So, cashed up and want to blow some money on the F250.

Been thinking about a tuner or SC, and know nothing about this stuff.

Looking for: better gas mileage, power, quicker.

NOT looking for: messing up a new truck, putting a huge amount of wear and tear on a new truck, making it louder or have black smoke pouring out.

Any of you vet's help me out? Rather have quality good reliable parts installed by a good shop. Proven reliable performance is important.

Thanks

 

Supercharged Powerstroke? Hmm...I recall a certain internet hero on another forum that tried that with next to zero success. Empire Diesel was playing around with the idea a few years ago, but it never went mainstream.

A basic tuner is all you need. If you want even more fuel mileage gain, add water/meth injection. I learned my lesson with the 6.0. These trucks run really good straight out of the box and sometimes the KISS method works best. I have resisted any urge to tune my truck for almost 4 years now. It still outperforms my tuned 6.0 at anything but drag racing and I have barely laid a finger a truck for anything other than routine maintenance unlike the 6.0 that required constant wrenching after I tweaked it.

 

i second the water/meth injection i have that and use windshield washer fluid in it. i would suggest h&s performance for a tuner although pretty pricy these days i have mine with a deleted dpf although you have the option to blow smoke, with the tune i use i keep the "low boost fueling" at the stock setting to keep the smoke to a minimum as to not add to the image of "another polluting diesel truck" also an after market air intake will help your truck breathe better and if you want to go a step further i would recommend an airdog2 air separator it keep bubbles out of the fuel lines after the pump keeping a steady stream of clean fuel to your injectors also adds another water seperation filter because these trucks hate water in the fuel

 

H&S FTW

And what are these "chips" your talking about? Like, salt and vinegar?

 

It's all about programming today. You're basically instructing a computer to do more with a programmer.
I wouldn't expect amazing MPG increases but one, maybe two is reasonable based on results I've read of others here.
H&S is the popular company, if you can find one not locked to the DPF on tuning.

Mine isn't tuned, I like my warranty. If you're expecting Ford to warranty your engine if something fails, know that you'll be on the hook for repairs.

 

in the past 80/90s, early 2000's, there was a socket where you could plug in another computer chip.

 

-H&S XRT to tune the engine
-Edge CTS to watch what's going on with it
-Keep the stock tranny tune
-Sinister EGR kit
-Flo-Pro 4" down pipe back with a 40 or 51" Donaldson muffler and it won't be much louder than stock

This will be a pretty safe setup, will still give you the added benefits and will probably run about $2,500-3,000 for parts. Keep your low boost fueling down and you won't see much smoke, if any. Find a good shop and you won't go wrong.

 

You expect to get higher mpg with a performance enhancer?

Buy the product for HP increase, but not for mileage increase.

On my 6.0, I had modified injectors, bigger turbo, custom tuning. I drove it conservatively compared to others that would have had the same mods. Do you know how much increase mpg that I got with all that? Zilch, nada, squat, goose egg. Seeing a theme here?

All of those are exceptionally likely to happen. Add more HP beyond what the factory rated this things for, you increase wear and tear. Without any equivocation.

I have yet to see any custom tune that did not produce black smoke. Some produced less then others sure, but I have yet to see where one didn't produce black smoke. I think to a degree, most people like to see black smoke, so that's probably why in my experience I haven't seen a tune that didn't produce black smoke (tunes that added HP that is).



Bottom line is that I'm always amazed that people think about turning to performance products for fuel efficiency.


I have to wonder how long it would take for the extra fuel savings to pay off that initial investment first before it would start generating true savings? Better hope to that you don't get caught running any emissions deletes, bye bye to savings right then and there. I live in a lax area with regard to emissions (gas and diesel trucks over a certain sticker weight are exempt), but people still do get caught and if you puff any kind of smoke, they will pull you over and you just gave them cause to have a look see. At least around here.

 

i would agree with everything but the stock stranny tune. IMO you have to tune the trans with the different engine tune levels. you want those firm shifts or you will pay for it down the road with new transmission

and i like how you mentioned the muffler i recently put one on and after driving so long with just a straight pipe i like the sound with the muffler on. and the weight dampens the vibration, makes it a nicer ride and you can still hear the turbo and such. also my neighbors appreciate not hearing a jet engine start up on cold mornings

 

That is true. You want to have those firmer shifts to handle that extra HP. Ironically, the smoother the shift actually means the more slipping that's going on. Smooth isn't always good. You should've felt the shift that was on my 6.0.

 

LOL, I used to "chip" my vehicles when I was tuning older GM ECM's in 3rd gen Camaro's. Open the ECM, put in the adapter board and program an EEPROM on the computer. So much easier now

 

The OP said "NOT looking for: messing up a new truck, putting a huge amount of wear and tear on a new truck, making it louder or have black smoke pouring out".

I have and have done most everything that has been said with the H&S tuner, except I went with th 5" exhaust and Flowmaster HushPower.

If you get the H&S you can tune it and leave all factory DPF and DEF in place, it still sounds factory quiet and NO smoke. You still want to tune tranny! With this you can get about 1 MPG better than factory, maybe more if you keep your foot out of it.

I forced myself to do it for a whole tank of fuel. Worst week of my life! LOL
When deleting DPF, DEF and EGR I have gotten 3-4 MPG gains when I did another tank of fuel.

REAL WORLD, I usually drive it pretty hard ... okay always drive it hard and fast. My daily commut see interstate for about 20 miles and usually above 100 mph once or twice. It literally takes effort to keep it below 70-75 MPH, it runs that well.
All this said, I average above 16 MPG, period. I've left the trip meters run for several thousand miles and still get above 16 MPG.

I do accept I will have extra work sooner than others, maybe a new tranny at 100K miles, and maybe new u-joints pretty soon. I currently have 68K miles on it. I just pulled my truck Saturday night in the "street" class but came in 4th. This is about my 10th pull or maybe more with this truck.

See it on you tube, "FORDTUF1" and look for White Plains Pure Street.
I also have a dyno run, 551 HP at the rear wheels, and about 1100 torque.

 

I think you should take your time and do some research on the basic technology involved, you can then make an intelligent decision as to how to proceed

 

thats the 3.55 gears, right (20 in tires)
I got 15.45 hand calc on my 12 250, 3.31 gears over 13,000miles (includes some car hauler towing, ~400 miles)

 

Yep, 20" rims and a bit over 35" OD for the Nitto's.