Why Double The Power of The SVTP F-350? : Because Race Truck? http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...uble-power-svtp-f-350-because-race-truck.htmlhttp://www.svtperformance.com/forum...uble-power-svtp-f-350-because-race-truck.htmlhttp://www.svtperformance.com/forum...uble-power-svtp-f-350-because-race-truck.htmlhttp://www.svtperformance.com/forum...uble-power-svtp-f-350-because-race-truck.html
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PowerStroke Diesel, the name itself just exudes testosterone. That has been the name of Ford’s turbo diesel engines for well over a decade. Unfortunately, over the past several years that name has been somewhat tarnished by the reputation of the 6.0L and 6.4L turbo V8s. In fact, due in large part to the number of warranty claims from the 6.0L Powerstroke Ford decided to move away from the International sourced engines it had used for over two decades. As a result we now have the all new Ford built and developed 6.7L Powerstroke V8. However, has the 6.4L been branded as a “bad” engine unfairly? I believe so.
The SVTP tow vehicle, a 2009 F-350, is equipped with the 6.4L diesel. In the 15,000 miles of ownership we have only had two substantial complaints with the truck, both of which are common among 6.4L owners, perceived turbo lag and poor fuel economy. Practically every owner of a stock 2008-2009 Super Duty diesel can attest to the existence of the annoyances. Both issues can be traced back to one thing, the stricter Federal emissions regulations (focused mainly on NOx soot levels) that became active in 2007.
Those standards necessitated the use of a diesel particulate filter (“DPF”) to capture the black soot produced by diesel engines. The DPF can best be thought of as a large porous ceramic block where the pores are large enough to allow the passage of exhaust gasses but small enough to trap and hold soot particles. Once the DPF reaches a predetermined level of contained soot the ECU will trigger an active regeneration process (“Regen”). During the Regen process diesel fuel is injected into the cylinder on the exhaust stroke and forced into the exhaust system where it burns off the trapped soot. This process has several drawbacks, including increased fuel consumption and highly elevated exhaust gas temperatures (“EGTs”). Neither of those two byproducts are the least bit welcomed to diesel truck owners.
The above mention of turbo lag isn't really turbo lag at all. It is merely a delay built in into the fuel tables in the truck’s tune. The powertrain engineers did this in order to reduce soot production. Soot production is the result of incomplete combustion of the fuel being fed to the engine. By delaying the introduction of a large amount of fuel into an engine that is not under boost the engineers were able to avoid an overly rich condition on throttle tip-in that would lead to incomplete combustion and soot production. Cutting down on the amount of soot produced helps prolong the life of the emissions equipment on the truck and improve its emission performance, but in this case it comes at the price of noticeable amount of lag for the driver to have to deal with.
So with the issues of lousy fuel mileage, high EGTs, and unrelenting soul crushing off idle lag firmly implanted in the forefront of my mind I began to look for a solution. Such a solution was found in fairly short order. Interestingly enough, it appears that a 6.4L Powerstroke equipped Super Duty is akin to a Terminator in there’s a set of simple mods that can take the truck from mild to wild faster than a Dodge truck will eat its tranny. Instead of a pulley, CAI, and tune equaling warp speed as with the Cobra, the formula for the F-350 was CAI, tune, and a DPF deleting exhaust. These three simple parts have the ability to turn your truck into a completely different animal.
Once we figured out what combo we needed to get the results we were after we set out to find the best parts for the job. That search brought us to two companies Innovative Diesel and Lethal Performance. Eric at Innovative Diesel provided us with an SCT Livewire loaded with 4 of his custom engine tunes and 4 transmission tunes.
Power tunes:
Xtreme Race - 325+rwhp
Xtreme Street - 285rwhp
Street - 215rwhp
Tow - 80rwhp
Trans tunes:
Dyno Lock - Dyno mode only
Soft Shifts - Tow or Street smooth shifting
Firm Shifts - Firmer reliable shifting for any tunes
Race Shifts - converter locking in lower gears for any tunes
For the Duty’s CAI and exhaust we contacted Lethal Performance and they hooked us up aFe’s latest designs, the Stage 2 Si intake and the Mach Force XP down-pipe back exhaust. In typical Lethal fashion the customer service was second to none and the parts arrived much quicker than expected.
With the parts in hand we headed over to Amazon Tuning Solutions in Anderson, SC (now Mooresville, NC) to do the installs and test everything’s effectiveness on their in house Mustang Dynamometer. Over the years we have gone to Amazon many times when doing builds, testing performance, or needed custom tuning. However, since we were working with a diesel powered truck this time and the chances were pretty high that we would fill his shop with black smoke, Rick insisted that we pipe the spent exhaust gases outside. That seemed like a reasonable request to us.
The first order of business was to load the 8,000 pound beast on to the rollers of Amazon’s dyno for a few baseline runs. In order to keep the power change figures as accurate and repeatable as possible we decided to make each run at full operating temperature because that temperate should be pretty much the same on every run. Usually when operators are trying to get big power numbers out of a car they will run it with lower engine coolant temperatures and other factory that do not simulate normal driving conditions. While such tricks do help increase peak power, those are not the numbers we are after. Our first run yielded 244 RWHP and 400 RWTQ for the completely stock truck.
With those baseline numbers in hand it was time to start bolting on some mods. The first parts to be replaced were the factory intake system. The stock unit is a well designed piece, but like most factory parts its design has to give way to certain NVH and manufacturing constraints. Its replacement, the aFe Stage 2 Si from Lethal Performance, eliminates such compromises in favor of substantially increased air flow.
Anyone that has installed an aftermarket intake on a 6.4L Powerstroke equipped truck can tell you that the install can be difficult due to the lack of space to work in and the tight quarters the system has to fit into. Unfortunately, this first run aFe intake suffered from several fitment issues. First, the spacing for the threaded inserts in the intake elbow for the MAF sensor hold-down bolts did not correspond to the spacing of the holes on the MAF sensor itself. This required us to oval out the holes on the MAF with a small file so it could be mounted to the intake elbow.
The second issue was with the airbox portion of the aFe kit. The opening for the incoming air simply would not all the box to be fitted correctly in the engine bay. Some trimming was required to get it to sit in its proper location.
The final issue with the aFe system was with the metal air intake guide that fits over one of the batteries. It would simply not properly fit with the rest of the cold air intake.
The aFe intake was packaged well.
The stock intake system is package pretty tightly under the F-350's hood.
If you're going to do much work under the hood of Super Duty you'll have to get used to standing on the bumper (unless you're 7 feet tall). Just be careful to not put a knee through the intercooler.
The stock intake comes out of the truck fairly easily.
It looks like we may need to fab up an oil separator, but other than a little oil the compressor wheel looks good.
We'll be deleting a lot of the components you see in this pic at a later date.
The MAF has to be transferred from the stock intake elbow to the aFe one.
Unfortunately, the mounting holes on the aFe intake did not match up with the ones on the MAF. This forced us to do some filing of the holes to allow everything to fit.
The is the top (lid) portion of the new airbox. It's a very well built piece.
This is the bottom side of the lid. Here you can see where the air filter mounts.
The aFe Pro-Guard filter installed on the lid
We eventually got the MAF bolted to the aFe elbow.
The aFe elbow compared to the stock one.
We installed a pre-filter for a little added turbo protection.
With the lid and filter assembly bolted to the lower box and the elbow installed, we attempted to place the completed airbox into its place.
It didn't fit at all.....,
even with lots of persuasion.
Like so many of our projects, we eventually broke out the sawzall and started trimming.
And we kept trimming.
And we finally got enough material removed to get the airbox to bolt into place.
Here is the aFe intake mostly installed. After some cutting an trimming it fits in place. Unfortunately, it's missing an important piece.
This scoop, designed to draw in cool outside air and direct it to the airbox, will simply not bolt into place. It just doesn't fit.
However, aFe is well aware of all of these issues and has reworked many of the components of the kit. The redesigned kit is supposed to fit perfectly and has been on the market for some time now, so if you purchase one you should be getting the updated version. We have a new one to install and try out. Expect to see our results here in the next couple months.
The stock intake system is package pretty tightly under the F-350's hood.
If you're going to do much work under the hood of Super Duty you'll have to get used to standing on the bumper (unless you're 7 feet tall). Just be careful to not put a knee through the intercooler.
The stock intake comes out of the truck fairly easily.
It looks like we may need to fab up an oil separator, but other than a little oil the compressor wheel looks good.
We'll be deleting a lot of the components you see in this pic at a later date.
The MAF has to be transferred from the stock intake elbow to the aFe one.
Unfortunately, the mounting holes on the aFe intake did not match up with the ones on the MAF. This forced us to do some filing of the holes to allow everything to fit.
The is the top (lid) portion of the new airbox. It's a very well built piece.
This is the bottom side of the lid. Here you can see where the air filter mounts.
The aFe Pro-Guard filter installed on the lid
We eventually got the MAF bolted to the aFe elbow.
The aFe elbow compared to the stock one.
We installed a pre-filter for a little added turbo protection.
With the lid and filter assembly bolted to the lower box and the elbow installed, we attempted to place the completed airbox into its place.
It didn't fit at all.....,
even with lots of persuasion.
Like so many of our projects, we eventually broke out the sawzall and started trimming.
And we kept trimming.
And we finally got enough material removed to get the airbox to bolt into place.
Here is the aFe intake mostly installed. After some cutting an trimming it fits in place. Unfortunately, it's missing an important piece.
This scoop, designed to draw in cool outside air and direct it to the airbox, will simply not bolt into place. It just doesn't fit.
However, aFe is well aware of all of these issues and has reworked many of the components of the kit. The redesigned kit is supposed to fit perfectly and has been on the market for some time now, so if you purchase one you should be getting the updated version. We have a new one to install and try out. Expect to see our results here in the next couple months.
After taking nearly 3 hours to install the ill fitting aFe intake we were once again ready to hit the rollers once again. We did not alter anything else with the truck. The only modification was the addition of the aFe cold air intake. With just the intake system install the truck produced 240 RWHP and 405 RWTQ.
This is our baseline compared with the addition of the aFe CAI on an otherwise stock truck. The intake produced a very modest, if any at all, increase in power by itself.
After that rather disappointing, practically non-existent, gain in power it was time to start tackling the real issues holding the 6.4L back from making some real power. It was time to replace the restrictive exhaust system and install a hotter tune. We installed the aFe Mach Force XP down-pipe back exhaust. It’s fully stainless steel, four inches in diameter, and finished off with a polished double-walled five-inch diameter tip. It’s a very high quality piece and weights a good deal less than the emissions equipment filled stock system.
A big box of exhaust ready to install.
Would have been nice if UPS had been a bit more careful with the box, and if it had been packaged a little better.
The aFe down-pipe back part number we used.
Those are some beefy pipes.
We then removed the stock exhaust system in preparation to install our aFe downpipe back system. Here you can see the two side-by-side.
Installing the aftermarket system saves about 75 pounds.
Rather than attempt to remove the various fragile sensors from the stock exhaust we opted to just purchase new ones.
We slathered them with anti-seize before placing them in the new pipes.
We elected to hold off on installing the 5 inch polished double-wall exhaust tip. I prefer the simple look of just a plain pipe on what basically amounts to a tow vehicle.
It was then time to try out a few tunes, courtesy of Innovative Diesel Performance.
Would have been nice if UPS had been a bit more careful with the box, and if it had been packaged a little better.
The aFe down-pipe back part number we used.
Those are some beefy pipes.
We then removed the stock exhaust system in preparation to install our aFe downpipe back system. Here you can see the two side-by-side.
Installing the aftermarket system saves about 75 pounds.
Rather than attempt to remove the various fragile sensors from the stock exhaust we opted to just purchase new ones.
We slathered them with anti-seize before placing them in the new pipes.
We elected to hold off on installing the 5 inch polished double-wall exhaust tip. I prefer the simple look of just a plain pipe on what basically amounts to a tow vehicle.
It was then time to try out a few tunes, courtesy of Innovative Diesel Performance.
With the new exhaust installed we were once again ready to dyno the truck and see the changes. Retuning the truck is a requirement when running a DPF deleting exhaust such as this one. We tried all four tunes in order from the lowest power setting to the highest. Each increase in power came with a corresponding increase in black smoke production. Check out the dyno sheet for yourself:
With the intake and exhaust on the truck we could then start trying out our IDP tunes. The Tow Tune cranked out 337 RWHP and 570 RWTQ, an increase over of 93 RWHP and 170 RWTQ over our baseline. That should really help get a trailer moving.
The 2nd power lever, the "Street Tune", belted out 395.4 RWHP and 662.1 RWTQ.
The Extreme Street Tune powered its way to 479 RWHP and 850 RWTQ.
When set to kill the "Extreme Race Tune" numbers come out to a mind blowing 503 RWHP and 958 RWTQ, at less than 3,000 RPMs. When launched in 4WD that much torque will rearrange your internal organs.
The 2nd power lever, the "Street Tune", belted out 395.4 RWHP and 662.1 RWTQ.
The Extreme Street Tune powered its way to 479 RWHP and 850 RWTQ.
When set to kill the "Extreme Race Tune" numbers come out to a mind blowing 503 RWHP and 958 RWTQ, at less than 3,000 RPMs. When launched in 4WD that much torque will rearrange your internal organs.
After seeing the incredible results that the Innovative Diesel tunes produced we were impressed, to say the least. On the street the SVTP F-350 felt like a completely different truck. The power can only be described as immense. When you have over 900 lb/ft of torque on tap it feels as if the truck could just as easily alter the rotation of the planet as it could send its tires up in smoke. When doing a boosted launch in 4x4 mode the four-ton truck plants you in your seat like nothing else.
But ludicrous levels of power aren’t the only benefit to be had from this round of mods. One of the most instantly noticeable changes to anyone with much seat time in a 6.4L Powerstroke powered truck is the elimination of the excruciating lag Ford built into the factory tune. Many people confuse it for turbo lag, but it is actually a fueling strategy designed to reduce the amount of soot the engine produces and help extend the life of the DPF. All of Eric’s tunes completely remove this annoyance and make normal everyday driving much more pleasurable.
Lastly, on top of eliminating the engine stressing regeneration cycle we also received a significant increase in fuel mileage. Seriously lousy fuel economy is one of the hallmarks of the 6.4L Powerstroke. When I say lousy, I mean single digits easily when towing. Removing the DPF and disabling the fuel sucking regeneration process netted us about a 3mpg increase in a normal driving cycle and given us the ability to drive well over 400 miles on a single tank of No. 2 . That is a huge benefit on long road trips. Below are some before and after mileage numbers:
Stock:
13.7 MPG unloaded highway
9.2 MPG towing 9,000 lbs
After DPF delete, intake, and tune:
16.9 MPG unloaded highway
14.8 MPG unloaded city
12.9 MPG with empty trailer
11.0 MPG towing 9,000 lbs
After about 20 months of being installed the aFe exhaust is starting to show some surface rust. Yes, it is (supposedly) stainless steel, but it would certainly have been nice if they had used stainless band clamps, bungs, and other hardware. I'll be talking to aFe about this at SEMA later this year.
Note: aFe has responded to their intake fitment woes and has had a revised kit out for some time now. They sent us one of the revised units to replace our older (this install was performed nearly 2 years ago) intake. If you purchase one of these intakes now you will be getting one of the new ones. aFe's customer service was top notch during our entire ordeal. We are currently working on a second round of mods to the SVTP F-350, which will include the installation of the revised intake. That article will be posted right here on SVTP.
Special Thanks To:
Lethal Performance
aFe Power
Innovative Diesel Performance
Photos and Video by Rich5150
-SID297:beer:
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