New member, just purchased

[Skywalkerlt5]

Well just purchased a 17 sport. Wanted some thing that could tow and also had some reasonable get up and go. Hope I made the right choice. A GM guy and rear drive believer so hope I don't regret this. Certainly better looking than anything GM had to offer. Certainly hope the "intelligent AWD is seemless in operation. Is there a preferred traction/terrain mode you guys use for dry roads/spirited driving? Does a cold air intake make any improvement in power or fuel efficiency ? Picking it up mid week. So far the only thing I have to adjust to will be the wimpy tachometer.

 

[613GT500]

Well just purchased a 17 sport. Wanted some thing that could tow and also had some reasonable get up and go. Hope I made the right choice. A GM guy and rear drive believer so hope I don't regret this. Certainly better looking than anything GM had to offer. Certainly hope the "intelligent AWD is seemless in operation. Is there a preferred traction/terrain mode you guys use for dry roads/spirited driving? Does a cold air intake make any improvement in power or fuel efficiency ? Picking it up mid week. So far the only thing I have to adjust to will be the wimpy tachometer.

Instead of installing an intake that will get you 0 gains (without a tune), I recommend an oil catch can.

I just completed my fall maintenance (after oil change) inspecting the engine area (check hoses and wires etc...), cleaning it up, along with the removal of the intake box, piping and intercooler piping and found oil sluge in and around the pipe openings.

If you plan to keep this vehicle for a long time, I would forgo mods that does absolutely nothing for the vehicle and concentrate on preventative maintenance.

 

[bigdude2468]

Well just purchased a 17 sport. Wanted some thing that could tow and also had some reasonable get up and go. Hope I made the right choice. A GM guy and rear drive believer so hope I don't regret this. Certainly better looking than anything GM had to offer. Certainly hope the "intelligent AWD is seemless in operation. Is there a preferred traction/terrain mode you guys use for dry roads/spirited driving? Does a cold air intake make any improvement in power or fuel efficiency ? Picking it up mid week. So far the only thing I have to adjust to will be the wimpy tachometer.

I don believe there is a specific terrain management function for "spirited driving". This is not a sports car that you can select different handling and or driving modes. A cold air intake will not improve gas mileage. Performance yes but sucking denser colder air requires the MAF sensor to increase fuel flow. Improved performance / HP is achieved by adding more fuel. Have not had any incidence on this forum of engine failures other than a few water pumps that went out and took an engine with it. The water pump failures are extremely low when considering there are millions of 3.5 liter engines, NA & Turbo's on the road. Have never seen any complaints about sludge. Good quality oil changed at the oil life monitor recommendation or maybe twice a year if you don't hit the OLM interval is good. Cars prior to having computer controlled operating systems dumped large quantities of fuel into the oil when cold and did a piss poor job of controlling fuel the rest of the time. Vehicles run at much lower RPM's with six and even more speed transmissions. OHC engines develop more torque and run cooler than our dads cars. Oil is many times better that 30 years ago and synthetic oil filters, Fram Ultra for example last longer and filter better. There is not any research that can prove even a 5000 oil change interval will result in longer engine life than the vehicle manufacturers recommendation. The only long term study I know of was by Consumer Reports several years ago on NYC Taxi Cabs. Their conclusion after millions of miles using short intervals versus manufactures recommended intervals found no difference. They tore the engines down and inspected for sludge, varnish and took precise engine measurements and found both groups were still in tolerance. They also used a variety of different brand motor oils, including regular and synthetics and found no difference.

 

[peterk9]

Well just purchased a 17 sport. Wanted some thing that could tow and also had some reasonable get up and go. Hope I made the right choice. A GM guy and rear drive believer so hope I don't regret this. Certainly better looking than anything GM had to offer. Certainly hope the "intelligent AWD is seemless in operation. Is there a preferred traction/terrain mode you guys use for dry roads/spirited driving? Does a cold air intake make any improvement in power or fuel efficiency ? Picking it up mid week. So far the only thing I have to adjust to will be the wimpy tachometer.

Congratulations on the new vehicle Rob. There are several threads discussing the CAI in the 'Modified' sub forum that you can find using the Forum's 'Search' feature (upper right of page). The Manual will explain which Terrain Mode settings can be used for certain conditions. You can check out or download a PDF Manual from this site for your vehicle. I have them saved to my computer which makes locating info much easier using the 'find' command.
https://owner.ford.com/tools/account/how-tos/owner-manuals.html

Peter