Performance Mods That Actually Work?

[fit1446]

ok

Edited February 9, 2016 by fit1446

[akirby]

There wouldn't be recalls because these aren't really safety related (not by NHTSA standards at least). What you're really asking is why Ford didn't extend the factory warranty on these parts. I think they should have, and Ford does this for some parts but not for these. Obviously either they don't think it's a big enough problem or they simply don't want to cover the costs.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Practicality & economy = corporate foundation. They move along the average of a curve that meets their goals. The bean counters will say "No need for that additional screw if it really can be done without. You just saved XXXXXXX amount of dollars." The point being that the vehicle is basically built to be ABLE to perform, but not necessarily optimally as delivered to the consumer. So they put in Motorcraft oil, but people will tell you a hiqual full synth (hint, not Motorcraft) will do the engine that much better, improving power delivery AND mpg (though maybe not a lot of mpg, some).

 

So we should give our forum members some leeway to make their statements, if they are only stating their own observations. For sure, no one wants other forum members to be "misled", I get that, but they have to make up their own minds all by themselves. In this case, a harmless mod. No big deal. It's better to look for ways to prove/disprove the statement, an approach of being curious, IMHO, than stating something as an outright fact that is 100% of the time.

[akirby]

I have a problem when people make anecdotal claims that are contradicted by actual scientific testing and a basic understanding of how a modern engine works.

 

I apologize for being so sarcastic but this comes up again and again and it's tiring.

 

No harm in reporting a mpg increase after a filter change, just don't try to tie the two directly together without some type of scientific testing to back it up.

[enigma-2]

It makes just as much sense as gaining 3 mpg from one K&N filter.

Oh now, now, now. I replaced my cabin air filter last month and, I swear, I'm getting 2 miles more per gallon.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Didn't your doctor say you have to quit drinking, tho???

Oh now, now, now. I replaced my cabin air filter last month and, I swear, I'm getting 2 miles more per gallon.

[Waldo]

I did wash my car two weeks ago and since then my MPG has actually gone up quite a bit. Oh BTW, I washed my car because the bad weather had passed and it was going to be warmer for a couple weeks. Which of those two do you think was responsible for my MPG change?

[fit1446]

i seriously doubt you ever wash your car waldo..that would require movement away from the computer....its all in the delivery. present your point (evn if you know the other person may be wrong or maybe not seing the bigger picture) in a way that people will respond with a posotive learning experience.. of course if you respond to me with a comment that comes out making me sound like a dumbass then absolutely im going to react in a way to protect myself..luckily we are only typing on a computer and my frustration can only be sent through words on a screen. but my point is..if you look at someone that maybe doesnt know as much as you about a certain subject,try bringing up with a bit of humility rather than your little group of funny jokes that may make any other person leave with a feeling of negativity...after all,why are you on this forum? is it to boost your ego and belittle the less knowledgable? or is it to share your knowledge (whatever it may be) in a way that helps someone to learn and not be afraid to ask a question that they feel is stupid but in turn they leave feeling great because you didnt make them feel like an idiot.... and then continue still with a bunch of sarcastic comments again that do nothing more than boost your ego..think about it..why else would you post a comment "i washed my car last week and my gas milage got better" other than to basically say hey look at me guys i said something funny about another persons incorrect statement.. since i have been in this forum i honestly found one person that literally brings no ego to the table and i have literally gained so much information and knowledge about a car..a stupid ass car. but more impoortantly i see the way he talks to people and how they respond after he gives them another way of looking at something or the correct information without the stupid little remarks. i know i just typed all of this for nothing,and you are sitting there saying "wow this guy is an idiot" but honestly i dont care what you think about me..i was incorrect in my statement about the gas mileage. i dont have a problem admitting when im wrong..i can walk away from this silly little thread with once again more knowledge than i had before..what did you guys get out of it? more ego? i think ill take the first one and move on .

[WingNut]

I think fit is kind of upset?

[fit1446]

I think fit is kind of upset?

I'm over it. Just want people to think about how they get their point across. If I'm wrong I'll admit it. But if you try and make me feel stupid with smartass remarks and lame jokes I'm gonna fight back. It's human nature to be wrong, how you present your point determines if people grow and learn or if they become unwilling to ask . Do you think I am the first person in this forum to post an incorrect statement? And out of all of them how many were made to feel less than and never posted again? We are all here to trade knowledge not egos . Anyway I apologized to the ones I needed too and I'm passed it .

[Lifeisabeach]

Howdy all. New (to me!) Edge owner and forum member. I was going to post a new thread, but it's relevant enough here. I have a 2010 Edge Sport, just picked up this weekend, and though I'm still getting used to it, I feel it could use a little performance boost. I've read a few discussions here about cat-back exhaust systems and I have used one myself... I used to have a 2000 Explorer Sport with a Borla cat-back that I had installed, and it made a tremendous difference in performance. My only beef with that was an uncomfortably-high pitch at a certain RPM range (I forget what, but it's at the high end before the next gear would kick it). It was suggested to me back then that it may not have been installed properly, which is possible (long story, but the shop that installed it did a sloppy job). That said, I'm hesitant to do a full cat-back partly due to the cost, but also because I don't want to risk having a similar problem with high pitch like before. So I'm considering a simple performance muffler swap-out. I don't expect I'd see the equivalent performance boost to a full cat-back, but that's OK. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with that route? Thanks.

[akirby]

Ford's factory exhaust is pretty good these days. I wouldn't expect more than a few hp gain from a full cat-back and probably less from just a muffler. You can change the sound though.

 

If you want a power boost the best bet is a 93 octane tune.

[WingNut]

I'm over it. Just want people to think about how they get their point across. If I'm wrong I'll admit it. But if you try and make me feel stupid with smartass remarks and lame jokes I'm gonna fight back. It's human nature to be wrong, how you present your point determines if people grow and learn or if they become unwilling to ask . Do you think I am the first person in this forum to post an incorrect statement? And out of all of them how many were made to feel less than and never posted again? We are all here to trade knowledge not egos . Anyway I apologized to the ones I needed too and I'm passed it .

 

If you were actually over it you wouldn't have posted nothing more than your first sentence. Learn to control your emotions on the internet.

[Lifeisabeach]

Ford's factory exhaust is pretty good these days. I wouldn't expect more than a few hp gain from a full cat-back and probably less from just a muffler. You can change the sound though.

 

If you want a power boost the best bet is a 93 octane tune.

 

 

Thanks for the input. It seems everything I read on here regarding cat-backs was about changing the sound and not much of anything about performance, so that would explain that. I wouldn't mind a "little" bit more sound so maybe I will consider a muffler swap-out. It seems Magnaflow is the way to go without having the sound being too high pitched, from what I can gather.

 

As for the octane tuning, I haven't done that before and it's been a long time since I last read about it. Does that still involve swapping out a computer module in the engine compartment, or is it all adjusted with a tuning computer now? Any quick tips on this? I'll do a forum search on it when I get a chance later. Thanks.

[akirby]

It's all done with a flasher now such as a SCT. You can get tunes from various sources. The 93 octane tunes will advance the timing as much as possible. That's about the only reliable way of getting more power and even then I think it's only going to be 20-25 hp or so. Lots of post about tuners and tunes - use the search bar in the upper right.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Whoa, if people can be jerks and keep needling others in their posts, then people can get as emotional as they want. All fit was looking to do was share his experience and he got taken to task for it. Wow, score one for open-mindedness, two for friendliness!

If you were actually over it you wouldn't have posted nothing more than your first sentence. Learn to control your emotions on the internet.

[akirby]

A little sarcasm is no excuse for a profanity laced personal attack and I've already discussed that privately.

 

So let's all just let it go and move on.

[Lifeisabeach]

It's all done with a flasher now such as a SCT. You can get tunes from various sources. The 93 octane tunes will advance the timing as much as possible. That's about the only reliable way of getting more power and even then I think it's only going to be 20-25 hp or so. Lots of post about tuners and tunes - use the search bar in the upper right.

Roger that. The more I drive it, the less I think I need a performance boost. Driving it around today, it felt a lot more responsive than my initial impressions driving it this past weekend when I picked it up. I could simply be getting adjusted to it; it to me; or maybe the previous owner was using some cheap gunky gas and I've gotten it out of the system (500+ mile drive from where I picked it up).

 

Side note: I just discovered today that one of the side mirrors has the wrong color cover on it.... it should be black to match the car, but it's actually a deep burgundy. It's so close that you wouldn't notice it on a casual look over. I did a double-take when I did notice it and kept walking back and forth between sides trying to figure out if it was my imagination. Nope.... neighbor confirmed it when I asked him to look at them without me prompting him on what I thought. Feh.

[Wesley]

To add my two cents worth on the cold air intake kit. My 2008 Edge Limited with 145,000 miles has been relatively trouble free with the exception of the transmission speed sensor failure and a brake booster way too early in its life. A set of cooling fans this past summer and that rounds out my problems.

 

I have never been a fan of the brakes as they leave my confidence hanging out the window during a hard stop. Performance pads helped quite a bit but the pedal is not as firm as I would like. I might try stainless flex lines.

 

Back to the air intake. I ordered a kit online and put it on around mid Nov. Easy install with only a minor amount of trimming. All 3" aluminum tubing with nice radius bends, plus a 3" K&N style clone filter. Over the next 3 months and plenty of mixed driving showed no MPG improvement, and may have actually decreased a bit. The basic feel wasnt much different, only the sound. One thing I did notice was a flat spot or bog on mid-throttle depression. It almost felt like a disconnect between the throttle and response. Last week I replaced the air intake kit assembly with the original. The bog went away and I immediately picked up 1 mpg, back to 21.7 mixed driving. My engineering mind told me that there was probably an airflow issue around the mass air flow sensor.

 

My opinion of the air intake kit was not to bother. These engines are pretty well optimized as they are, as mentioned in previous posts. I love my Edge and will hate it when I have to replace it, but when I do, it'll most likely be another Edge.

[David W. Hayes]

New to the forum, keeping on topic :

 

I'd like to know if anything else has been done for performance aside from the CAI, tuner and exhaust. I have a K&N CAI that I put on, was hoping for better gas, but I love the sound it makes when putting my foot down. Feels a lot perkier than it did with original. I like the exhaust sound from stock, has a little growl to her when I start her up.

 

Would hate to buy a tuner (though from my experience a tuner with the CAI can do wonders) for $350 or more... looking more for any ideas that I can do in the garage myself that cost a LOT less LOL...

[akirby]

If you want more performance the tuner is really the only viable option. And you'll have to run 93 octane for max power from the tune.

[luminator]

As with any performance gains are only seen by the ability to add more fuel and air to the system while keeping the mixture at the correct level. So a CAI may remove restrictions in a poorly designed system(examples are a lot of the early 90's vehicles that sucked air through a 2 inch by 1/2 inch snorkel hole) and then allow for more air and therefore more fuel to be added but in newer vehicles they are usually designed with efficiency in mind which means a clean air track is best with only a silencer to keep it quieter. So when adding a CAI it is more the sound that makes it feel faster as you are getting the nice sound. Prime example is the vehicle i was comparison shopping against the edge, the GLA 45 AMG. I test drove 2 of them one with the performance exhaust(a 500 dollar addon that literally just removed one of the 2 silencers in the exhaust track) and one without. When tested at the track they run 0-60 and 1/4 within points of second of each other but seat of the pants the performance exhaust felt faster because the growly, popping exhaust note that was intoxicating.

[fit1446]

If your looking to add performance and worried about gas mileage then your only option is a tuner. I run 91 octane as 93 is hard to come by. I have literally every mod you can think of on my edge aside from changing displacement or ignition. I installed nitrous as well (running 100 shot ) on a single nozzle efi system. I have a cai but mine is modyfied to actually draw cold air , not air from the engine compartment. I honestly think everyone is entitled to his/her opinion on any mod. Just depends on what you expect from it. I personally believe and is my personal experience that the cai set up I have created a small flat spot at mid throttle but at wot when the bottle is spraying I have much better flow of air and at a colder temp than the factory set up. But again, I'm not looking at fuel as I only drive my edge in town and the occasional trip up north. But I have the ability to return my vehicle to stock, turn off the sprint booster and shut the nitrous off.

[fit1446]

I will add that the tuner does not decrease fuel mileage. It should actually stay consistent or even improve some. The tuner adjusts shift pressures and speeds. I have a wideband o2 sensor and gauge so I do have air fuel ratio adjustments made in my tune but the factory setup does not allow readings to know where you are in a precise measurement for air fuel ratio. So if your looking for the most effective mod it's going to be a tuner. Unleashedtuning.com Torrie will provide the best customer service imo to help you maximize your edges potential. And if you have a 15 or newer sport then your hp gain will be extremely worth the money

[fit1446]

 

fuel solenoid fixed. just tire spin all through 3rd. looks like im shopping for some nitto 555.... Obviously the bottle is close to empty

Edited April 8, 2016 by fit1446