2009 F-150 5.4L Preliminary Dyno Results!

[Power Hungry]

Hey all...

Finally got back from Utah and needless to say, I AM EXCITED!

The new 2009 F-150 is running awesome and actually looks to be making a bit more power than the earlier 2004 to 2008 versions.

From what we've found so far, the only major difference under the hood is that the air filter housing has been relocated directly behind the driver's headlight and now uses a LARGE 12" x 12" pleated panel filter. This is definitely helping airflow.

As you well know, the new platform sports a new 6-speed automatic transmission which now has its own controller which is separate from the ECM. The ECM itself has been updated to a new, faster processor as well. Fortunately, the tuning is quite similar and we were able to get the base tuning done without any difficulty. Here are the preliminary results:

Test Conditions:

• Vehicle - 2009 F-150
• Engine - 5.4L
• Transmission - 6-Speed Automatic
• Gear - 3.73
• Fuel - 85 Octane
• Altitude - 4500 Feet
• Ambient Temp - 76º F.
• Barometric Pr. - 26.65 In. Hg.

Here are the dyno plots (Click on the images to view full size):

Horsepower Only


Torque Only


Horsepower and Torque


Horsepower, Torque and AFR


As you can see, the biggest gains were not on the top end but in the midrange... which is where you really need it! Notice that the stock AFR curve does not allow any WOT enrichment until about 4500 RPM! And you wonder why the trucks are always so sluggish off the line. The AFR stays right at 14.6:1 throughout most of the acceleration. Now add a Cold Air Intake which in most cases cause a slight to moderate lean condition and suddenly you have a situation that could be very detrimental to the engine.

I also included an additional dyno plot which show without question that removing the snorkel does, in fact, improve the performance of the vehicle, particularly above 3500 RPM. Based on calculations, removing the snorkel picked up 7.5 HP and 7.6 Ft./Lbs. These figures are very respectable, especially considering that we had already made a significant gain with tuning. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to retest the vehicle with the Performance calibration, but I would certainly expect to see similar improvements with the same modification.



Needless to say, we are really excited about the results, especially since we only ran 85 Octane fuel. We will be doing some (relatively) sea-level testing here in the next week or two along with 93 Octane fuel testing and fully expect to see even better results.

We'll keep everyone posted on the results as development progresses. Stay tuned...