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.