Hi, I'm new to this site and also to Ford. I have an '05 F-150 XLT Super Crew 4x4 w/ the 5.4. I have read several different threads and still have questions about performance mods. With so many different makers of tuners, intakes, and exhaust. Which is the best? Is there a combination that offers better performance than others? I have heard good things about Superchips, but does it work better with a K&N Cold Air intake or say the Airraid? And does that combination work better with Flowmaster or say Magnaflow? Any help would be appreciated.

 

First off, welcome to FTE! I have only been on this site for a few months but I have found it very informative.

As far as your questions go, there really is no "best" of the things you mentioned. I'm sure if someone had a performance shop and a lot of time on their hands they could probably figure out what works best with what, but the results would be too close to make it worth the effort. An intake from K&N, Airraid, Volant, AEM or any of the big names all work about the same. The claimed HP numbers are from best case scenarios and are all around 10-15 HP. The better result from an intake is the improved gas milage you'll see. I picked up 2.5MPG from my K&N Series 77 intake, which alone was worth the price of admission. The added power is just a bonus. You won't notice an intake until you go WOT, but how often do you do that? And then we have exhaust. Commonly one of the most restrictive stock parts on a new vehicle. You really need an entire cat-back system to net any gains, a muffler alone won't do much. Again, the big name companies like Magnaflow, Flowmaster, Basani, etc, will all be about the same in output. Just make sure the exhaust you choose is mandrel bent and of a diameter that will increase exhaust flow, but not so big that you will lose backpressure. Exhaust is a wierd thing sometimes, too small and you restrict how much air your engine can move, too big and you lose backpressure that is vital to the scavenging effect. Any cat-back system made specifically for your truck has already addressed this issue and should be good to go. An intake and cat-back together will definately compliment each other and you'll get more out of them together than one without the other. More air in + more air out = better overall effeciency and performance. Then you have custom tuning. There are a few options for your truck and numerous threads already discussing these. Look around in this forum and you should find what you need. The Superchips and SCT versions don't really consider an intake or exhaust as a modification, so whatever tune you'd get stock will work just fine with an intake and exhaust later, but again, they will work a little better with custom tuning. My vote is for SCT simply because of the flexibility and options down the road if you further modify your truck, say with FI or if you go internal. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you sooo much. That really does help. I have sent eamils everywhere asking these questions and never got an answer, so your advice is much appreciated. I do have a couple more questions if you don't mind.

1) If each compntent (intake, exhaust, and programmer) boasts an increase of say 10-15 hp, do you add those together if you do all the upgrades (ex. 30-45hp)? Or does it not work like that?
2) Since SCT doesn't consider the intake and exhaust changes, is there a programmer that does?
3) Will any of these changes effect Ford's Factory Warranty?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

 

1. No. 1+1+1 does not equal three when it comes to performance upgrades. Deminishing returns per dollar spent (unless its a blower!).
2. No. Intake and exhaust changes don't impact the programming. That's what the mass air flow sensor is for: to adjust the air/fuel ratio according to the airflow into the engine. Only if you do something that changes the MAF reading (aftermarket MAF or large TB), or displaces the O2 sensors (long tube headers) does intake/exhaust impact tuning.
3. Ford won't cover damage caused by aftermarket parts, they should still cover their parts.