ford racing parts
 

hey everyone,
i was curious to now how ford racing parts compare to other aftermarket parts in general... i know the quality will be there but gains in performance and functionality over other parts that cost a little less is what i mean. i really want to throw a new camshaft and exhaust along with other things in the future and am curious if ford racing is worth it.camshaft is my primary concern at the moment. thanks in advance for any info or suggestions. (for my 12' gt a/t)

camshafts are your first concern? I've only owned a mustang for a year now, so maybe things are different, but with every other car I've owned and worked on, camshafts are one of the last things you look at. What will you be using your car for? Will it be N/A or boosted? Do you care about stock drivability? How much power are you looking to make in the end?

I think cams are a great option with any modern muscle car. That said, I know cams often don't net a huge gain with the 4.6's, and I don't know how the 5.0 responds to an aftermarket set either. It's more the pushrod engines, such as the LS series, that respond really well to a simple cam swap.

In general FRPP parts are usually very high quality and will net you as much power as many other alternatives. They're sometimes a bit pricey though. Many times the parts are manufactured by other companies, such as the FRPP stingers being made by Borla, and FRPP superchargers being made by Whipple.

So yeah, just do your research and you'll feel confident in your choices.

thanks, ya hard to find feed back for some of this stuff... especially on a newer engine. not my first modded car essayons i know how things go but i am trying to research all my options before i even have a goal to see what is worth what for this platform. thanks though

however yes, stock drivability or better is what i am looking for in my build if i choose to do so as well as it will always be my daily driver.

Cams can net a nice gain on a 4.6, it just depends on a bunch of different factors. If you already have headers, they will give you more benefit. If you do the cams, and get headers down the road the headers will show a bigger gain.

It also comes down to cam selection. Typically, the "noise maker" cams are not going to give you the same performance gain as a performance cam will. Also, if you go for a more aggressive style cam and change out your valve springs, you'll net even greater gains.

Personally, I have not seen any info on cam tests for the 5.0. I think that cams would be a huge waste on that motor because you can do SO much with the variable valve timing(how many GT500 owners swap cams...not many!). I would venture to guess if you went with an after-market set, and had to lock out the cam timing you would lose power, just a guess though.

FRPP generally is a solid step up from the original parts but in most cases not the best for MAXimum performance. With respect to the cams though, I think that part in particular is probably one of the best ones out there even compared to aftermarket.

I'm curious OP as to why Cams are your first concern? What type of drivign do you plan on using the car for? DD, track only (AutoX or Drag) or all three? Start there first, then look at a tuner and CAI to start.

HP increases from mods are based on a # of factors. Primarily, there are two important components, head design and compression. The 4V heads outflow the 3V heads. The 4V motor has a higher compression than a 3V motor. Inherently, the 4V heads will respond better to a cam swap. The reason you aren't seeing very many cam swaps for Coyotes yet is because they are still relatively new...only two years of production and hardly any cam choices.

Here's a generic example: Approximate gains on a 2005-2009 GT with CAI + tune will result in about a 25 HP gain. Approximate gains on a 2011-2012 GT with tune and CAI is in about a 35-40 HP gain. These figures are approximations, but you can do a forum search on various members who have documented gains on these cars. There is a secondary factor involving displacement, but the difference in the 4.6 and 5.0 is only about 15 cubic inches.

With regards to GM. Their pushrod motor displaces 350 - 370 cubic inches. They are substituting displacement for technology. When the 3V motor was released back in 2005, it was rated at 300 HP. GM's 5.7 in the 2002 Camaro was 320. It needed almost 20% more displacement to make the extra 20 HP. The larger motor does have an inherent benefit though...the longer stroke motor would not necessarily have a higher peak TQ/HP figure, but could make more TQ/HP across the entire powerband.

Why don't GT500 owners do cam swap? Probably because it's far cheaper to produce better gains by a simple pulley swap.

As long as the Coyote motor stays in production, more and more aftermarket vendors will add more cams to the menu. Keep in mind, on a 3V, you are only buying two cams. On a 4v Coyote motor, you are buying 4 cams. So there is a cost aspect as well. GM guys? They're only buying one cam for their pushrod motor. While it may be cheaper to mod the GM car, the potential will never be that of the Coyote. It's one of the reasons why I picked Ford over GM.

Another way to think of it: 4 cylinder imports (and domestics alike) at 1.8 - 2 liter (around 110-120 cubic inches) have made 140-160 HP for years (at least since the mid-90's) using 4V DOHC technology...more than 1 HP per CI. Ford has finally applied the technology to a standard V8.

First off, I don't see 35-40hp.

http://autofix.com.au/blog/2011-must...o-tune-results

Little over 20 gained

https://mustangforums.com/forum/tune...i-results.html

Another 20 gained.

I could go on, but nowhere did I find a 35-40hp gain, without something like a Boss intake.

As to the 5.0 cams, I know the comp stage 1's were tested and showed about 35hp gain, but lost some down low because you have to lock out the valve timing.

I still think the jury is out, but cams on a 4v just don't make sense if you have to lockout the cam timing. $1500 for the parts, plus the labor to put them in, its just not worth it. Specially if the car is anything near a DD you don't want to lose that low end!

As I stated, cost is the issue with 4V cam swap, but to imply that 4V gains would be less than 3V gains doesn't make sense.

I live in CA, so a cam swap on a 3V DD would be a no-no as well because of smog issues.