Xtra

I believe I have done just about everything I can to improve my car with aftermarket goodies. The only thing left to do is get a set of Summer Performance Tires. I know that a good set of tires will do quite a lot for any car.

I did not install the Thermostat today a Ford tech told me it may cause a engine light to come on and he did not recommend it. It has to do with the fans when they come on. I will do a little more research before I decide to install it.

All the other braces and body stiffeners required custom mods and holes drilled they were not easy bolt on items. So I did not install them. I will just save them for another day. So the note for anyone wanting to do something like this is save your money on the body bracing, just do the Strut Tower Brace and leave it at that.

Installed the Strut Tower Brace today, it fit like a glove without any problems. I cannot tell any difference yet, I believe that when I push the car in the canyon I will be able to tell if it helps then. Here are some photos of the installed Brace.

Just installed the MRT Axel Back Exhaust System . It has a deeper fuller tone than stock and is quiet as stock when cruising on the Hwy. it is not to loud or sound ricey. You can here it in the cabin when accelerating and I do not have not enough miles on it to tell if there is any drone or resonance yet. The stock muffler weighs in at 34 pounds and the MRT System weighs 19 pounds so there is a weight savings of 15 pounds off the back of the car. I need more time with it to give a more detailed report. I will try to post a video so you can hear it .

Install is set for tomorrow :happy feet: Will give reviews when finished.

Yep, I thought so. Thanks for confirming that, I will pass on the plate flipper.

I would think the H&R Sport Springs would do more for wheel hop than body / chassis stiffeners . The reason I am installing a Strut Tower brace and body stiffeners is to improve cornering and overall handling of the car. Did over 50 miles of canyons last Sunday. Some of the canyons were so tight there were no straights over 100 ft long and so narrow they were one way RT, LF, RT, LF......... for miles , tremendous views and lost of fun. # Hill Climb City

The plate flipper won't fit to big.

Install is set for next week. GAS will install the 170*F Thermostat, Mufflers , Strut Tower Brace and Body Stiffeners. I am looking at one of these trick items as well. One plate would be my CA plate the other a GAS plate for shows. These guys are out of business but others still make them. There might be a law that prevents me from installing it or fitment problems . Like the idea though.

Just arrived and time for another un-boxing. The parts came fast enough but the packaging was not that great. All the parts arrived in good condition , but the hardware bag of nuts and bolts was open and some had spilled out. I will not know if some are missing until the install. There were no instructions and only a generic video in Chinese on line that was no help. Galpin Auto Sports will do the install http://galpinautosports.com . I have instructed them to only use the parts that bolt on . If holes have to be drilled then I won't install that part. Can't say much about the fit yet , but the finish is great. The paint is small metal flake blue and the strut brace is polished to a show finish. The Edge is very stiff platform to begin with. Mine has the Panoramic Vista Roof, so with a big hole cut in it adding stiffeners can only help out. I would not think it necessary for a car without the Vista Roof. This is the kit as advertised. This is how it arrived. This is what was inside the package I did not get a good photo of the nuts and bolts package so you wont see that. This is the main thing I am interested in, the Strut Tower Brace. It should provide the greatest bang for the buck. It has a mirror polish, nice engraving in the middle, the ends are stamped TTCR-II and the welds look top notch. Lets hope it fits and works as good as it looks. Note the date was not set on my camera...it is not 10-2008

It is a good show and worth the drive it has all kinds of cars, from Rat Rods to Super Cars. The people are friendly are happy to talk to you about their rides. There are always hundreds of cars there, but on the McLaren day there was way over 1,000 cars on display. The place was packed. Because of the long drive you have , I might wait for a day that has a marque that you like . It is fun after the show as lots of us hit the canyons for a drive to the beach and lunch. http://www.supercarsunday.com/marque-schedule/ Let me know when you are going and we can meet there if you want.

Bump

That is fine with me if it sounds stock, I kind hope it does. My fears are it will be too loud or drone in the cabin at cruse speeds. The weight savings alone will be worth it. At under 20 pounds there should be substantial weight savings over the stock muffler and have less restriction. That equals more HP, better handling and a very small milage increase. I installed a Gibson cat back exhaust on my Explorer and now it sounds like a truck, and it feels less refined. I don’t mind as I use it as a truck for hauling and towing. My Edge is for driving and I want it to be luxurious, refined, sporty, not truck or ricey like. This is my concern.

Oh Boy !! It is like Christmas around here today . Just received a MRT Axle Back Exhaust for my G2 Edge Sport AWD. Not sure when I will do the install as I have other things on the fire right now. When I do get it installed I will include a video so you can hear and see it. For now I will just do the unboxing photos for you. Both sides together only weigh 19.6 pounds and the tube diameter is 2.5 inches, the finish and welds are top shelf. I will wait a few months to build up my courage to install it as I can only hope that they are not to loud. I don't want it to be loud or drone in the cabin and outside I don't want it to sound like a kids import with a big fart can on it. I will keep the stock muffler to reinstall if I don’t like it and then sell the MRT system. Time and sound will tell whats up.

I think you are incorrect sir. The 2L-I4 is a Single Twin Scroll turbo engine . The 2.7L-V6 is a Twin Turbo engine. Check out this video and notice how the Ford Tech is careful when he talks about Twin Turbo and Twin Scroll as they are two very different things. I also have come to the conclusion that the PedalMax only effects throttle lag and the throttle curve. Has nothing to do with the turbos. So to those who told me so you were correct and I was ignorant of the facts. LMS now offers a a similar unit, they call it a LME Throttle Enhancer. I spoke to LMS about the PedalMax and they state it is compatible with their tunes.

I have been attending Supercar Sunday of late, http://www.supercarsunday.com and running the Mulholland Snake, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=GWhe1pbOBzE as well as a few other select spots after the show. This last Sunday I found myself running with a brand new bad ass Corvette and the week before with a McLarin. As it it not a race but spirited driving I have found that I can run with these super cars, sometimes in front sometimes following. This would not be possible without the addition of the H&R springs. Having Rotora 15inch 6 pot brakes up front helps as well. The only problems are learning the road, lateral support of the seats and that huge "A "pillar creating a blind spot on tight left turns. Otherwise I run with them just fine . I receive tons of compliments on the Edge Sport and have received thumbs up from surprised supercar owners after running a canyon with them.

Just received my Reische Performance 170F TStat . I did some research on the cold side Reische and the hot side EvenFlo thermostats. It appears that the Reische is the same cold side design as the stock thermostat . Armed with this info I will be going with the Reische unit. I clipped this from another site with Joel from Reische explaining the difference between cold and hot side thermostats. ============================================================================ HOT SIDE THERMOSTAT "So in the hot-side system the thermostat is placed pre-radiator: coolant flows in from the side (GREEN/RED) and, depending on it's temp, coolant is directed either up to the radiator to be chilled or if the coolant is not hot enough, the thermostat stays closed and the coolant is directed down through the bypass to recirculate. Of course the thermostat will often run partially open, directing a little coolant to both paths. COLD SIDE THERMOSTAT In the cold-side system coolant flows the opposite direction and the thermostat is post-radiator: Unlike a hot-side thermostat, the bypass control (brass bottom) is not attached to the upper assembly/diaphragm and does not move when the thermostat opens. It maintains contact so the bypass coolant can only flow up through the inside of the pipe, keeping the heat motor in direct contact with the bypass coolant temperature so the thermostat can function properly at all times. When the bypass coolant is hot enough the thermostat opens (bringing in chilled coolant from the radiator - BLUE); this also pushes the heat motor further down into the pipe which closes off the holes in the pipe for the bypass (RED) and shields it from the chilled coolant. However a small amount of bypass coolant is allowed to flow across the heat motor at all times so it can still monitor and respond to changes in the coolant temp. A hot-side thermostat can function in a cold-side setup to a large degree but there are some drawbacks: When the thermostat opens some of the chilled coolant will mix in and expose the heat motor to cooler temps then it should be seeing to operate properly. Cooler temps then force the thermostat to start closing prematurely and once this happens, the hot bypass coolant will then start to make it open back up... and the cycle repeats. Another issue is the thermostat will always struggle to stay fully open because as soon as the bypass is completely shut off, the heat motor will no longer be exposed to hot coolant, forcing it to close again. The LMS/Even Flo thermostat attempts to address this by placing 4 holes in the bypass valve but then you always have a good amount of coolant recirculating through the bypass instead of being directed through the radiator as it should be. In my own real world testing with a hot-side thermostat in a cold-side application I found the primary drawback was the way it handled changing conditions. You could see a nice stable temp cruising down the freeway but as soon as you exited and started slowing down to a stop the temp would immediately spike up and it took a little time for it to re-stabilize and cool back down." ========================================================= I never dreamed that thermostats could so technical.

Did they arrive?

They have them in stock?

Now I am confused what to do do you know someone in the midwest that has one or do you have one?

Want to thank everyone for their thoughts on this . I have decided to go with a 170* Reische Performance Thermostat . Just ordered one and will be returning the EvenFlo 160*. I feel that 160* might be a bit low, my car is not a rece car and it needs to work under all conditions . I don't want to worry or swap it out if I go to the up to the snow in the winter to play .

Sorry, I thought because you are a Moderator at a all Ford site that you worked for Ford and were a Ford Guru.

A TStat will not make any more power at all. The TStat is a power enhancer letting the engine make more power naturally. If when driving with the stock TStat and it is wide open all the time then the system it is doing everything it can to cool. A lower TStat will do nothing but have longer warm up time. If the radiator has the capacity to lower the overall temp then a lower TStat can have benefits by reducing Knock, providing more consistent HP and the ability to run increased timing. More timing = more HP. In a tuned car driving it hard through mountain canyons especially in a hot climate like So Cal keeping everything cool is paramount. Perhaps I will go with a 170* unit and leave it at that as 160* does seem to be at the low extreme to me, and to low can have some adverse affects. It is about balance with a street car.

As I understand, by having a higher T-stat temp emissions can be cut, fuel economy can be increased and the heater will work just fine when it is negative 15* or less outside. Having a cooler T-stat will save parts as heat is the enemy and the motor can make more power, but at the expense of economy.