Sorry to take past the holidays to get back to you guys! It got a little hectic at the shop for various reasons. But we do appreciate all the kind words from you guys up to this point! That being said, let's address this comment:
Dynoing through the AWD T-case or not, which doesn't rob THAT much power, low 300's at the wheels for HP and TQ is disappointing considering the depth of the project. You must be running single digit spark timing advance and an extremely fat WOT AFR with such low numbers. I understand that the truck isn't meant to be some sort of full on dragracing vehicle but that is EXTREMELY ultra-conservative considering that the stock 4.6 3v bottom end can take an additional 75-100rwhp all day long. To do justice to the fabrication that this project required I suggest turning the wick up a bit.
To answer your first couple assumptions regarding the tune, we're in the double digits for timing, and high 11's for the AFR. The tune would take further advances in timing, but during road tests it would occasionally start to pull timing again.
While we do appreciate the kind words about the fabrication, we feel the power is at a point where it's safe and reliable as a DD, and we're saying this as the people who created the kit from scratch and sat with it on the dyno and the road with our laptop.
First, the power may actually be higher than the dyno shows, since Dyno Dynamics dynos tend to read on the lower end of the scale. However, dynamometer theory discussions can go on for days, so I won't get too far into it. Some people just choose to eschew dyno results completely, and we can't blame 'em -- not only are they different from brand to brand, but tuners also have methods of tweaking the systems to make it look like vehicles are producing more power than they actually are. Evidence of its speed on the track is a different story, but we can't attest as to whether the owner will put his grocery getter on the strip for some numbers.
We DID increase timing and boost to where the Explorer was producing ~360 whp (7 psi), but that's when the known unknown came into play regarding the safe functionality of the vehicle -- the transmission. At 360 whp (7 psi), the transmission began acting up. There would be a long pause of confusion in-between shifts, followed by a nice strong thud as the TCM finally figured out what was happening. That's not exactly something we were comfortable in giving back to the owner.
And sadly, SCT told us the TCM is still off limits for tuning/tweaking, as SCT have yet to come up with a solution to allow that. They told us going into the build that the trans may exhibit issues as power rose well above OEM levels, but we didn't experience one bit of that finicky b.s. until we cranked the power up to 360whp or so. Whether it's isolated to just Scott's Explorer's transmission remains to be seen, but any more power than we currently have on there will risk grenading the transmission, judging by how it responds to even just 7 psi.
You seem to have a lot of knowledge of both tuning and expected power gains for blown Ford motors. Do you happen to own a shop? Merely curious.
