Whipple Ecoboost Stage 1 installed
 

I took advantage of Lethal Performance 15% off Whipple and bought the Stage 1 kit for the 3.5. It includes a new intercooler, a CAI, and a tune. I installed the intercooler and CAI on Sunday. The CAI install is super easy and fit great. It also adds a little intake growl to the cabin, but nothing terrible. Still a nice quiet truck.

The intercooler, at least on my truck, would not bolt directly in. There is a plastic shroud that has the active shutters that ports air in to the intercooler. Even pressed against the shroud, the top rubber mounts would not go in to the upper mounting holes. The Whipple intercooler is much thicker than the original, and significantly heavier! I removed the upper and lower brackets that contain the holes for the rubber mounts and slotted all 4 bolt holes, allowing the brackets to move away from the front of the truck an additional 1/3". This allowed fitment without affecting the intercooler connections. Even with this problem, it took me about 3 hours to install everything.

I have not yet installed the tune, as I had a full 36gal tank of 87 octane. I will right after I get a decent amount of 93 in there. I can't comment on performance until then. Will keep this thread updated.

I'll get some pics up soon.

The answer is it'll be faster. Quite a bit faster but not really sure how conservative they are. Most of the off the shelf tunes for stuff are not pushing much. Roush claims 140 horsepower with their tune and it seems more like 70-80 more horsepower or so tops.

Updates?

Went and looked at the lethal performance web site got a cost code for the stage 1 (Whipple) of $2.10 .... what's with.that ?

Ripper: Sorry, still waiting to get a full tank of 93. It takes a lot of miles to drain down a 36 gallon tank of 87. I wasn't prepared to buy when the 15% off popped up.

Leckband: interesting. It still says $2.10 for the 15-16 kit. They updated the price of the 17-18 kit from 1999 to $2100, just like the whipple site did, so someone must have made a mistake while updating the price.

Filled her up with 92 yesterday (best available at most local gas stations) and put in the new spark plugs. The spark plug job was so easy on this car!

Installed the tune right after. I drove it this morning. Much more responsive off the line, and I could tell it started to pick up a lot at higher RPM, but my 40 mph drive to church didn't get me a real chance to try it out yet. It drives very smoothly though.

I am starting to notice the increased intake noise, which I really like.

Will continue to update.

Any update on your experience with the tune? Wondering my self if it will be worth it especially if planning on going off road and places like Mexico with bad fuel quality? Thanks

I've only run a single tank of gas through it, but I have mainly enjoyed the increased low end torque. The normal tune still has relatively moderate throttle sensitivity, which I thought might be greatly changed. The sport tune is a lot of fun. I've done one full throttle from a stop run, and the truck was crazy fast. My impression is that the truck is faster, and I enjoy it, but it is an incremental change not a revelation.