2016 sport/platinum economy/performance tune questions

[bschmidt10]

Hey guys, I'm new to the site and really looking forward to where this adventure will take me

I just ordered my 2016 platinum explorer with the turbo 3.5 and can't wait for it to get here. Downsizing from an Excursion with a v10 that I've had for the last 10 years. She was starting to nickel and dime me and it was time to move on.

Couple tuning questions I wanted to throw out there.

1. I do a lot of distance traveling for my daughter for soccer (she has a game 3 hours away this sunday) so I was looking for a tune that would give the most fuel efficiency as possible, or is the stock tune pretty much the best you can do? (highly unlikely with soft shifts etc). I like to have the power on a day to day basis, but if theres anyway to squeeze a couple mpg's out of the engine when I travel, I'm all for it.

2. I know it is rated for 5,000lbs towing, but I'm sure most of that is based on the hp/torque numbers, and not the actual tongue weight on the back end (which you can always balance within the trailer anyway) What would be a good estimate on towing capacity with a good tow tune set up? I pull my dads trailer with his hurst challenger in it that weighs a little over 6000lbs and would like to continue to do that without having to rent a truck to do so.

3. And of course I want it to have a sports tune as well, gotta have some fun on a friday night!

I'm looking for a tuner that would offer me those tunes if possible, with a stock tune in it for when I take it back to the dealer.

thanks for any help and I'm looking forward to making my explorer a true sport utility vehicle!

 

[613GT500]

Forget about fuel mileage, as the weight to fuel capacity is laughable.

 

[jApOrMs]

I wouldn't think towing capacity would change with a tune. Maybe I'm wrong. [MENTION=234035]Livernois[/MENTION]?

 

[1995E]

The tow rating for the 3.5L NA and the. 3.5L ecoboost in this car is the same. 5,000 pounds and that is more structural than anything else. I'm sure you can tow more but you wouldn't want to risk blowing a part.

As for fuel economy. I've found it a lot more efficient for me to cruise at 60MPH in my Explorer. I get above rating at around 25-26. That's at 300 feet altitude.

In my dad's 2014 F150 supercrew with the 3.5L Ecoboost, I got 14 mpg highway at 75 - 85 miles an hour... At 60, I got around 19 - 20. I try it at 60 miles an hour. Then try 70.

 

[Livernois]

1995E is correct!

Our tuning would raise the towing capability. However, the platform is based upon that of a car so that capacity is going to be and stay relatively low for safety.

MPG gains vary, but are reported to be between 2-4MPG using premium. The reason why you want to use premium for best efficiency gains is that it burns slower and more cleanly. Thus, making more power but also better efficiency.

Here is the info on our 2016 XSport tuner:
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=432377
https://www.livernoismotorsports.com/product/LPP631131

 

[bschmidt10]

that makes sense on the towing, wonder how much work would have to be done to get it comfortably to the towing capacity I would need structurally.....
Maybe I'll look into a f-150 when my wifes focus lease is up that she took over from her mother in law.

So that basically leaves me with 3 needs then, stock tune, power tune, and a fuel efficiency tune.

I know with the 93, it will burn slower, giving you better efficiency and power etc. but will the offset in efficiency counteract the additional cost of 93 over 87 octane?
Basically at times I need to get 400-600 miles in a weekend for the least amount of money as possible.

Right now I have a fusion that we use that I'm getting 34-36 on the highway with (not bad for a non hybrid), and realize with the explorer that I won't get near that, and I'm at a point in my life I can afford the additional cost, I just want to squeeze out of it what I can. We chose to upgrade for a more comfortable vehicle with the kids getting bigger, and the fusion is ok for the long hauls driving wise, but the more refreshed, and least beat down I can stay behind the wheel, the better.

Thought just crept into my head, would you also be able to create a tune that would be the most efficient for around town driving. Basically my setup would be:

-stock setup to take to the dealership

-keep it in efficient around town tune (tighter shifts etc for less loss of efficiency through drivetrain, different shift points at pulling away from lights, different fuel curve for pulling away from lights up to 50 mph

-dowload the long distance efficiency tune for when I go away for long drives (tune that creates the most efficiency at 55-75mph in top gear

-drop some higher octane gas in it (if I don't get more efficiency cost wise out of 93 already with the other tunes), download the performance tune, and go have some fun

 

[613GT500]

that makes sense on the towing, wonder how much work would have to be done to get it comfortably to the towing capacity I would need structurally.....
Maybe I'll look into a f-150 when my wifes focus lease is up that she took over from her mother in law.

So that basically leaves me with 3 needs then, stock tune, power tune, and a fuel efficiency tune.

I know with the 93, it will burn slower, giving you better efficiency and power etc. but will the offset in efficiency counteract the additional cost of 93 over 87 octane?
Basically at times I need to get 400-600 miles in a weekend for the least amount of money as possible.

Right now I have a fusion that we use that I'm getting 34-36 on the highway with (not bad for a non hybrid), and realize with the explorer that I won't get near that, and I'm at a point in my life I can afford the additional cost, I just want to squeeze out of it what I can. We chose to upgrade for a more comfortable vehicle with the kids getting bigger, and the fusion is ok for the long hauls driving wise, but the more refreshed, and least beat down I can stay behind the wheel, the better.

Thought just crept into my head, would you also be able to create a tune that would be the most efficient for around town driving. Basically my setup would be:

-stock setup to take to the dealership

-keep it in efficient around town tune (tighter shifts etc for less loss of efficiency through drivetrain, different shift points at pulling away from lights, different fuel curve for pulling away from lights up to 50 mph

-dowload the long distance efficiency tune for when I go away for long drives (tune that creates the most efficiency at 55-75mph in top gear

-drop some higher octane gas in it (if I don't get more efficiency cost wise out of 93 already with the other tunes), download the performance tune, and go have some fun

You mentioned you can't afford the additional cost of premium fuel, so an upfront cost of a few thousand dollars to tune the vehicle isn't economically sound either.
I don't think you will see any payback from the tune for many years to come.
Just drive as is and enjoy the darn vehicle, as everything you listed comes down to money.

 

[bschmidt10]

You mentioned you can't afford the additional cost of premium fuel, so an upfront cost of a few thousand dollars to tune the vehicle isn't economically sound either.
I don't think you will see any payback from the tune for many years to come.
Just drive as is and enjoy the darn vehicle, as everything you listed comes down to money.

I'm not saying I can't afford 93, I'm saying that what is the point of having a fuel efficiency tune if it costs you more to get from point A to point B because of having to use a higher octane fuel. As far as efficiency goes, besides being able to travel farther on a tank of gas, the main underlying factor of efficiency is cost.

If tune wise it only makes sense to run 93 for efficiency, then it would make sense to keep the stock tune with 87 and put 93 in it when I put the performance tune in. If the efficiency tune with 93 can offset the cost of having to switch tunes back and forth, then it makes sense to just run 93. If you can have a tune that runs 87 that gives more efficiency, that's the best case scenario. I'm buying the tuner anyway for performance, I might as well get as much bang that I can out of it

 

[Livernois]

I get what you are trying to say B. Honestly you will see an overall gain of 2-4MPG from our 93 tuning. That is honestly the best that I have ever heard of on any forum post tuning. The best efficiency is always going to be from 93...that is on the stock file or otherwise. Usually, the gain in efficiency is going to overcome the cost for the better fueling. Trying to tackle this using your strategy is going to yield lower gains. The reason for that is that in order to go from an 87 tune or the stock tune running 87 takes 1-2 tanks of 93 BEFORE loading a 93 tune. The biggest factor in fuel economy is your right foot.

 

[bschmidt10]

I get what you are trying to say B. Honestly you will see an overall gain of 2-4MPG from our 93 tuning. That is honestly the best that I have ever heard of on any forum post tuning. The best efficiency is always going to be from 93...that is on the stock file or otherwise. Usually, the gain in efficiency is going to overcome the cost for the better fueling. Trying to tackle this using your strategy is going to yield lower gains. The reason for that is that in order to go from an 87 tune or the stock tune running 87 takes 1-2 tanks of 93 BEFORE loading a 93 tune. The biggest factor in fuel economy is your right foot.

Thanks for the input, that makes a lot of sense. Is the reason to run the 93 before the tune to clear the lines of 87 to make sure the whole system is on 93?

Just a note, I did the math, gas here is $.45 more per gallon from 87 to 93. I left things simple, if you would average 20 mpg at $2 a gallon it would cost you $100 every 1000 miles driven. If you would put 93 in it at $2.45 a gallon it would cost you $122.50

With the tune that has to run on 93, if you would gain 2mpg it would cost you $111.38 per 1000 miles, and with a 4mpg increase it would cost you $102.09.

So in the end of it all for me, if I was going to put a performance tuner on the explorer it would end up costing me about $160 a year to do so going off of 16000 miles a year and assuming i'll get toward the 2mpg more so with local driving (significantly less cost if I can get it up near the 4mpg difference). That comes out to less than $.50 a day to have a custom tune in your explorer whenever you want to go play. Thats going by all these current mpg and fuel cost options in place (currently cost of fuel is less)

For those that are looking to put a performance tune on your vehicle, looking into having an efficiency option if it is your daily driver and you don't want to have that performance all the time, in my case with these cost scenarios it would save me about $200 a year, and when I want to go beat some fancier emblemed vehicles off a stop light in a vehicle that they think could never hang, it only takes a few minutes to do so.

Am I off the wall with all this? It all started with the fact that I would love to have a performance tuner on my vehicle (used to have my 88 gta firebird tuned for a supercharger etc), but also realized that at times I will be driving my daughter 600 miles in a weekend for soccer about 10 times a year. Fuel costs rack up pretty quickly making trips like that.

 

[Odrapnew]

bschmidt10 - FYI, I have a stock 14 Sport and have ran both 87 and 93 in my vehicle. The efficiency increase going from 87 to 93 is easily offset by the cost increase. What I mean is that I may have seen a 0.5-1mpg gain(~5%) with the 93, but 93 costs about 20% more(as you indicated), so dollar for dollar, the 87 is more economical.

The 93 does pull harder when you get on it though and I bet Livernois has been able to optimize the tune when "putting" around, so I can believe their 2-4mpg increase.

Livernois, do you see a similar mpg gain with your 87 tune as well?

 

[bschmidt10]

That's interesting.

Livernois, was your 2-4mpg gains going from 87 stock to 93 with the tune, or is it going from 93 stock to 93 tuned?

With that .5-1mpg increase from 87 to 93, and then the 2-4 on top of that, you could completely offset the cost

 

[Livernois]

Apples to apples.

I have a rather light foot when just DD. All of the tuned vehicles that I own, run 93 performance tuning, and I see even better gains than that I noted. The gains that I referenced are the average of what gets reported back to us.

The best efficiency saver is going to be staying out of the boost range. Like I said initially, your right foot is the biggest variable in the equation.

 

[BlackJac]

Apples to apples.

I have a rather light foot when just DD. All of the tuned vehicles that I own, run 93 performance tuning, and I see even better gains than that I noted. The gains that I referenced are the average of what gets reported back to us.

The best efficiency saver is going to be staying out of the boost range. Like I said initially, your right foot is the biggest variable in the equation.

Yeah, just forget fuel efficiency... with it tuned you're gunna to be on the throttle. 18-19 mpg. Good luck though. lol

 

[stever40]

My Platinum is stock and I am getting 19-19.5. Just be prepared to stop at the gas station rather frequently. I'm just wish they had a bigger tank with this mileage.

 

[bschmidt10]

Thanks Livernois, I'm not to worried about daily driving, and getting on it here and there will put a smile on my face, I was more worried about the long hauls that I'll be taking to keep the efficiency up. I'm pretty good at keeping the throttle down and keeping it smooth, my wife says I drive like a grandpa more often than I'd like to hear. Glad to see you can squeeze more out of it if you're careful. Looking forward to seeing what I can do with it. My 6-8 week build time should put me into the middle of april somewhere, so I'll come knocking sometime shortly after I figure out all the gadgets.

The last 2 vehicles I've owned/still own are a v10 Excursion that gets 14-16 mpg on the highway and 11-12 daily driving, and a 96 f-250 with a 460 big block in it that averaged 6-8mpg. Even with big tanks they didn't pass many gas stations.

I figure if I can get the 420 miles to my uncles in NC with one stop that I usually take anyway, I'm good to go.

 

[Barry Trobaugh]

I am enjoying the '18 Platinum and of course the Ecoboost.

But.......more power is always better.

So, has anyone done a tune and actually seen a benefit? I read where the Eco in the F150 is tunable with success but never reading about our "slightly different" Eco. Transverse, smaller wheels and 3 lbs less boost would certainly hamper making serious additional HP in our Explorers.

Any experiences or thoughts?

Thanks ahead

 

[613GT500]

I am enjoying the '18 Platinum and of course the Ecoboost.

But.......more power is always better.

So, has anyone done a tune and actually seen a benefit? I read where the Eco in the F150 is tunable with success but never reading about our "slightly different" Eco. Transverse, smaller wheels and 3 lbs less boost would certainly hamper making serious additional HP in our Explorers.

Any experiences or thoughts?

Thanks ahead

Check out Livernois, they specialized with Ecoboost and some of the dyno tests I watched, showed very impressive gains with 93 octane.

 

[peterk9]

^^ Your thread was merged with this one. FYI, there are a multitude of threads in this sub-forum on tuning. You can find them using the 'Search' feature in the upper right. Some have actual graphs of what the tune has done for them. Here are ywo more of the many threads; Sport EcoBoost 3.5L Tuning and Best tuner for Explorer Sport?

Peter