Hello Mike,

First off I’d like to give you the “stats” on my truck. Then tell you my driving experiences, needs, and wants for my truck. My hope is to have your expert opinion if I should pursue these modifications or maybe vary the solutions for each. Either or all of these would be a very significant investment for me and with your guidance I think I could have a very good investment in my vehicle.

VehicleStats:
2005 / Ford F150 / Lariat / Supercrew / 3.73 LS / 4WD / fully loaded

I’ve been following XCal1 and XCal2 for months, and I mean this literally, I’ve been watching this since May when I bought the truck. I have a series of questions for you regarding XCal, AF1, and Magnaflow exhaust; my top 3 favorite modifications.

Driving “Pattern”:
I live in Minnesota (very cold, so I don’t know if that makes a difference. My normal commute is very diverse. I have an apartment downtown, so I have a lot of city driving. But then again I do a majority of highway driving to/from work and then out to the parent’s house in the country. I cherish the very quiet ride I have from the stock form of our trucks, and the fact that I put dynamat in the doors and carpet padding which virtually eliminated all road noise from my cab (minus wind noise). When accelerating I usually give it gas till about 3000 – 3500 RPMs, not babying it, but not ******* it.

I’m used to driving my last car which was an Infiniti. I liked it a lot because it paired muscle car abilities and sounds with a very refined sense of luxury. Basically, I want to try and achieve this with my F150. I’d really like to give my F150 a sportier, yet luxury feel to the driving experience. Out of all these mods I don’t want to lose any gas mileage, no matter what, only gain gas mileage if possible.

*More to Come

 

Modification Item 1: XCal 2

Unfortunately, in my area premium fuel is roughly $.30 more than 87 or 89 octane. I’ve read about the significant gains (I believe Marc Carpenter made 30-40HP on the premium towing tune or something like that), but what are the gains with an 87 performance tune? I wouldn’t mind having a premium tune, but wouldn’t want to run that all the time until I have more cash to spend on gas. I go through a tank of gas in a week and a half, so that’s .30*26 gallons per fill up = $7.8*3 weeks = $23.4*12 mths = $280 per year that I don’t have to put towards gas just yet.

I seldom tow anything; in fact I don’t anticipate towing something until this time next year. Thus I wouldn’t have the greatest need for a towing tune, and if I needed to tow something I could always just switch it back to the stock tune…correct?

I wouldn’t mind a sportier feel to my shifting, but definitely don’t want my shifts to be obtrusive to the driving experience. I’m just looking for more “umph” out of truck, more responsiveness from the throttle, increased passing power, and acceleration. Not too much to ask for right? Haha

Modification Item 2: AF1

Well if you’ve at all followed the enormous string of threads regarding this product (I’m sure you’ve heard it all, so I’ll spare you). I had a setup similar to this on my Infiniti; it was an open cone filter. I distinctly remember the “grunt” that you get when you initially punch it and I loved it. I just don’t want to hear it through the span 3000-3500 RPMs when I’m accelerating, just fine at the beginning but not so much during acceleration. Is the AF1 not for me then? I’m also concerned with the fit and finish of the AF1, and the discrepancies between two types of tubes and having to modify for the MAF sensor. Are these occurrences the significant minority or could you address this for me?

Modification Item 3: Magnaflow Exhaust SIDO or SISO?

I’d like to start off by saying the stock exhaust looks puny. I really like the look of dual exhaust. My Infiniti had dual exhaust and when really giving it gas (floor it and such) you could hear it slightly in the cab and it kept quiet during normal acceleration. Can I achieve this with the SIDO or SISO by Magnaflow?

I have a lot of highway driving at 75MPH and wouldn’t mind an increase in sound from the exhaust over its current completely silent stock form. However, I just don’t want it to sound too loud. Too loud to me would be to either hear it over the radio turned on low or a general conversation, in which you can distinctly pick out the sound. I don’t mind the exhaust sound however when I floor it to achieve the sound. Complimenting my highway driving is a lot of normal driving in which I accelerate from a stop and have RPMs around 3000 until I achieve my desired speed. Would a SIDO be extremely noticeable at that time?

I’m not crazy about the tip of the SISO magnaflow as you can see the other pipe inside of it, and I just like the sportier look of the SIDO more, that is why I’m leaning towards the SIDO more.


I greatly appreciate any feedback you can provide regarding the above. Thank you very much for your time and consideration regarding my vehicle. As you know, you come highly recommended and I look forward to conducting my business with individuals who value customer service as much as I do in my business.

Thank you,

F150 Duke

 

Thanks for your post - these are really things you really need to call us about, as the majority of this has nothing to do with the topic of this section of the boards - and it takes far too long to type it all out in detail as well. So I'll go over a few things with you here briefly, & then you can call us for further details, OK? Thanks!

Briefly.......

1.) The gains from our tuning for 87 octane in the 5.4 3V run about 25 HP.

2.) Any low-restriction intake is going to give a little bit more noise when accelerating at full-throttle at any rpm, and on any vehicle. The Air Force One is the best and the quietest in this regard, by far, and I do not see that as being an issue in these smooth & quiet vehicles. All the other intake kits are significantly louder, especially on part-throttle where you do 99% of your driving, where you want what is called "intake moan" the least - so I heartily recommend the AF1.

3.) Personally, the last thing I would worry about is the extra pipe that is recessed back inside the tip - not only is it recessed to that you would have to bend down and stare directly down inside the tip (which nobody is going to do, realistically) to even be able to see it, but once it's been on the vehicle for a week or two you won't notice it anyway due to the deposits from spent exhaust gases that you will never keep out of the interior of any exhaust pipe. That is there to *protect* your investment, so that the beautiful shiny polished stainless steel tip lasts much longer, to protect it from direct exposure to the heat of the spent exhaust gases, and subjects it to far less thermal expansion & contraction - which decreases the rate at which polished metals take on a patina. It's an enhancement that *every* exhaust system should have, and all that do not will not last as long. Magnaflow is to be complemented on using that design - but that's just my opinion.

I hope that info helps, & feel free to call us for any details, etc.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Mike!

Yeah I'll be calling this week to iron out the other details and questions. Thanks again for taking the time to read my very lenghty and admitingly wrongly posted post.

Thanks again,

F150 Duke

 

I think the X2 is worth it even at normal octane gas...it's worth it to have the throttle response, better idle, better start, and all that IMO. As far as the exhaust, I have the SISO with the "double pipe" and it does look a little funky, but so what...I'm not back staring at my dirty exhaust pipe when I drive I'll tell you this, the MagnaFlow SISO I have is pretty nice...very, very quiet at idle/very low rpms, but once you start to get on it, it's there enough to notice and make ya smile. Then again, I came from a Mustang with side exhaust welded to the subframe, so everything is quiet to me now

 

Yeah, I'm really stuck between SIDO and SISO (OEM Style). I think I really need to ride in someone's truck who has one or the other. I'm just jaded after riding in a friends single cab Chevy with flowmaster SIDO. That was way too loud for my tastes in a vehicle thats a daily driver and not a muscle car.

Anyone in the minneapolis, minnesota area willing to help me out on this one?

As for the Xcal2 gains on low octane gas (20HP), you definitely have to feel that. That combined with Magnaflow and AF1 would have me keeping up with that Titan I test drove before buying the F150. I love my F150 but dang that Titan halled and I mean halled ****.

 

Hi;

Titan specs:

" 5,552 cc 5.6 liters V 8 front engine with 98 mm bore, 92 mm stroke, 9.8 compression ratio, double overhead cam and four valves per cylinder VK56DE
- Unleaded fuel 87
- Fuel economy EPA highway (mpg): 19 and EPA city (mpg): 14
- Multi-point injection fuel system
- 28 gallon main unleaded fuel tank
- Power: 227 kW , 305 HP SAE @ 4,900 rpm; 379 ft lb , 514 Nm @ 3,600 rpm"
- Weights: gross vehicle weight rating (lbs) 6,486, curb weight (lbs) 5,013, gross trailer weight braked (lbs) 7,200 and max payload (lbs) 1,640 "

From C&D:

"There are four key components in a truck's utility index—power-to-weight ratio, cargo capacity, gross vehicle weight rating, and towing capability—and the Titan measures up well in all, particularly in the area of sheer muscle. As a newcomer, Nissan couldn't offer the multiplicity of powertrain choices common to Yankee pickups and had to settle on one combination: a five-speed automatic mated with a 5.6-liter DOHC 32-valve V-8—just one offering, but a potent one. With 305 horsepower and 379 pound-feet of torque, the Titan's V-8 is a very robust motivator. At 5394 pounds, our Titan was 271 pounds lighter than our long-term Dodge Ram Quad Cab (C/D, June 2003), and a similar Titan was second-lightest (120 pounds heavier than a Toyota Tundra) in last year's crew-cab comparo ("Four-Door Pickups," C/D, February 2004)—in which the Titan prevailed. At 7.6 seconds to 60 mph, that Titan was quickest in its test group, and our long-term tester was even quicker: 0 to 60 in 7.3 seconds when new, and 7.2 seconds after 40,000 miles."

... gonna take some serious mods to offset the higher horsepower/torque and lower weight of the Titan. But, it can be done. The Titan is butt-ugly too.

Cheers
Grog

 

Oh I don't debate it's uglyness. Just can't disagree that once you've ridden in one that they a lot of get up and go.

 

Roger that.

Just be glad there's no "Stage 5" kit for the Titan yet

Cheers
Grog the Happy Slave

 

i am an ugly butt and my ppl and i take offense to that comment. those trucks look a lot better in the commercials....with all the strobe lights and smoke machines obscuring the hideous design cues. i'd rather drive something that is heavy and underpowered then something that is a rollling eye sore

 

Roger that too!

Hey, with a name like 'Grog', how ugly do y'all think I am, Zombie?

Cheers
'Like Putting Lipstick on a Pig'

 

well i don't want to make a rush to judgement but i have yet to meet an attractive looking cro-magnon. but since we're on the topic of ugly grills.....have you seen that Nissan Titan lately? haha if they develop a "Stage V" package for that truck it better include 10 yards of brown paper and a roll of 2" masking tape to cover up all the major body panels eegad...

 

so waite, just wondering, what would it take to beat, or at least, stay next to a nissan titan, or dodge hemi (both 4 door) and excal2, af1, exhaust? or will that just not cut it. i know those things are darn fast, i almost baught one, but settled on the ford because of the higher payload capacity, and the fact that my girlfriend said, "hey i could drive that" there just isnt room for that in my truck, sorry. Also...its just a nissan

 

Hi Bofer;

Some folks here have claimed Hemi & Titan 'kills' with similar mods.

Some other folks are running lighter configs of the platform and have posted really amazing numbers, NA. 'Hellbound' is such an example:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=189779


So, yeah, with Mike's expert help and some time & money invested by you in the appropriate mods, it's do-able.

Cheers
Vic