ST encouragement

[Eduardo Bailey]

I have a 4WD '02 ST with 103,000 miles on it that still turns heads. I just recently took it to Washington State from ND while towing a 3k lbs trailer. The mountains were a pretty good challenge. The lighter air made the trailer weigh 2k more. I was able to maintain speed (55 to 70 mph) going up the steep grades. I have really learned to appreciate my ST. There was one place, I call it Mount Testosterone, where I blew by a Nissan Titan and a Chevy 1500, both hauling trailers up hill. No sooner than I had cleared them, they shot out and roared past me. One thing I just love about Ford is that they always under rate the power their trucks put out. The ST is probably THE most enviable truck on the market today. If you are planning to travel while hauling with the ST, let me give you some tips that may help. I have a K@N FIPK kit under the hood, a Magnaflow under the floor, Good Year Wrangler AST's on the rims and I run Synthetic throughout. All these factors contributed to better performance all around. I also had alot of pre-trip service done. Also, check with your Ford dealer before leaving. I found out that by taking it out of overdrive, you save gas and get more power when climbing mountains. I can't say enough about my ST.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Wait untill all the automanufacturers use the new SAE ratings for horsepower. Honda, from what I last read, is using the ratings on all the new vehicles starting in 2006. All thier vehicles are showing lower HP ratings, some as much as 20 HP. On the other hand, GM is starting to show the new SAE ratings. They are gaining HP. It wouldn't suprise me if Ford sees a simular increase like GM did.





Tom

 

[Eduardo Bailey]

Tom, this reminds me of the '60's and '70's when Pontiac, when it was still Pontiac, and Ford had to oblige the big boys-on paper. What's your take? Are we facing a performance crisis?

 

[Tom Schindler]

There was an article in a magazine talking about cars today. Never in the history of vehicles have we had so much more power. The cars of the 60's and 70's do not have the power we have today. I would bet that in 5 years, we are going to get our HP numbers lowered back down, much like it happened in the middle to late 70's.



Fuel prices are the first step. Insurance premimums will be the next.





Tom

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Not sure if our Tracs are like the Fords of the late 90's but....



When you first start your vehicle it takes a pressure reading, (As in altitude like being in the mountains or at sea level).



Until the next cycle of the key it uses this single parameter to compute fuel to air ratio as well as the MFA input. So if you start out at the bottom of a mountain, an hour later your not getting great performance due to the data input that was received and hour ago. In an hours time you can change your altitude by a dramatic figure. So it was necessary to pull over, turn off your Ford, restart it, and keep on driving...



Chevy actually takes reading on the fly, (timed event) as well as Dodge who is updated continuously.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Coastie,



Interesting concept. We noticed something very strange with Theresa's Pontiac. I connected my ScanGuage to her Grand Am and started to monitor her gas mileage to and from work. Driving 2 miles, one way, she was getting an average of 15 MPG. Three weekss ago, her belt broke. She was getting on the highway and could not turn back. She got off the next exit and drove home. When she pulled into her driveway, the engine died because the battery went dead. The belt that broke drives the charging system and A/C. The Power Steering is cam driven.



When she got home, she called me. I had her look under the hood to identify that the belt was broken. I had her charge the battery and I changed the belt to following day. The following monday, she drove the same route to work. This time, she averaged 22 MPG. Everytime, using the ScanGuage to monitor her gas mileage, she drives to work, she averages 22+ MPG.



Maybe the ECU reset is giving her better gas mileage?



I know when I rest my ECU on my 1992 Escort GT, it did feel like it had more power and if I drove the car to the racetrack ran 2 or 3 runs, then reset my ECU, I would shave .1 seconds off my ET. It would go from 16.1 @ 83 MPH to 16.0 @ 85 MPH. I drove the vehicle the exact same way everytime on the track. Shifting at 7200 RPM side stepping the clutch between gears and launching at 4000 RPM. If I launched at 4500 RPM, my tires would spin.





Tom

 

[Eduardo Bailey]

Coastie, my '93 aerostar was like that. The van could not suck in enough air when cruising up the California Mountains after having been on the Nevada desert floor. The MAF always went bananas. My ST adjusted very well.



Edman