[GreenDiesel]

We have had the test truck for a week now. It seems very well built as viewed from underneath. Ford used nice hardware on this application and gave some thought to service ability. It has had a dpf regen once every 100-150 miles thus far and the soot model displays some strange behavior. We see a lot of room for improving fuel economy. Full load shift points are at 3500 rpm, yet the redline for downshifting on hill descents is 4500. It could benefit from transmission tuning to up the shift points to 4000-4200 at full load.

The engine is very quiet compared to the ecodiesel. The start/stop feature is very evident when it engages/disengages, not very fond of it. Ford has a good cooling system design on first look. They have a vistronic mechanical fan and also a good sized electric puller fan for better AC function in hot weather city driving. The fan should is good and drops down to incorporate the low mount charge air cooler. They have full shutters on eh front to block air flow for fuel economy when engaged. We will be testing this truck in altitude at some point this fall.

There is some evident turbo lag when pulling out in traffic and requires some driving adjustments. The trans shift harshness is not best in class for sure. We expected more out of this 10 speed in that regard. It does skip shift based on speed/load and some times runs through all the gears sequentially. It will take a bit to optimize this trans as there is a lot of functionality built in.

This will be a very successful truck if they do not run into major warranty issues.

 

[FordTuff]

Thank you for sharing your early impressions of the truck so far. Early figures for the fuel economy have seemed to fall a little short, unless of course you have an interest in the base model. You guys plan on releasing any videos of performance tests?

 

[apex17]

Thanks for the update. Why do you think it is in regen so often?

Do you flash/tune the engine and trans together or separate?

Since Ford has drive modes, Normal, Sport, Eco... what is the tuning strategy? Will you create tunes for each of these separately, or just tune the normal drive mode?

Software wise will it be easy to tune, its not locked up like GM's L5P correct?

 

[GreenDiesel]

Thanks for the update. Why do you think it is in regen so often?

Do you flash/tune the engine and trans together or separate?

Since Ford has drive modes, Normal, Sport, Eco... what is the tuning strategy? Will you create tunes for each of these separately, or just tune the normal drive mode?

Software wise will it be easy to tune, its not locked up like GM's L5P correct?

engine and trans are separate modules and will have unique tunes. We will be tuning all the shift modes as they all seem to be a bit lacking as far a shift point go and how the skip shift works. The modules are able to be tuned, not locked like the L5P.

 

[fharrison]

Any updates you can provide on how the testing is going? I like your insight into how this engine is performing. First and only mod to my diesel will be your tune.

 

[GreenDiesel]

Any updates you can provide on how the testing is going? I like your insight into how this engine is performing. First and only mod to my diesel will be your tune.

Nothing to update at this point. We are going through the software now to isolate the important maps, labels and curves. Once that is completed, then the tuning will commence. It took a couple months to have our flash tool supplier update their communication protocols to read/write the ecm. This is now completed, so we will have a low cost tool to deliver the tune once it is fully developed.

 

[DangerRanger]

Any updates? I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a 2018 lariat and after having a diesel tuned by you guys I wouldn't want another without it

 

[wreedsvt]

Mine has been great so far too!