This is my new to me '20 Lariat with the 3.5 EB motor. (I wish the '20 had the same HP/TQ numbers of the '21 3.5 EB) 375HP / 475TQ vs. 400HP / 510TQ

I was thinking probably a good CAI kit and a tune? I do not like an exhaust on a V6, just doesn't sound right. I leave the exhaust notes up to my V8's.

What are your thoughts? What are some good mods to take advantage with TT's?

 

depending what the truck is used for really, Ive got a bbk throttle body, cold spark plugs, resonator delete, turbo adapters, gutted cats, afe 3.5" cai, and a 5 star tune. im very happy with the results, and truly i need to hit the dyno! lol

 

Don't waste your money on an intake. There is zero power gain.

Tune is all you really need. Everything after that will make minimal gains.

 

Good mods...

Tune
Better fuel
Better tune
Custom tune
Custom dyno tune

Everything else I'd consider marginal gains until you go to larger turbos.

Edited to add - my next mod will be a larger intercooler. That is more for keeping the motor happy and making consistent power. On a cool night at the dragstrip it likely wouldn't add any power, but it's a good mod for making the truck happier overall.

 

The Gen 2 3.5 EB can be pushed to 450hp on 93 oct with only a tune. Check out 5 Star tuning.

 

Thank you everyone for the ideas. Mainly just you typical DD. But I'd like to get more out of the TT's on the motor.

So I was thinking the CAI kit (might be pointless) and just a tune. Maybe beneficial to do colder plugs seeing as we do have turbos. What NGK Plugs did you guys go with?

 

CAI is good if you want it for looks or sounds, but that's it. If you look at the specs of a drop in filter for the stock airbox, you will see that they flow more air than our motors can use and the factory box is good size with a nice front facing inlet. IMO any dyno showing a gain from a CAI is just playing with the numbers and/or tune. That is true until we're talking larger turbos. Then, there could be a need for things like CAI, downpipes, exhaust, etc. The factory turbo's are our first restriction.

Different tuners prefer different plugs, but it's really hard to beat the Ford Racing plugs marketed specifically for our application - https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-12405-35T
Some tuners specifically say to not run some of the popular NGK plugs because the gap is way too large out of the box and they aren't meant to be gapped down low enough for our application.

 

agreed, cai is only good for looks and sound, it sounds pretty cool though, and gets lots of looks from people, gets annoying towing though! lol.

 

Honestly with the boost and tow button or whatever they call it I would save your money and just drive the truck.

You young guys spending all your money gonna catch up to you one day Retire early at 50... It's worth it. You should have a few mil in a retirement account at age 50.

 

How come Ford didn't put the colder plugs in to begin with? I do think our factory airbox and the front inlet is a good size.

So then, how do we get our motor to breathe and exhale? How can we make the TT more efficient? I don't like the exhaust note of a V6 motor.. So it can breathe fine, just can't really exhale as the turbo is the bottleneck?