Tuning the Ford Ecoboost

"Comprehensive guide to modifying and tuning the performance parts and tuning the Ford Ecoboost engine!"

The Ford Ecoboost great bases for a tuning project and with the right uprated upgrades like remaps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will substantially increase your driving pleasure.

We examine Ecoboost tuning and outline the best upgrades. Ford Ecoboost are good project engines and with a few sensible motorsport enhancements like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively increase your driving opportunities.

We shall consider Ecoboost tuning and point out the optimum upgrades.

When talking about the best parts for your Ecoboost engine, we are going to focus on the tuning parts that give the best value for money.

The camshaft profile plays a big part in the engines power output so camshaft upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large power band gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams normally increase the bhp and torque throughout the rev band, you could sacrifice a little low down torque but your top end will improve.

Competition cams, increase the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

In a car driven daily must carefully try to match your bhp range to your preferences.

I'd be shocked if you find a Ecoboost Race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when driving in heavy traffic.

Different Ecoboost engines respond better to extreme camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ecu map and fuelling also have an effect on the bhp gains you'll hit.

Altering valve durations can alter the bhp band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

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Guide to the Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

  1. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    If the intake or exhaust are restricted in any way this will have an impact on your cars performance, so use an induction kit/filter upgrade and better flowing exhaust whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction.

  2. Mods that Improve Handling

    Braking, Suspension and general alignment of the suspension components is vital for any tuning project even before you start increasing power.

  3. Fit Stronger Parts

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  4. ECU Tunes & Remapping

    While some cars can be easily remapped, others may require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project as it fully releases the power from all of your mods and upgrades. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  5. More Power Needs More Fuel & Air

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise. Fuel to Air ratio is vital so upgrade the fuel pump & injectors. Also you can look to perform head mods (flowing and porting), bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades to improve fuel.

Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox.

Stage 2 mods: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 mods: Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Carefully think through your options and then acquire your mods and set yourself a power target to save yourself from expensive mistakes.

Remaps should help to release the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your Ecoboost.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your results often differs on the modifications you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any car tuning job to get fuel and air into each cylinder

Intake transmit the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be pulled into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Shape and flow rate of the Headers can make a big improvement to fuel atomisation on the Ecoboost.

I usually find headers are in dire need of an upgrade, although some manufacturers provide reasonably well designed headers.

Adding a Ecoboost larger valve kit, getting 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also lift performance, and significantly will raise potential for an improved performance increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your Ecoboost

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes major power gains.

When a car has a turbo already fitted upgrades are going to net you a larger power gain and you'll see that turbo engines are built with better components.

There are practical limits for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

It is important to find these limits and install stronger pistons, crank and engine components to survive the power.

We've seen guys spending a loads of money on turbo upgrades on the Ecoboost only to see the whole thing catastrophically fail just after it's finished.

Bigger upgraded turbochargers often experience low end lag, and low capacity turbochargers spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak rpm bhp gains.

In the last 10 years the selection of turbochargers is always evolving and we now see variable vane turbochargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a limitation in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the Ecoboost when a lot more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting performance at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp and torque gains, although more complex to get working. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling upgrades and mods

When you increase the torque you will need to look at to the fuel system.

More torque needs more fuel. Don't forget to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and provides a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Exhaust upgrades and mods

Only look to replace your exhaust if your exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see your flow rate is fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of air through the engine.

But if the exhaust is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of the exhaust flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be located the emissions filters installed, so adding a higher flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weak spots, Issues & common problem areas on the Ecoboost

The Ecoboost engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the Ecoboost, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

History of the Engine

Fox EcoBoost 1.0 DOHC i3 2012-

84 hp

123 hp

Ford Duratec EcoBoost 1.1 DOHC i3 2017-

69 hp

84 hp

Dragon EcoBoost 1.5 DOHC i3 2018-

150 hp

180 hp

200 hp

Ford Sigma EcoBoost 1.5 DOHC i4 2014-

181 hp

179 hp

  • 2017–2019 Ford Escape

160 hp

  • 2017–2019 Landwind X7

158 hp

148 hp

Ford Sigma EcoBoost 1.6 DOHC i4 2010-

118 hp

148 hp

158 hp

  • 2011— Ford Mondeo
  • 2011— Ford S-Max
  • 2011— Ford Galaxy

178 hp

  • 2010 — Ford Focus
  • 2013—2016 Ford Escape
  • 2014—2016 Ford Transit Connect

182 hp

197 hp

Mazda L EcoBoost 2.0 DOHC i4 2010–2014

200 hp @5500 rpm, 221 lbft @1750-4500 rpm

  • 2010– Ford S-MAX
  • 2010– Ford Galaxy
  • 2010– Ford Mondeo
  • 2010–2011 Volvo S60 2.0T
  • 2010–2011 Volvo V60 2.0T
  • 2010–2011 Volvo V70 2.0T

240 hp @5500 rpm, 270 lbft @1900–3500 rpm

  • 2010– Ford Mondeo
  • 2010–2013 Volvo S60 T5
  • 2010–2013 Volvo V60 T5
  • 2011–2015 Ford Explorer
  • 2011–2014 Ford Edge
  • 2011– 2017 Range Rover Evoque
  • 2011– Ford S-MAX
  • 2012–2016 Ford Falcon
  • 2013–2015 Ford Escape / Ford Kuga
  • 2013–2015 Land Rover Freelander 2
  • 2013–2016 Ford Fusion
  • 2013–2017 Ford Taurus
  • 2013–2015 Lincoln MKZ
  • 2015–2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport
  • 2015–2018 Lincoln MKC

252 hp @5500 rpm, 270 lbft @2000–4500 rpm

301 hp @5500 rpm, 366 Nm @2500 rpm, Ford-RPE Radical Performance Engines

  • 2011– Radical SR3 SL

Clean-sheet engine block EcoBoost 2.0 twin scroll DOHC i4 2015-

245 hp, 275 lbft

  • 2015– Ford Edge
  • 2015– Ford Everest
  • 2016– Ford Tourneo
  • 2016– Ford Escape / Ford Kuga
  • 2017– Ford Fusion
  • 2016– Lincoln MKZ
  • 2019 Lincoln MKC

250 hp, 280 lbft

  • 2019– Lincoln Nautilus
  • 2020– Lincoln Corsair

Mazda L EcoBoost 2.3 DOHC i4 2015-

270 hp  @5500 rpm, 310 lbft @3000 rpm

  • 2019– Ford Ranger

280 hp @5600 rpm, 310 lbft @3000 rpm

  • 2016–2019 Ford Explorer

285–295 hp @5500 rpm, 305–310 lbft414– @2750 rpm

  • 2015–2019 Lincoln MKC
  • 2020– Lincoln Corsair

300 hp @5500 rpm, 310 lbft @3500 rpm

  • 2020– Ford Explorer

310 hp @5500 rpm, 320–350 lbft434– @3000 rpm

  • 2015– Ford Mustang EcoBoost

350 hp @6000 rpm, 350 lbft @3200 rpm

276 hp @5500 rpm, 310 lbft @3000–4000 rpm

  • 2019– Ford Focus ST 2020
  • 2021– Ford Bronco

Nano EcoBoost 2.7 DOHC V6 2015-

325 hp  @5750 rpm, 375 lbft @3000 rpm

  • 2015–2017 Ford F-150

335 hp @5500 rpm, 380 lbft @3000 rpm

  • 2016–2018 Lincoln MKX
  • 2017– Lincoln Continental

335 hp @5500 rpm, 380 lbft @3250 rpm

  • 2019– Lincoln Nautilus

315 hp  @4750 rpm, 350 lbft @2750 rpm

  • 2015–2018 Ford Edge Sport

335 hp  @5000 rpm, 380 lbft @3000 rpm

  • 2019– Ford Edge ST

325 hp  @5500 rpm, 380 lbft @3500 rpm

  • 2017–2019 Ford Fusion Sport

For more information on Tuning your Ecoboost engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our Ecoboost guides and tips are kept up to date.

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