I have a 98 4.2l V6 with K/N air filter and Flo-Pro single in dual out exhaust.
Getting about 15 mpg...looking to get more power if I'm stuck with the gas mileage. Any suggestions/opinions......

 

Well, out of the two you mentioned the one that will give you the most horsepower is the supercharger, but as unfortuniate as it is the supercharger for our trucks is not on the market yet. You could do what some of the members of this board have done by fabracating your own brackets, intake tubes, ect... and make your own. Or you could go to Mike T. from superchip and he would probably be more than happy to set you up with the kind of performance all of us V6ers have come to expect from our chips. So untill the supercharger is here I would recommend a chip.

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99 F-150 4.2L
True duals W/Magnaflows
Jacobs Ignition
K&N filtercharger
Custom programed chip
throttle body spacer
ported&polished throttle body
ported mass air flow sensor
Black Magic electric fan
Belltech rear sway bar
belltech 3/4 drop

 

I have to give me .02 cents here. I tried to superchip, but for some reason those dump ford employees was smoking wacky weed that day and forgot to close my jumper circuits on my truck's computer so I am unable to use a chip till I get that fix... yadda yadda yadda... So I am personally waiting for the supercharger! I hope nothing has to plug into the service port with a supercharger... ha ha... If you can get a superchips do it!!!!! Cause once you get a supercharger you'll want to go faster than 100 m.p.h. and the superchip will disable the speed limiter so you can go as fast as those tires will carry you.

So get the chip and wait for the charger...

 

f150freak,

Where in Ft. Worth are you located?

 

Also waiting for supercharger.

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Website www.angelfire.com/de2/6inafseries

98 XL 4.2L
Black/Silver
Shortbed
5-speed
-Pendaliner bedliner
-SlimTop flushmount tonneau
-ASP underdrive pulley
-Gibson split duals
-Clarion CD player
-Belltech 2/2 drop.(Springs, shocks,and shackles)


Soon to come....
-3.73's
-Autometer Tach and Pod
-Autoperformance.net superchager kit (vortech)

 

ya know Preyhunter, when I first joined I was looking for you and never could find you so I gave up. Now you found me, go figure. I am actualy in a subrud of Ft Worth called Haltom City. I live right off of Denton Hwy(Hwy 377) and Glenview DR.

 

Hi cjmac,

There is no supercharger "kit" on the market for the 4.2 V-6 F-150 yet, though we have worked with a custom kit and have a heavy 4X4 Super Cab V-6 turning 0-60 times in close to 6 seconds flat. This custom kit was based on a Powerdyne supercharger for the V-8 F-150, with all custom plumbing of course, and has been run at boost levels of 7 psi, 9 psi, and up to 11 psi with the stock pistons, crank, & rods. To date, no problems. Since it was a custom setup, the cost was pretty large, probably approaching $3500 at this point.

The top 3 best "bang-for-the-buck" mods on these vehicles are:

1.) Optimize the powertrain programming with the Superchip, gains a max. of 25 hp & 31 lbs./ft. of torque at the flywheel. Removes top speed limiter, and very nicely cleans up the sloppy shifting in the automatic models as well. We provide that product, and have an online ordering system, the link to it is just below in my signature line.

2.) Reduce restriction on the intake side, using an Airaid airbox elimination kit. They are worth a good 8-10 horsepower on these V-6's, and are available right here in the F-150 Online store, which you can access by clicking on the link on the left side of your screen that says "Online Store".

3.) Reduce restriction on the exhaust side, using a good cat-back system. Muffler changes alone can give you a few ponies, but you should use a properly flow-engineered cat-back system for best gains. Figure about 8-11 more hp. from a good system on the 4.2 V-6 F-150. They are also available right here in the F-150 Online store.

The sum total of those 3 mods is a nice improvement in overall performance that you can definitely feel, and will enjoy all the time. At that point, then you can decide if you still have to have even more performance, as it's at that point that more power starts getting pretty expensive for the V-6.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer

[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 09-26-2000).]

 

Hi Y2K4.2XL,

Everyone is entitled to their "opinion".

The reason we post that information even on products that we do not sell, is simply so that people will know what we have had a chance to observe on the dyno in development work, and hopefully avoid making mistakes.

All of those numbers are real & valid, and are at the flywheel, as I clearly mentioned. Depending on the exact parts used (which exhaust system, for example)and your elevation and fuel supply, instead of seeing a maximum potential if you take all the highest numbers as you did, and come up with a number of potentially as much as 45 horsepower, you may see only 34 horsepower instead. If you're using reformulated gas at say, 1200 ft. altitude, obviously you'll get less. And if you'll notice, I mentioned that those were maximum figures.

To get the rated power gains from the Superchip requries the use of 92 octane at sea level altitude, just to give you an idea of the exact specification of that part.

The other areas I mentioned, reducing restriction on both the intake & exhaust sides, have been well known for years in these vehicles, confirmed time after time by other vehicle owners who have thanked us for that information, and those gains are cumulative, they don't cancel each other out as some can tend to. That's why they're so effective, and hence, so popular.

We provide that information as a *service* to those who are looking for the best bang for the buck mods for the least amount of money, even though we don't sell most of those parts. We provide that information so others can hopefully avoid the "pay to learn" syndrome, that's all.

In the real world, depending on just how strong a given vehicle is stock and all the other factors at work here (fuel supply, elevation, etc.) you could easily in certain areas of the country gain a total of say, 30 horsepower instead of a maximum potential of 40+ horsepower. Or at high altitudes, you may gain only 24 horsepower, for example (you lose 3.5% of your power for every 1000 ft. above sea level elevation). The numbers I listed there are at sea level, on the good high-quality pump premium gas that is in the Orlando, Florida area, where the Superchips US development facility is located (actually, they're in Longwood, 10 minutes north of Disney World in Orlando). Most areas of the country that are not at high altitudes have good quality gas, but there are certainly areas where the octane numbers are present, but due to the type of formulation mandated due to poor air quality by the Feds, the actual energy content, expresed in terms of # of BTU's per lb. of fuel, is lower than normal and hence, less power & mileage is produced.

There can be all types of variables, certainly, but those are good numbers at sea level, and will vary pretty close to the ranges I expressed there. Now just to give you an idea of what happens with those same mods on the 4.6 F-150, the Superchip gains a maximum of 26 hp & 40 lbs./ft., the Airaid kit 12 hp, and a good cat-back exhaust 10-12 hp. On the 5.4 motor from 1999 on up, the Superchip adds a maximum of 28 hp & 46 lbs./ft. of torque, the Airaid or K&N FIPK kits add about 14 hp, and a good cat-back exhaust will give anywhere from 10 to as much as 14 hp. Again, these are all flywheel figures. Rear-wheel numbers are going to be 20%-25% less in the automatics, as a rough general rule.

One thing to remember about breathing mods like I've mdentioned here is that while they produce decent horsepower gains, the torque increases barely match the horsepower numbers in most cases, as that is the basic nature of most airflow types of mods, they work best when the motor is breathing hard, at heavier throttle positions and higher rpms, quite naturally is where they work best, though they always work.

The Superchip programming produces gains of about 10%-12% more peak horsepower in most normally aspirated engines that are tuned like these truck engines are, meaning tuned for regular gasoline from the factory. GM truck engines respond about the same way.

I hope that helps to provide you with a bit more perspective on all this.

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer

 

Mike, I appreciate the quick response. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't believe you. The only reason I used the max gains you gave is that you didn't give a minimum gain for the Superchip. I can see that we have a great potential for varying gains. Thanks for the info.

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2000 F150 XL 4.2 Auto Red&Silver/Grey
98 SVT Contour #4055 Silver/Blue
88 Mustang coupe 7.79 @ 88mph 1/8 mile

 

I am skeptical that @45 horsepower can be added just by the three mods mentioned above.

I have lurked here for a little while, so I realize that Mike is both very helpful, and knowledgeable. I don't want to sound like I don't believe him, but I would like to know if anyone has actual chassis dyno numbers on those mods either seperate or together?

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2000 F150 XL 4.2 Auto Red&Silver/Grey
98 SVT Contour #4055 Silver/Blue
88 Mustang coupe 7.79 @ 88mph 1/8 mile

 

Hay Mike, you can set me up with that 9psi supercharger if you don't mind! I want something that will give my truck a SWIFT&HARD kick in the a##. getting serious when do yall plan to introduce the kit to the automotive market? and what kind of price are yall planning to ask for?

 

I wanna know too.I am expecting a big fat tax return check in the spring that I would love spend on a s/c.

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2000 f150 4x4 sport,black, 3.55 5spd ,4.2 liters of fury ------mods----pioneer cd,alpine sub,cadence ultradrive amps,alpine mids&tweets,Delta tool box,class III reciever hitch,herculiner bed liner,taz floor mats,profile bug guard,custom painted tail light covers,headlight covers,cranked torsion bars,pirelli scorpion at(265/75 16), modified air box(crash1 style),JET air filter


www.lightningcrashz@hotmail.com