Realistically, what should I be prioritizing?

Akmoran428 · May 23, 2023

New ST owner here, and wanting to get a little more juice from the vehicle. What do you guys think I should be prioritizing in terms of mods? Things I know I want: intercooler upgrade, CAI, charge pipes, and exhaust.
What do you guys recommend for each of those? My wife drives the car too, so I also need it to be family friendly (and not terrify her to drive). TIA

UNBROKEN · May 23, 2023

Tune
Intercooler
CAI
Charge pipe and exhaust are low to no hp gains…they’re just there to make fun sounds.

zdubyadubya · May 23, 2023

What @UNBROKEN said. Bang for your buck--unless you want to start down a rabbit hole, all you really need in this vehicle is a tune (ZFG) and intercooler (Steeda or Whipple). Everything else beyond those two things are splitting hairs and the $/hp returns are real low. These two things alone will gain you almost +100hp over stock. At this point fueling is your limiting factor, not air. If you are after another +100hp jump then I would argue a HPFP and injectors should be your first purchase. Re-tune for the increased fuel flow, THEN start filling in the gaps with intake/exhaust/charge pipes while re-tuning after every mod to take advantage of the mods.

Blue Beast · May 23, 2023

Akmoran428 said:

New ST owner here, and wanting to get a little more juice from the vehicle. What do you guys think I should be prioritizing in terms of mods? Things I know I want: intercooler upgrade, CAI, charge pipes, and exhaust.
What do you guys recommend for each of those? My wife drives the car too, so I also need it to be family friendly (and not terrify her to drive). TIA

Welcome to the forum.

ARC · May 24, 2023

Welcome, great people on here! I really enjoy the forum.
To answer your question IMO and many others the tune and intercooler are almost all the gains for bolt-ons.
Fork over the money and get ZFG from the start!
I didn't know when I started and went with 5 star.
The 5 star tune helped, but it is nowhere near as good as ZFG!
I then went with Gear Head which has better shifts.
But in the end I feel that ZFG is where it's at!

ghost_ST · May 29, 2023

UNBROKEN said:

Thanks! that's what I needed to hear. How do I even start with a ZFG tune?

Cajun Heat · May 29, 2023

ghost_ST said:

I have a 93 tune from ZFG and it has woken up the ST. Start here. https://www.tunedbyzfgracing.com/product-page/2020-21-ford-explorer-3-0l-zfg-racing-custom-tune

ghost_ST · May 29, 2023

Cajun Heat said:

yup! I've been looking around the site. Still confused on what to purchase to make the tune possible.

Cajun Heat · May 29, 2023

ghost_ST said:

You will pick a device to be able to load a tune on it. I picked the ZFGR RTD dongle that plugs into the OBD-II port in the car and connects via bluetooth to your phone to load the tune. It comes with 4 credits that are needed so that Adam can dial in your tune. The tune you pick is based on how you will drive it. I picked the 93 tune because this is a daily driver and will not be tracking it.

I was a bit overwhelmed at first as this was my first time tuning a vehicle, but the instructions that come with the tune walk you through it.

R2D2 · May 30, 2023

I have a different question/concern.

Is there any side effects of the bigger intercoolers blocking a large part of radiator behind?

If I were dealer, trying to deny a powertrain related warranty claim, I could link the failure to the temperature related issues, caused by restricting the air flow to the radiator.

Since the swap to the factory is also not an easy process, this would be my primary concern.

Cajun Heat · May 30, 2023

R2D2 said:

I haven't had/heard of any overheating issues after an intercooler swap.

I'm sure that the dealership could hold it against if they were wanting to be jerks about a warranty claim related to overheating. Heck, I had BMW dealer try to deny warranty work on a bad engine harness because I put led bulbs in the halo lights.

sadams930 · May 30, 2023

zdubyadubya said:

I've had a few people tell me that if you are running 93 octane and not ethanol that the fuel system is capable of handling everything we can throw at it. I'm about to do the CR stage 5 turbos and I'm on 93 octane only and that was my first question was am I going to have to throw $3,000 in fuel system parts at this thing to make use of the new turbos and was told it wouldn't be necessary. Are you talking about ethanol builds, or do you think the fuel system won't be adequate on pump gas either?

zdubyadubya · Jun 1, 2023

sadams930 said:

As I understand it, when Adam (ZFG) and I discussed my goals when I started, the expense of the Stage 5 kit (or similar) wasn't worth the hp gains if you are limited to 93 octane fuel. Is an upgraded HPFP AND injectors necessary to take full advantage of the stock turbos--maybe not, i think just a HPFP gets you where you want to be to max out 93 octane--but i don't think anyone has tried upgrading turbos without upgrading fueling first yet. Since thermodynamics dictates that 600 crank hp is the theoretical limit of a 3.0L engine on 93 octane--I can achieve 550 easily on stock turbos. Is $3000+ worth 50 additional crank hp???

TMac · Jun 1, 2023

The only dyno I know of on the subject of the upgrade turbos on gasoline is Kruppa's build which can be read here.

You'll notice a dyno on 104 octane, (caution, no mention of any SAE correction) producing 550 lb/ft of torque and 560 HP. This was on stock fuel system. The fact is that on 93, I'd agree with @zdubyadubya as far as bang for the buck. This is where we have to look at torque, which is mean cylinder pressure and includes boost, temp, and VE. It's very unlikely to produce more than 500 lb/ft with this engine on 93. The larger turbos will result in higher HP numbers due to shifting the capacity to the right on the graph because of the less restrictive turbines, but he's right, maybe they are worth 50 HP on 93.
Now, if you raise the rev and shift limits, and use even larger turbo/turbos, you absolutely can make more HP, but study the various dyno charts on this site. Even the upgraded turbos are unable to keep up with mass airflow demands to support that level of torque/ cylinder pressure at over 4500RPM. That's basically the reason I don't think the upgrade turbos are worth the price.

If you have to run 93, there's only so much HP available. On the bright side, even at ~600 crank, you'll stomp 99% of cars out there!

BrooseDaMoose · Aug 20, 2023

I was looking at the kit to swap out the intake and hot side tubing but after reading this it doesn't sound like it's worth it. Sounds like I just need to swap the intercooler and add a CAI then get a tune. How important is adding a catch can?

TMac · Aug 20, 2023

BrooseDaMoose said:

Start with intercooler and ZFG tune. That alone will get you the best bang-for-the-buck.
A completely stock ST (no intercooler, no nothing!) with a custom ZFG tune put down 440WHP and 497 WTq on 93.

CareerFiremanGuy · Aug 20, 2023

Akmoran428 said:

If your concerned about trying to maintain your 3/36 warranty, the Ford Performance tune should be your #1 and only priority.

Then add the AWR diff brace (black color is more discreet/OEM looking). I think most dealers won't care about the install of a simple brace with a few bolts on it.

BrooseDaMoose · Aug 31, 2023

ghost_ST said:

Go with the Stage 1. You pick your tune, pick your intercooler and check out. Best bang for the buck IMO.

Balboni · Jun 1, 2024

If I get an intercooler and a tune, will I need a retune with downpipes and CAI etc

CoHPhasor · Jun 2, 2024

Tunes are just that, tuned for the best performqnce based on the vehicle's characteristics.
DPs, CAI, hot/cold charge pipes will change the profile.
It would of course be best to tune again later, depending on how much of a change you make.

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Realistically, what should I be prioritizing?

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