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HP Tuners recently announced full tuning support for the 3.5-liter EcoBoost-powered F-150 Raptor.
The 3.5-liter 2017 F-150 and Raptor both use an entirely new engine control module as well as a new transmission control module. — Eric Brooks, HP Tuners
According to HP Tuners, the company’s VCM Suite 3.5 Beta tuning software can now tune and datalog the new Raptor. Flashing in a new calibration is said to only take 18 seconds. To get the skinny on this support, we reached out to Eric Brooks, Calibration Engineer at HP Tuners, who explained the challenges presented by the new Ford trucks.
“The 3.5-liter 2017 F-150 and Raptor both use an entirely new engine control module as well as a new transmission control module,” Eric said. “Just like with any new control module we add support for, there were a few obstacles we have to overcome to support, but overall adding support for the ECM was not very difficult.”
With a new dual-fuel system and engine control module, the new Raptor is a complex beast, but now you can unlock its potential with HP Tuners’ VCM Suite 3.5 Beta.
Because he could overcome those obstacles, tuners will now be able to tweak a wide variety of parameters to increase the performance of this truck.
“With this support, you can adjust fuel, spark, variable cam timing, wastegate control, direct-injection/port-injection control, cooling fans, rev limiter, speed limiter, etc.” Eric explained. “Everything you would expect to see.”
This release just hit, so it has yet to be widely implemented by tuners, but Eric is confident that these capabilities will yield some impressive results.
Once the software gets into the hands of the guys on the dyno, we will get some concrete numbers. I’d expect close to 100 horsepower. — Eric Brooks, HP Tuners
Those are big gains, but there is still an obstacle to overcome—the new 10-speed transmission. With this gearbox headed to other fords, including the 2018 Mustang, unlocking its controller is obviously a top priority.
“Like the ECM, the new 10-speed transmission has a new control module as well, and we have a few obstacles to overcome, but it will be available in the very near future,” Eric added.
With the tuning support for the engine followed by the transmission, it will be great to see what the full potential of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine in this Raptor.
