So something I've looked into but haven't really gotten any answers on is whether or not anyone here has tuned their 5.4 specifically for E. I already have an SCT programmer from Five Star but I'm curious if anyone has seen any gains from just E85 and if they even found anyone willing to set a tune for it. Where the trucks are already flex fueled I imagine it wouldn't be too awful difficult for someone to write a couple of times and rely on the trucks flex sensor to tell when you've dumped E or 87 in. Just kind of knocking the idea around on if it is worth it.

 

I run E 85 almost exclusively using either 5* or MPT custom tunes. Before I ran E 85, I had always used 93 premium and their race tunes. When I decided to run E 85 I inquired with both tuners and was told the same thing by both. Just use their highest octane race tune and enjoy. They stated the vehicles own flex fuel programming works in conjunction with the custom tunes.

I do notice a difference between E 85 and 93 when I have the skinny pedal planted. Most other times you can't really tell any difference other than the fuel gauge dropping faster using E 85. Pump E 85 varies by station and is inconsistent but usually always over 100 octane or close to it so you can run any tune you want with it only benefitting (power wise) by using a higher octane tune.

That's for daily driving, if you plan on hitting the track for serious drag racing you'll want to run specialized E 85 from race fuel companies and have the truck dyno tuned.

I can't say for sure how much of a difference it'll make with your engine though as I have the newer 5.0 DOHC engine which stock is more powerful than the 5.4 to begin with.

 

That's the answer I was looking for. I just know off of other vehicles I've had, using a 93 octane tune and running E85 kind of limits you. I had a 08 Sentra SE-R Spec V that required 93 and when I ran E85 it didn't make a difference until I ran a tune specifically for E85. I just didn't know if anyone has seen any differences over a 93 tune or not and had paper to prove it. I just don't want to have my truck retuned and find out there's not much gain...right now E85 has been on par or similarly priced to 87 so if there's not much gain and I'm losing all that MPG, I'm not really wasting my time. From previous posts I figure there's more in the 5.4 but Ford wanted to nerf it in order to make the Coyote look that much better on paper. I've looked at doing swaps and even trading up to a Coyote truck but the one thing that I keep thinking about is...the 5.4 was the last engine specifically designed for a truck, it wasn't one ''tuned'' differently, it wasn't one that was pulled from somewhere else. The 5.4 from the start was meant for heavy vehicles and although the timing sets are 150K disposable wear items, I'm still not going to penny up for the Coyote when my 5.4 does everything I need it to.

 

Ford always leaves power off the table for every engine they build, call it a buffer zone. As for them nerfing the 5.4 to specifically make the Coyote 5.0 look better is simply untrue, the coyote 5.0 is based on the dohc 4.6 used in the 90's for cars such as the FWD Lincoln Continental and the Mustang Cobra. The Coyote in the Mustang is internally different than the truck coyote, different cams and different heads, something to do with torque versus hp curve so it is specifically made for truck use.

Right now if you're already tuned for 93, E85 is the cheapest and most powerful way to fly, just have to stop for a fill up more often depending on driving style. I am forced to consider my driving style "spirited" because it's just so much fun to plant the skinny pedal with alcohol in the tank.

 

I definitely do understand that almost every engine in existence can have power pulled out with different tuning and other bolt on parts...that's a given as most manufacturers can't really do what they want to, especially with pickups because they have to take into consideration NVH which essentially nerfs a lot of potential engines have. Also, that is case in point with a '08 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V...at the crank it made about 200 and at the wheels bone stock it was about 150-160 and after some bolt on's like a full exhaust, intake, ported throttle body and tune it was making 230 at the wheels which...for any front wheel drive is a handful but fun in any respect. But, as I discussed in a previous post of mine I feel like the 5.4 was nerfed in a big way as most people can see 20-30HP and 40-60 pound feet with a good tune on 93 with no other modifications and not to get too far into the weeds (we're basically planting next springs crops at this rate) but the 5.4/4.6 trucks had the same 6R80 transmission as the 11+ trucks and somehow suffer from a larger drivetrain loss percentage than the Coyote when there wasn't any internal changes to the transmission, transfer cases, axles or anything like that until I believe early '13. It wouldn't be unheard of for Ford to do something like that as they were caught red handed with the 1999 Cobra's and tried to make excuses about it until they were sued into submission and ended up doing a ''fix'' which actually resulted in the 99'-2001 NA Cobra's being found to make far more at the crank than 320...one of those ''better safe than sorry'' mindset considering how many people they upset.

Anyways, ugh, that was a tangent. I kind of like to look into it because I do love the 5.4 in my truck but I know Ford has done a lot of shady stuff in the past so I don't mind calling it out and discussing it with people whom actually care to discuss it. I'm going to call Ken at South Beach whenever I get a chance to see if he has the time to remote dyno tune my truck to run everything I already have plus a custom E85 write...I'd really like to compare what difference there is for it.

 

Not even going to attempt to read that run on sentence, paragraphs please. As for an e85 specific tune, both 5* and MPT said they made them but they were designed for vehicles that did not come from the factory flex fuel enabled and required more modifications to make them work properly.