T+ 5 days, 150 miles... Thoughts, Questions.

[DanG]

All:

I'm on my 5th day of 3L hybrid bliss... And I will have to admit to the class that I've been over 4k RPM, at just over half throttle. I just HAD to see what lurked on the other side of 3k, if not for a minute. :flushed:

The car pulls at even the slightest tap of the throttle, much more so than the 2.5. To be expected- A bump in displacement and compression has GOT to equal a torque number that the car's never seen.

However, I have a question regarding the fuel economy gauge. The SVT ECU should be separate and distinct from this meter, which I assume is some transform of time, speed, and fuel pressure/consumption. The cruising at 3k RPMs (for 2-3 minutes, then back down to 2.5k, and so on), the fuel indicator reads between 30 and 33MPG- Just where I'm used to seeing it. I reset it at speed, and it'll peg out at 45+. Now here's the trick- If I put even 1/4 throttle to it, the damn thing drops almost instantly to 9MPG or less... Excessive, if the thing's even still accurate.

But the accuracy is backed up by the fact that, 150 miles into the tank, I'm already below 1/2 tank. This will not fly.

So, is the answer to spend another $250+ on an S-AFC and get my ass on the dyno? She sure doesn't SMELL rich, but what the hell could be guzzling fuel like this?

Other notes: Idle is slightly rough @ 720RPMs (according to diag mode), but applying any throttle smooths the engine out to warm butter. It was like that above 4k, too- I could barely tell the engine was running, as it was smooooooth.

The Borla is almost on the verge of being too loud- So, when I get rid of it in favor of the 3" cat, 3" muffler, and 2.5" exhaust, what in the HELL type of muffler do I use to make it as quiet as possible? A no-name cheap-o from Advance? Seems any performance muffler will deafen me.

Thanks in advance.

[Blackcoog]

Since you have almost everything I have exactly I would recommend a S-AFC. It was running lean down low and rich up high although the graphs I posted were with the S-AFC tuned so you can't tell up top that it was running rich.

The MPG computer is completely off now in my car. I'm not sure how it was calcutated before but it is always lower now than it actually is. I calculate it by hand now on every tank to keep an eye on everything. I've been getting about 19-22mpg with about half city and half highway but I get on it really good one or two times a day on one of my favorite on ramps. :)

My idle jumps from about 720 to about 750 every so often but seems to idle fairly well.

I'm also not sure what exhaust to go with because my Borla is a bit louder then I would like. I have no cats on it right now with MSDS headers. I kind of like the CTA 2.5 inch exhaust but I'm not sure if the magnaflow muffler will be quite enough. I was also looking at Yodudes 2.5'' with a borla muffler but no matter what it will be louder because it doesn't have resonators at the ends like our current borla does.

[DanG]

Are 2.5" canister resonators available from Borla to go on the Yo-Dude setup? I have a stainless Yo-dude that will be going on the car- I just need to make my muffler choice VERY carefully.

[Blackcoog]

It didn't sound like Yodude had any when I emailed him. I'd give borla a call and see if you can order some and have Yodude include them on your setup. Its going to be a pain in the ass to get that borla apart. I've pulled a few pipes apart and it takes forever if your careful.

[FastCougar]

Gas mileage: I wouldn't trust the trip gauge due to it's being adaptive. I have always calculated my gas mileage by calculator after getting home from getting gas. When I get in my car after getting gas, I write down my trip mileage on the gas receipt and then merely reset the trip computer. This is the most accurate way especially after changing stock components that will effect things like this (engine, injectors, ecu ...) That being said, I would definitely get that thing on a dyno after break-in to fine tune the A/F curves with either a custom chip or SAFC. Chances are you are running pig rich and you can't smell it because you are not behind yourself ... maybe get in a parking lot and go in circles :biggrin:

Exhaust: Current setup goes like this: Headers > Y-Pipe > Stock Cat > Borla resonator > Borla piping > Borla mini resonators & tips. Increasing the pipe diameter to 3" from the cat to a 2.5" cat-back will shift the tone more to the bass end of the spectrum and would require more baffling to subdue the effect. I would suggest the quietest muffler you can find in place of the Borla Resonator > YoDude piping > splice in 2 more "medium" resonators > YoDude tips ... resonated tips will be key to quieting things down.

[FastCougar]

Read this article concerning exhaust! (http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=0054&P=1)

[Kinger]

Your gas MPG readout will be different. Mine is 10 over now with 42's. Gas consupmtion of of 150 miles on a half tank doesn't seem to unreasonable. I get 350 miles on a GOOD tank. Let say you get 300 miles on 13 gals its still 23. Plus you can expect that to go up about 3-4 as the engine gets broke in and the EEC is corrected for the VE%, etc. You do plan on a chip from Kesyer don't you? You need to adjust the displacement variable and update some fuel/timing maps. This will also help boost fuel economy.
Otherwise it sounds like things are going as planned :)

[CougarGT]

My readout claims 29-32 MPG.
I get about 280-290 miles per tank, so
on average thats lower 20's.

I have almost 2000 miles on mine :).
Ford should have made the car this way!!!!

Fidanza + LSD + Centerforce = :biggrin:

2nd revision for my PCM is waiting. Should really run great this time around.

As far as the idle issues, mine stumbles everynow and then..........my fix for that
.......have Keyser raise the idle to 900 rpm :)

[FastCougar]

Yeah, but:

high idle + high gas cost for premium + 0 MPG during idle = wasted money :(

[Kinger]

Originally posted by: FastCougar
Yeah, but:

high idle + high gas cost for premium + 0 MPG during idle = wasted money :(

PLEASE we have over 10K in a engine mods, etc do I give a rip about the gas I use idling at a extra 150 rpm! You can't even tell its raised.

[CougarGT]

Originally posted by: FastCougar
Yeah, but:

high idle + high gas cost for premium + 0 MPG during idle = wasted money :(

Ya gotta pay to play :)

I'll use the extra cash from my recent raise to pay off the gass (and engine ;))

[warmonger]

So Dan, whats the deal?

Hows the car running and have you put it on the dyno yet?

[DanG]

No dyno yet- Are you kidding? There's only 700 miles on it! Waiting until at least 1000 miles, then when I hook the S-AFC up... THEN maybe.

She's runnin' rich, as I know- Idle's a little rough, but no CELs... Amazingly enough.

[warmonger]

No dyno yet????
lol
You must not like driving your car! I've put 3K on mine since May 23'rd. Of course thats with a trip to AZ and the dyno, 1000 miles or so each way.

[DanG]

Ummm.... The engine's been in the car for 2 weeks today- 680 miles and counting...

[gamiller]

c'mon... all those laps around the high school should have racked up a few miles by now! ;)

[PuckPuck]

does everyone get a slight lump in idle at 750?

mine will do it for about 10 secs then recover and be fine... about a minute later or so do it again for a few seconds then recover... etc... it's just kinda like if i had a mild cam in it to give it that lumpy sound...

think 900rpm would be the solution?

[Blackcoog]

Mine does jump up and down a little bit at idle. It idles around 720rpm +/- 30rpm and then some times jumps up to 800rpm and comes back down.

[warmonger]

Originally posted by: DanG
Ummm.... The engine's been in the car for 2 weeks today- 680 miles and counting...

SURELY you have dyno results by now?????

;)

[DanG]

Well, about 1100 miles on it now, it's in the shop getting the Visteon valance repaired (note to self- Cougar does not make a good snowplow) for CF. I may be persuaded to give her a run on the dyno at CF. But I have another problem with the S-AFCII LE... Of course the instructions are in Japanese, and I haven't a clue how to read it. I've posted in the Problems forum. Can anyone help out?

[Kinger]

Originally posted by: DanG
But I have another problem with the S-AFCII LE... Of course the instructions are in Japanese, and I haven't a clue how to read it. I've posted in the Problems forum. Can anyone help out?

Check your hotmail ;)