Need for Intercooler with MPT Tune if No Extreme "Baja" Driving

Question on the use of an Aftermarket Intercooler with an MPT Tune. I was wondering if the need for the intercooler kinda ties in with extreme driving of the Raptor over long periods of time. For instance I have already received my Ngauge and just waiting on the truck to get my Tunes in place, I'm just wondering if I would truly need the new Intercooler if the truck was more or less just gonna be a daily driver here in Ohio. Not gonna be used in any Baja type or extreme 4 wheeling (other than dirt roads to fishing spots). I do make some trips to Pennsylvania so I could see 3 to 4 hr trips on the highway at 75 to 80mph. Daily driving to work and back is probably 5 miles. PA trips maybe once a year if that.

Don't want to pull the trigger on an intercooler if I don't really need it based on my actual driving of the truck. I'd rather put that $1000 towards a nice tonneau cover since I'm getting the SCAB and not a lot of room for anything other than the 2 kids in the back.

Thoughts?

Your ngauge has an intake temperature. Your dash has an outside temperature. The difference will tell you

dewalt said:

Your ngauge has an intake temperature. Your dash has an outside temperature. The difference will tell you

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Do you have the tune and/or aftermarket intercooler. Do most folks just run the tune without an intercooler upgrade?

you can log AAT and IAT and see if you are building too much heat. Look at the blog on fullracemotorsports.com https://www.full-race.com/f150-ecoboost-raptor-intercooler-comparison/

On the street i can see IAT's increasing with each pull but until summer hits hard i don't see a need for an intercooler upgrade. It doesn't make anymore power on its own. The stock intercooler flows fine and keep IAT's low for a couple pulls. If youre not running the truck hard at high boost WOT runs over and over you wont see much of a gain.

Fullrace makes the best IC by far with whipple close. Fullrace actually builds pro level race cars and does extensive testing on airflow. I've worked with them on time attack builds before. MPT also really likes them.

If you do want one there's a million vendors on here but I can point you to my favorite fullrace vendor.

an aftermarket intercooler will make a noticeable difference without a tune.

Most started swapping them to support an aftermarket bumper, not particularly for performance. Over time, it has become pretty clear that it is not terribly difficult to heat soak the intercooler.

That being said, based on the adaptive nature of the PCM programming, the truck can manage heat soak just fine in stock trim. The unknown answer is whether or not running a hotter tune will impact the heat generated in a tangible fashion that would justify requiring an intercooler upgrade too.

If it were me, I'd buy the tonneau with the budget, and plan on eventually doing an intercooler swap as a longevity upgrade at a later date.

it doesn't have to happen right away, but it also would not be a terrible idea to eventually make happen.

Thanks again for all the info/advice since joining this forum.

if you’re budget constrained you may want to consider doing the intercooler first. Whipple said theirs is actually worth some HP -by itself- and it still performs the most important thing; resisting heat soak.

Intercooler alone will make no gains on a stock truck unless it's run WOT over and over. If you don't believe me then log Throttle position. At full boost at 6000rpm with the pedal to the floor the absolute TP won't even be at 90%. So if the throttle position is being closed at high rpm by the ecm to control boost then obviously the intercooler isn't a restriction.

reaper1441 said:

Intercooler alone will make no gains on a stock truck unless it's run WOT over and over. If you don't believe me then log Throttle position. At full boost at 6000rpm with the pedal to the floor the absolute TP won't even be at 90%. So if the throttle position is being closed at high rpm by the ecm to control boost then obviously the intercooler isn't a restriction.

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you're right.

If you are using simple, static condition math, it will not.

However, if you look at the IATs on a stock truck vs one with an improved intercooler, you'll deduce that IATs stay lower for much longer, and therefore the engine will run more efficiently for a longer period of time.

This is not a scenario that is specific to "running WOT over and over" in some sort of drag racing type scenario.

Environmentals that create this sort of scenario are pretty easy to encounter in a desert or any southern state. throttle position is not the only contributor to IAT, colder air is more dense and therefore if IAT is controlled more efficiently, the PCM can add more fuel and thus more spark, therefore making more power for that specific scenario than a less efficient CAC.

I was thinking about getting one of these for $60. If I didn't live in Michigan I would have already installed one. MPT sells them on their site.

Ratstat 170 Performance Thermostat - 4D V2 | MPT Performance

https://reischeperformance.com/WhyLowTemp.html

My 170 degree thermostat install write up.

EcoboostForum

I'm pretty sure I was getting heat soak in the summer back when I was stock before the MPT tune. An intercooler upgrade is on my list of desired upgrades as well but this is $60.