I posted this to the Expedition board too. I figured the F-150 crowd would enjoy some performance numbers from the F-150's extremely heavy brother, the Expedition.

I had a chance to do some G-Tech Pro runs with my 1998 2wd Expedition 5.4 to get 0-60, 1/4 mile, and Horsepower data. The G-Tech Pro is an accelerometer based, automotive performance meter. It plugs into the cigarette lighter and measures: 0 -60 & 1/4 times, G-Force, Braking and Horsepower. For more info on the G-Tech pro go here: http://www.gtechpro.com/

My Expedition:
1998 Eddie Bauer 2wd
5.4
3.73 LS axle
Rear Air Suspension
Superchip
WMS Velocity Tube/ Paper filter
Magnaflow 3" Cat-Back SUV exhaust system http://www.magnaflow.com/parts/ford/s15608.htm
275/70/16 Bridgestone HT tires
weight - 5360 lbs without driver/5600lbs with driver (hey, I'm 6 foot 8 , I'm allowed to be 240!) - weighed at new local digital scale(includes full tank-30 gallons of gas, third seat, baby seat and stroller)

Conditions:
elevation-1270 feet, 70 degrees, no wind, a 1/2 mile stretch of extremely flat (times were nearly identical run in each direction), deserted, smooth road in an industrial complex

Results of 12 runs, averaged by category:

0-60mph
8.79 seconds

1/4 mile
16.95 @ 84.3 mph

Horsepower
225 HP

I then corrected the numbers for elevation and G-Tech's stated variance in each test ( http://www.gtechpro.com/accu.html ) G-Tech provides error data for each test, like +/- 3hp varience for the HP test, so I added time for error on 0-60 and ET and subtracted for MPH and HP to be on the conservative side.


Corrected numbers:

0-60
8.76 seconds

1/4 mile
16.8 @ 84.6 (probably 82mph on a real track)

Horsepower:
227 HP
estimated 282 HP / 380 TQ at the crank

I used 19.6% as drivetrain loss (seems to be average drivetrain loss after searching through dozens of posts on dynoing F-150/ Expys).

That is nice improvement over Motor Trend's April 1997 test of a 1997 Expedition XLT 230 HP/325 TQ 5.4 4wd of 0-60 in 9.8 and a 1/4 mile of 17.3 @ 77.6mph.

I know up front that the data from a G-Tech has error, and it's not a $139 chassis dyno or day at the track, but I have seen folks in my other car club who have had chances to use it at the track and compare it to dyno numbers seem to agree that it is fairly accurate-especially for the money.

I just had a lot of fun doing it, and am pleased to get an estimated 52 horsepower gain for $590. That's only $11.35 per HP- an unbelievable bargain compared to the $69 per HP gain on my 93 Taurus SHO! The intake, exhaust and chip seem to be a great upgrade trio for the Expy. I love my Expy!

------------------
1998 Expy EB
5.4, 2WD, 3.73LS
Magnaflow cat-back
WMS Velocity Tube
Superchip
275/70/16 Bridgestone HT's

[This message has been edited by svosho (edited 04-19-2000).]

[This message has been edited by svosho (edited 01-11-2001).]

 

Dear svosho,

Thanks very much for that informative and helpful post!

A lot of good information there, including your noting that for $139, the G-Tech isn't a chassis dyno. As long as you pay careful attention to it's mounting and leveling, you can get fairly decent data from it under the right circumstances, so for $139, it's a nice piece that can give you helpful data on how effective some of the mods can be. I have complained about them in the past, but we've found that it gets down to just how carefully it's mounted usually. For an affordable single-accelerometer based unit, it can do a good job.

And being able to add horsepower at a cost of roughly $11.35 apiece is a *great* bargain, no matter how you cut it.

This seems to reinforce what we've found, in terms of the best bang-for-the-buck mods to do on these late-model computer controlled vehicles. Optimize the programming, and reduce restriction on both the intake and the exhaust; those 3 areas give the best gains and work together to compliment each other very nicely.

Nice post, congrats on your results!

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Online Superchip ordering system:https://www.f150online.com/scpp/index.html