2006 Grayhawk Ford e450 v-10: Power increase

rentman99 wrote:
I also purchased the 5 Star Super Tune, and I LOVE it! Noticeable increase in power and shifts LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO! I'm usually pulling a ski boat and the downshifting was ridiculous. Even when not towing, the slightest upgrade would cause the downshifting.

The Super Tune is money well spent. You'll definitely see results.

Hmmm ... even in Tow/Haul mode?

I drive our V10 powered motorhome a lot with it's Tow/Haul mode invoked - since our E450 chassis is "hauling" a lot of weight all the time - and in this mode the shifting is a lot more controlled and nicely reduced from what it is when not using this mode.

I wonder what state vehicle clean air regulations are not being met with any changes to stock engine settings.

I also purchased the 5 Star Super Tune, and I LOVE it! Noticeable increase in power and shifts LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO! I'm usually pulling a ski boat and the downshifting was ridiculous. Even when not towing, the slightest upgrade would cause the downshifting.

The Super Tune is money well spent. You'll definitely see results.

ccchuck wrote:

DrewE wrote:

pauldub wrote:
Push harder on the gas pedal and let the engine scream, really.

x2 on this. The Ford V10 needs to rev to produce power, more so than many truck engines, and with ten cylinders it sounds like it's about to self-destruct...but it isn't, and it can operate like that as long as is needed.

That said, you of course are not going to get car-like acceleration out of a class C motorhome...even little economy car-like acceleration.

wow... ok - any other advice?

Hmmm ... what really would you like to improve?

i.e. - Do you need/want more horsepower than your V10 puts out at it's maximum of 305 HP ... or is it's 305 HP maximum probably OK ... but you just don't like the way you have to use the engine to tap it's horsepower?

Note that many of the diesel engines that power and/or pull RVs have horsepower maximums considerably less than 305 HP. It's just that these diesel engines have high crankshaft torque at whatever HP they are putting out ... and that they put out this torque and HP at lower crankshaft RPM values due to the inherent characteristics of diesel engine technology.

The only torque that counts is the torque on the drive wheels' axles, and how you develop this torque is by converting any raw horsepower that the engine is putting out at any given engine RPM into drive axle torque through use of gearing between the engine's crankshaft and the drive axles.

What the above means is -> you must tap whatever of your V10's horsepower is needed to push along your particular RV at any particular speed on any particular road grade. How you call into play your V10's horsepower is to rev it up to whatever RPM is needed to produce whatever horsepower is needed so as to convert this horsepower (using the proper gears) into the needed torque on the drive wheels.

For the V10, more RPM is needed than what we are used to from good old truck V8 gas engines and diesel engines. We have to just get used to the sound ... along with any anxiety that our V10 may break while making it's horsepower!

I have a 1995 454 TBI eng in a 15,000 lb Class A and have done the following to improve performance. I measured performance by 40-60 mph times. When I first bought the MH it took 22 secs to go from 40 -60 mph. A tune up, plugs wires distributor cap brought it down to 19 secs. Headers, FF mufflers and CAI reduced it to 14 secs. Headers would add about 80 HP to the older 454's and 460's the newer V-10's will probably be less. Check on the Banks web site for your year eng and type for HP increase. Advanced timing from 4 degrees BTDC(stock) to 9 degrees BTDC further reduced time to 12 secs. Also transmission no longer downshifts at the slightest hill and engine temps were reduced only rarely the fan clutch come on any more except on very steep hills out west. My stock engine only produced 230 HP, the mods brought it up to a little over 300 hp. Nothing increased the MPG except installing a Vacuum gauge and watching it. 8.5 mpgs went to 8.7 mpgs if I use it when traveling. If you don't know what your baseline performance is before any mods you won't know what the increase will be and it is hard to tell just by noise or "seat of the pants dyno". So before spending a lot of money be careful when asking your friends about their mods if the just tell you it sounds or feels like better performance.

ccchuck wrote:
re: 5 Star Tune..
would like to hear from anyone who has installed it on a class c.

I have it on mine. Really helped the transmission, firmer more positive shifts, and less gear hunting. It definitely has more power too, how much ? Negligible maybe, you won't necessarily feel it in the seat of your pants but once you get to a familiar hill or highway, you'll realize that yes it has more power. Mileage was improved maybe slightly, .5 mpg or so, but absolutely scoots up the hills better. A good tune will absolutely not decrease engine life, Mike @ 5-Star knows these coaches and has the tune dialed in. Personally , I doubt you'll regret it.

Edit: Also, if you ever decide to upgrade the exhaust, air intake, etc, Mike can email you an updated tune to reflect the changes.

re: 5 Star Tune..
would like to hear from anyone who has installed it on a class c.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I have an 11-ton diesel that pulls Donner Summit in 12th gear and 75 mph. That said don't ask about price, near-insane amount of time and effort. My experience with exhaust headers is

They char everything around them
They leak
Run the rig through a splat of cold water and snap-po a crack
Triple jointed tools needed to change spark plugs
Oh joy! A $130 set of Jacobs super-insulated spark plug wires is in your future
Mouse milk improvement in power.


jcobs

I hear what you're saying, and you're old school. But, headers on a Ford V-10 are no where near the plugs and wires. The Banks headers and exhaust really wake the V-10 up (We installed a ton of them), but Bank's sure is proud of his products. Hard to swallow $2,500-$3,000 on headers and exhaust, plus installation, IMO.

After doing the weight reduction stuff we installed a 5 Star tuner ($549) on our 2005 Itasca V-10 class C which increases HP but more importantly added torque and moved the peak torque point to slightly lower RPM (3200-3400). Improved both the shifting which really helped and a slight MPG gain. We were surprised how much better she climbed the mountains, passed many Class A's over the years.

Dave

I have an 11-ton diesel that pulls Donner Summit in 12th gear and 75 mph. That said don't ask about price, near-insane amount of time and effort. My experience with exhaust headers is

They char everything around them
They leak
Run the rig through a splat of cold water and snap-po a crack
Triple jointed tools needed to change spark plugs
Oh joy! A $130 set of Jacobs super-insulated spark plug wires is in your future
Mouse milk improvement in power.





jcobs

Headers $2000 or more
K&N air filter $100 and risk of damaging the engine if not maintained propperly
Reprograming chip $1000 and you WILL decrease your engine life
Better gas (Rec 90, no alcohol) but always use that gas so your engine adapts (if you switch back and forth you never get the advantage of the better gas)
Most expensive, replace your V10 2 valve 305HP for a V10 3 valve 365HP like the ones used in Class A motorhomes. $10K minimun

I have owned A LOT of RVs, and the V10 is the most responsive engine I have had. Even more responsive than the diesel pushers.It does like to rev high...