Unleashed Tuning for the Maverick Ecoboost

[TORQUERULES]

I have worked with Torrie at Unleashed extensively on perfecting a tune for my Ranger, so I knew what I wanted for the Maverick. I have 93 Performance, 91 Performance, and 87 Performance tunes. As many of you know, Tow mode shifting is perfect on Ford's trucks and SUVs in that it keeps them in the sweet spot of RPM/Torque, but often the engine braking can be a bit much. I had Torrie translate everything from Tow mode except the excessive engine braking to Normal mode and it is amazing. It never drops below 2000rpm, so no lugging which can use excessive fuel and is bad for the engine in that it could exacerbate the possibility of LSPI, and shifting is more firm, quicker, and it downshifts when it needs to without you having to force it. I also had him ass Sport mode throttle response tables to the other modes as well. Unleashed tuning has been working with the Ecoboost 4cyl since the Focus ST days and it shows. Fantastic power, but without sacrificing drivability and smoothness which a lot of other tuners seem to forget about. They shoot for big WOT numbers, but drivability is shit. Not with Unleashed. If you have a Maverick and would like to try these tunes, just ask Torrie for the tunes he made for @TORQUERULES. He did this for a lot of guys on the Ranger forum I was on. (Ranger 5G).

For those of you worried about fuel mileage, lol, you have to understand that for low RPM to work at preserving fuel economy there has to be very little load on the engine. So, the way Ford has this programmed from the factory with it trying to cruise at 1500rpm or less only works on flat, straight ground with very little load. Not very real-world. Lugging uses fuel and can cause issues with the timing that could lead to detonation and if you are lugging and quickly get on it, you might experience LSPI (low speed pre-ignition) which can be catastrophic. Keeping the RPM close to where the engine begins to make peak torque, and the Ecoboost makes torque very low in the RPM range, can help your engine and actually save fuel.

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[Skyline]

I wouldn't call driving the Maverick "duvna", but each of its own; I'm glad that your Maverick performs the way you want to.

The issue that you've brought up happens with small, turbocharged engines.

The low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI), or stochastic pre-ignition (SPI) or super-knock, with turbocharged gasoline direct injection technology is a fancy naming convention for engine knock. It's no different from the non-turbocharged gas engines, where the fuel ignite before the spark plug initiate the ignition, causing the knock. Back in the days, we blamed the quality of the gasoline and getting good quality gasoline may have resolved the issue. If not, the timing needed to be adjusted.

The difference is that the turbocharged, small engine has higher cylinder and fuel injection pressure, than the non-turbocharged gas engines. It's known that there's some leftover fuel in the cylinder after the detonation, that can mix with oil from the cyclinder wall. That mixing could ignite prior to the spark doing the ignition. Depending on the piston's position when this detonation happens, it could destroy the engine. There's a small window when this can take place; the engine is at low RPM/speed, quick acceleration desired and "pedal to the metal" pushed. I'd be surprised, if Ford did not make system adjustment to prevent these circumstances. The ECU could limit "full gas" until the RPM reaches 2K RPM, or any other arbitrary number.

You can also use high-octane gas and good quality engine oil to prevent premature detonation. Or, just don't do "pedal to the metal" at low RPM, unless you need to based on the circumstances...