On this episode of "The Haul," we're putting
the Coyote and the EcoBoost head to head here on the dyno and at the track to see how a
simple tune affects both. Now that V8 versus the EcoBoost debate has
been a very popular topic of discussion ever since the two engines debuted side-by-side
on the 2011 model year F-150s. Now, back then, that first iteration of the
3.5 twin-turbo EcoBoost made 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque respectively
at the crank, whereas its V8 sibling made 360 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. Now, fast forward to today, and the latest
variants of these two engines have grown up a bit since their initial offerings. Case in point, the 3.5 EcoBoost behind me
is now making 375 horsepower and a whopping 470 pound-feet of torque at the crank. Now, the V8 got a little bit more love too
in the form of more compression, 12 to 1, along with that same dual style fuel injection
shared by the EcoBoost, which now allows the rev-happy Coyote 5 liter to produce 395 horsepower
and 400 pound-feet of torque to the crank. And while it's safe to say a lot has certainly
changed between these two engines over the years, a few things have certainly not, right? The EcoBoost here is still gonna tow the most
weight thanks to its torque, while the V8 is gonna sound a hell of a lot better while
making a little bit more high-end horsepower. So, what's the goal of today's video? Well, we have both of these engines represented
in their latest and greatest form, both backed by the 10-speed automatic transmission, and
both with a 3.55 rear gear. And we're gonna see which one basically performs
better with tuning and nothing else. To do so, we're gonna hit our dyno here in
the shop, and then we're gonna take both of these donkeys to the track and see how they
run. We've already reached out to our friends at
BAMA Performance, they sent over a couple of 93 octane tunes for both trucks, and we
are gonna be using the SCT X4 devices to upload the tunes to either truck. We're gonna grab a baseline run first from
our EcoBoost, then tune it, see how it does, repeat the process for our 5 liter truck over
here as well. Now, I do wanna point out, guys, that both
trucks will be run in fifth gear due to the speed limiter in stock form. We're gonna rerun the truck in fifth gear
after their tune, and again, both trucks do have the same exact factory tire size and
wheels in the rear to keep things as consistent as possible. Now, after we've determine our gains, see
which one does a little bit better on the dyno, we're gonna settle things the old-fashioned
way, take these things to Maple Grove, run them down the quarter mile, and see who performs
better. So, it's gonna be a fun one, guys, like, comment,
subscribe, you should know the deal by now. But enough talking, let's get strapping and
see who wins. So, baseline run is in the books here for
the 3.5 EcoBoost, now we're gonna upload our BAMA tune 93 octane and then see how we improve. All right. So, let's crunch some numbers here now that
the 2017 3.5 EcoBoost is done both baseline and tuned. Baseline numbers, 321, 370 at the tires. Now, when you factor in drivetrain lost, roughly
15%, horsepower is pretty much right on the money compared to the 375 number. Torque, a little low here at the tires for
us, that might be a function of being in fifth gear, but that's what we had to do, again,
speed limiter based. So, with that said, we did rerun the truck
in fifth gear with that BAMA 93 octane tune, and here's what we're looking at, 373 horsepower
now and 403 pound-feet of torque to the tires. Same gear, same octane, you get the picture. Let's talk gains. Now, peak gains, that's gonna be 52 horsepower,
33 pound-feet of torque, peak. Peak's not the big story here. As always with these EcoBoost engines, you're
seeing massive gains under the curve, as are we with this particular option, 83 horsepower,
and 80 pound-feet of torque, both at 5,500 RPM, a little uncharacteristic. Typically, those big torque gains here with
the 3.5 Eco are down low, with the BAMA tune, they're a little higher, which is nice, because
once you actually start ringing this thing out, you can see those stock numbers tend
to nose over and basically nosedive. With the BAMA tune, they carry on a little
bit further into the power range here. And instead it's kind of falling on its face
now, it's maintaining that power band, and that's why you're seeing this massive curve
gains up high in the RPM range. So, there you go. As always, these EcoBoosts are stellar performers
with a tune only, and basically, backed us up right here with this option. So, now we're gonna get this guy unstrapped,
get it out of the dyno cell, we'll bring in the 5 liter 2018 truck, strap it down, and
repeat the process. Well, guys, quick update here, after our baseline
and tune runs with the EcoBoost, I'd say the 5 liter here has a pretty decent chance of
putting out some pretty similar numbers as far as gains, especially after the baseline
run here in our '18 5 liter truck. So, it's gonna be a little bit more interesting
than I originally thought, just with the dyno portion. And if this thing picks up like I think it
should, it should make the track very interesting in a little bit. Well, we just wrapped up the second of two
tuned dyno runs here with the 2018 5 liter truck. I just like to do that to eliminate the possibility
of any hero runs, make sure everything's consistent, and it was. Let's break down numbers. 353, 341 bone stock, fifth gear pull, 93 octane,
which is pretty impressive when you consider the drivetrain loss, roughly 15%. With those advertised crank numbers, I would
say this thing's almost outperforming those numbers, very cool. But now, since this video is all about seeing
how these things pick up with a tune, let's talk about that. 366, 355, again, rear tires, 93 octane, with
that BAMA 93 octane tune. So, what did we learn? Obviously, not nearly as impressive as the
EcoBoost, right? But still no slouch. I mean, that's 13 horsepower, 14 pound-feet
of torque peak over those baseline numbers, and 34 horsepower and 31 pound-feet of torque
under the curve, right around 4,000 RPM. So, right in the meat, or the heart, of the
power band for you. So, now what we're gonna do is we're gonna
get rid of this baseline run, and we're gonna pull up our tuned EcoBoost run and really
break down the tail of the tape, right? And no surprise, the EcoBoost is just outperforming
the Coyote tune-for-tune. And when you think about it, with a naturally
aspirated application like this, there's really only so much you can tweak with an aftermarket
tune, air/fuel, cam time, and things like that. With the EcoBoost, you can do all of that
plus increase the boost. So, you have a lot more going for you with
just a tune only on the EcoBoost platform, and we really see that here with our final
dyno numbers tune-for-tune. So, what does this all mean when it comes
time for the track? Well, I'm actually pretty excited because
horsepower is pretty much a push. And then, of course, the Eco is making roughly
about 50 pound-feet of torque more to the tire. Only one way to settle this thing, time to
get these things to the track and see how they do. Well, here we are, guys, lovely Maple Grove
Raceway, we just got these things off the dyno, as you saw. Just wanna let you know, we did flash them
back to stock first, we are gonna run them bone stock, and then flash them with the 93
octane BAMA Performance tune to see which one really improves more with a tune and nothing
else. Again, both trucks are 3.55 gear trucks, both
Super Crews, both on 33-inch tall tires, they're about as evenly matched as you can get. The blue truck does have a slightly bigger
lift, but it did make 50 more foot pounds to the tire, so I'd say it's a push all in
all. Only one way to find out which one of these
things is gonna come out on top, let's get to the line. All right, guys. So, here we are, first run of the day, we're
in the 3.5 EcoBoost truck. No burnout because we're launching it in 4-high. I'm gonna do two runs, I'm gonna leave it
in 4-high the whole way, one pass, and then we'll try actually switching it to two-wheel-drive
after the launch on the second pass. So, here we go. Come on, big girl, what do you got? All right. So, first pass with the EcoBoost was 14.80
at 92 miles an hour. So, now what I'll do is, we'll it launch again
in 4-high, you know, we'll try to build up some RPM and some boost off the line. And then once the truck feels like it's hooked
up, we'll switch it back to 2-high and see if it actually improves. All right. Let's see what we did. Okay. So, went a little faster, 14.60 at 93. So, we'll do the same thing with the 5 liter
truck, we'll launch it in 4-high, keep it in 4-high, and then we'll do 4-high to two-wheel
after 60-foot, and then we'll tune these pigs and see how they run. 14.90, okay. So, very close so far, about on par with the
EcoBoost's first run in 4-high the whole way through. But now, we're gonna do our little switcheroo
after the 60-foot and see if that helps improve our times like it did with the EcoBoost. Oh, yeah, I feel like it definitely picked
up that time. We've got ourselves a race, look at that,
14.60s at 95. So, we're right on pace with the EcoBoost
stock-for-stock, but of course, you guys know the point of this video is to see how well
these things pick up with nothing more than a tune alone. So, that's what we're gonna do, I'm gonna
park this puppy right next to our blue EcoBoost truck, we're gonna flash both of them with
the 93 octane BAMA Performance tune, rerun the trucks again, and see what the results
are. Let's get tuning. All right. So, this thing's off to the races tuning. What I'm gonna do now is basically hop out,
jump in the EcoBoost truck and start the process over there as well. All right. So, here we go, program the vehicle. And at this point, the EcoBoost is tuning
as well. So, it'll just take a couple of minutes, let
these tunes load up, and then get them back to the line, starting with the EcoBoost. All right, guys. So, we're tuned, starting off in the EcoBoost
again. And we're just gonna go from that 4-high to
two-wheel-drive switch, because that seemed to work well for us the first time around. So, here we go. Felt like it got off the line a little better
that time. Come on big blue. Go, baby, go. Man, it went a little faster, 14.30 at 95,
that's awesome. Now, we're gonna hop in the 5 liter truck,
and we'll do the scenes all over again and see where these things end up. Come on, baby. According to my dashboard, looks like the
little 5 liter here is getting after it. Tune versus tune, let's see what we got. Ah, slower, 14.50 at 95. All right. So, there you go, huh? Well, guys, let's recap what we learned in
today's video, shall we? Now, tune-for-tune on the dyno, those horsepower
figures were pretty much a push, right? But torque advantages certainly go to the
EcoBoost here, making nearly 50 foot-pounds more to the tire. What did that mean here at the track? Well, ultimately, both of these trucks, stock-for-stock,
went 14.60s, which is pretty impressive. However, once those tunes were in play, the
EcoBoost and its added torque was certainly the clear-cut victor, going 14.30 to the Coyote's
14.50 tune-for-tune. Now, that's not to say the Coyote here did
not pick up, it certainly did, and it did perform pretty well. However, again, you can't front on that EcoBoost
platform and all of the power you can add from a tune alone, it really is impressive. So, we wanna know what you guys think. What are you, team Coyote? Team EcoBoost? Which modifications do you like for your truck? Definitely get involved in the comments if
you wouldn't mind. And if dig our content, be sure to subscribe
as well. That's gonna wrap us up for this episode of
"The Haul," from Maple Grove Raceway, we hope you enjoyed it. Remember, for all things F-150, keep it right
here at americantrucks.com.
