the Ranger so far, I will say that beyond tuning it exclusively for 91/93 octane, we probably want to be looking into an intercooler, and high flow or catless downpipes. The stock Intercooler isn’t so bad on the truck, maybe we got lucky compared to the mustang crowd.

 

[Psykostevo]

You just need one part. A 5.0 Coyote crate motor.

You just need one part. A 5.0 Coyote crate motor.

1 part? That’s assuming I would leave the Coyote motor alone, LOL

 

[Psykostevo]

On the upside, our Turbo is supposedly about 5% larger than the one used in the Focus RS, and should be nearly identical to the one being offered in the 2020 Ecoboost High Performance Package Mustang.

We mostly got hosed on the stock hp/torque levels due to being rated at 7,500 towing capacity, and not because our parts are inferior. Contrary to popular beliefs, most trucks that get rated for higher towing limits end up with less hp so that the drivetrain ends up with less stress during aggressive pulls with a max load.

 

[13 Second Ranger]

A downpipe with cat, exhaust, drop in filter, and a tune will give you great results. I have other mods that most will not do but previous to that, there aren't many upgrades yet that will give you an increase in power that is worth the $. The FMIC is actually very good on these trucks. We made Two passes with my truck on a South Florida night and with a 13.70 pass my tuner was shocked at intake temps throughout the passes.

 

[lohchief]

It has been my experience that the biggest gain over a stock config is the exhaust. Free that up for the biggest gain in a stock setup. A cai is fine,but one needs to free up the exhaust first. I'm not much on tuners as an exhaust system and cai doesn't void the warranty.

 

[Psykostevo]

It has been my experience that the biggest gain over a stock config is the exhaust. Free that up for the biggest gain in a stock setup. A cai is fine,but one needs to free up the exhaust first. I'm not much on tuners as an exhaust system and cai doesn't void the warranty.

If you can reduce exhaust temperatures you can help make more power by remedying one of the primary causes for part throttle closure at WOT in the stock tune. The ECU is tuned to be very protective of exhaust temperatures...most likely to prevent excessive heat during towing and other high load scenarios.

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