Question for Superchips - Mike T.
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From: Pepperell, Ma.
Question for Superchips - Mike T.
Mike,
We've passed a couple of messages before, but just to set the stage; I have a 2000 F-250 w/ a 5.4. One of the bits of information I've read about the newer (00 and up) 5.4's, and one of the reasons they went up to 260 horses, was Ford's use of a dual stage (runner) intake manifold - long runners for low RPM and short runners for high RPM. My questions is whether the butterfly valves that control the runner length is controlled by the EEC, and if so, does Superchips tweak the timing of the runner gate?
For general info - here's a nice article I found on the 5.4:
5.4 Triton - 10 Best List
We've passed a couple of messages before, but just to set the stage; I have a 2000 F-250 w/ a 5.4. One of the bits of information I've read about the newer (00 and up) 5.4's, and one of the reasons they went up to 260 horses, was Ford's use of a dual stage (runner) intake manifold - long runners for low RPM and short runners for high RPM. My questions is whether the butterfly valves that control the runner length is controlled by the EEC, and if so, does Superchips tweak the timing of the runner gate?
For general info - here's a nice article I found on the 5.4:
5.4 Triton - 10 Best List
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From: Virginia
Hi dtyo,
Actually, that didn't start in 2000, the 260 hp 5.4 motor with the new "PI" (power improved) cylinder heads & a couple other changes debuted for the 1999 model year, starting with the first production run in August of 1998. That is when they went from their previous rating of 235 hp to it's new & current rating of 260 hp.
The use of computer-controlled multi-stage intake runner systems is nothing new for Ford, they've had that on a number of vehicles for almost a decade now. Any of the DOHC 4.6 or DOHC 5.4 motors in the Lincolns, Mustang Cobras, Navigators, etc., as well as the V-6 Probe, Taurus SHO's, and a number of others have that feature. It tends to be seen on overhead cam engines, whose natural tendency is to make their power higher up in the rpm range, so those are the engines that can really benefit most from the multi-stage runner systems, and that's primarily where we see this used.
To answer your question, yes, in each of those applications that uses the IMRC or otherwise-denoted computer controlled multi-stage runner systems, those intake runner changeover points are optimized where need be. In the DOHC motors they all need to be brought in sooner and over a longer duration to smooth out torque and horsepwoer delivery, raising lower rpm torque a bit and in the case of some of these vehicles, curing driveability issues, like the early SHO's. When those early SHO's change over to the short straight runners, there is an obvious dip in torque and it really hampers road course driving, exiting turns, etc., and that is fixed by the Superchip In fact, Gary Morrell, Senior Test Engineer for Ford Microelectronics, was a very early endorser of the Superchip for the Taurus SHO, & he did some testing & evaluation of that application. He's well known in SHO circles, & that optimization of the changeover was one of the things he liked best about that Superchip application, as he does (or did) a fair amount of road-course driving with his own SHO.
In the F-150's, that transition is actually very good already from the factory, and there isn't a noticeable "dip" in torque at that changeover point like you have in the Lincoln Mark 8's, Cobra DOHC 4.6's and the early SHO's, etc. By the time they incorporated that into these Triton motors, Ford had already had years of experience under their belts with those changovers, and so the F-150's implementation reflects that. Most of them need no changes, a few get a small adjustment.
If you'd like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a shout, our contact info is just below for your convenience.
Good luck with your truck!
Actually, that didn't start in 2000, the 260 hp 5.4 motor with the new "PI" (power improved) cylinder heads & a couple other changes debuted for the 1999 model year, starting with the first production run in August of 1998. That is when they went from their previous rating of 235 hp to it's new & current rating of 260 hp.
The use of computer-controlled multi-stage intake runner systems is nothing new for Ford, they've had that on a number of vehicles for almost a decade now. Any of the DOHC 4.6 or DOHC 5.4 motors in the Lincolns, Mustang Cobras, Navigators, etc., as well as the V-6 Probe, Taurus SHO's, and a number of others have that feature. It tends to be seen on overhead cam engines, whose natural tendency is to make their power higher up in the rpm range, so those are the engines that can really benefit most from the multi-stage runner systems, and that's primarily where we see this used.
To answer your question, yes, in each of those applications that uses the IMRC or otherwise-denoted computer controlled multi-stage runner systems, those intake runner changeover points are optimized where need be. In the DOHC motors they all need to be brought in sooner and over a longer duration to smooth out torque and horsepwoer delivery, raising lower rpm torque a bit and in the case of some of these vehicles, curing driveability issues, like the early SHO's. When those early SHO's change over to the short straight runners, there is an obvious dip in torque and it really hampers road course driving, exiting turns, etc., and that is fixed by the Superchip In fact, Gary Morrell, Senior Test Engineer for Ford Microelectronics, was a very early endorser of the Superchip for the Taurus SHO, & he did some testing & evaluation of that application. He's well known in SHO circles, & that optimization of the changeover was one of the things he liked best about that Superchip application, as he does (or did) a fair amount of road-course driving with his own SHO.
In the F-150's, that transition is actually very good already from the factory, and there isn't a noticeable "dip" in torque at that changeover point like you have in the Lincoln Mark 8's, Cobra DOHC 4.6's and the early SHO's, etc. By the time they incorporated that into these Triton motors, Ford had already had years of experience under their belts with those changovers, and so the F-150's implementation reflects that. Most of them need no changes, a few get a small adjustment.
If you'd like to go over this in more detail, please feel free to give us a shout, our contact info is just below for your convenience.
Good luck with your truck!
