Just bought a 2008 F-150 Supercrew xlt, 5.4L . It sounds good stock, but looking to get better sound, hp, and gas mileage.. I was told to get a K&N cold air intake, and then maybe new pipes.. Any recommendations??? Thanks

 

i heard that a TUNER would be the 1st thing to get because without it.. the cai would be useless..as well as the aftermarket exhaust

 

What's your current calculated mileage (your mileage may be in line with normal)?

Sure fire? No.

Best case ways, yes.
Tune-up (plugs, cops, etc.)
Fuel filter
Proper tire inflation
Easy acceleration
Coast to stops
Longer following distance
Slow down
Reduce weight
Air filter
Overall proper maintenance

And the number one way?

Wait for it......









Buy a Focus.

RE: the tuner, CAI, exhaust

I can absolutely guarantee you might possibly see a MPG increase with an intake and a programmer with custom tunes.

An exhaust (cat back) will do nothing for MPG (and will probably hurt them 'cause the 'go foot' gets heavier). High flow cats, LT headers - maybe - but you definitely need a custom tune for those. The A/M intake will probably do nothing or very damn little.

I personally see more posts about 'my programmer didn't improve my MPG' than 'my programmer improved it'.

I think it may have a lot to do with how you drove it before you got the programmer.

I'm getting 17.3 combined so I bet I'll be lucky to get 2 MPG more. I do plan on the Edge CTS (with custom tunes) so I'll try to use the data logging feature to find the RPM/IECON sweet spot. I may find that 2100-2500 is better than 1800-2100 for IECON (during acceleration).

Who knows why each of these trucks seems to respond differently to the same mods?

 

i agree with shotgunz, hp and gas mileage are hard to get without digging deep into mods on the motor, not just bolt on exhaust and intake. but those will get you a better sound. I say go for the chip,super charger,headers,high-flow cat and exhaust. and then turn off the truck going downhill to really boost the mpg's

 

i would not buy anything thinking it will improve gas milage, if it does than thats just a good kickback. you have to make a choice or buy all three (cai, tuner, exhaust) a programer makes the best change but not flashy (looks stock outside) an intake is the same but can be herd and exhaust is not going to do anything but make the truck sound better which is very important to me. when all three come together the truck is so much more fun to drive and something to be proud of. the whole supercharger, cam, turbo area is taking it to the next level

 

I think I went the ultimate route to get better MPG's...installed a Supercharger.

only gained about 0.5 mpg. but of course I couldn't keep my foot out of it.



all jokes aside, programming is the only thing you can do to help out. CAI and exhaust will do absolutely nothing. They will make some nice noises for you...but that's about it.

 

The CAI will not gain you anything except a little noise. I had the FIPK on my truck for a while and the fuel economy went down and it didn't run as good especially in the summer. Thats my experience with it. Stock air box with a new stock filter FTW.

 

lol Supercharger would send me in the opposite direction in terms of mpg...mmm supercharger whine...

I changed my driving habbits and that has helped with mpg I think. I haven't calculated in a while though.

 

Save your money.....a CAI won't do a thing for power or mileage

 

i only paid $170 for my cai and i would buy it again anyday. it did make the truck more fun when you stand on it and it sounds like you could suck a bird into the motor plus it changed the tone of my exhaust for the better but no it did not make me go faster or stay away from the pumps. one other thing on the programer i dont know about others but the edge will not always help with gas due to each level requiring a bump up in fuel rating = more $ per fill up