So Cal upgrades?

[FO SHO 13]

Hi everyone I just picked up a mint 2013 Taurus SHO 62,000 mi on it and I was curious about upgrades. At this time of my life I do not have time to fix my cars but I am somewhat of a little backyard mechanic so I can do little things here and there if needed. I've been hearing about intake, exhaust, and tune. I'm also thinking about lowering it but I don't want to loose the smooth ride. Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

 

[Admin]

Welcome! For the Ecoboost SHO the most bang for the buck is going to be a solid tune. Exhaust tends to be more for noise, and the intake systems are a bit of a holy war as far as benefits. For most applications people are seeing the KN drop in filter as the best investment. Although the other intake systems, much like the exhaust systems, make for some pretty cool noises.  I had coilovers on my 2010 and HR's on my 2016 performance package. The HRs stiffened things up a bit and certainly impacted the smooth ride, but that is going to be subjective. I personally didn't have an issue with it, but there have been some who are more interested in the smoother ride.

 

[Macgyver]

Tune it. Just do it. Hands down the best thing you can do. Follow it up with Trans Mounts. Then some upgraded brake pads.

Gearhead. AJP Turbo. Unleashed. Ortiz. All are great options for tuning.

 

[FO SHO 13]

Exactly what I had in mind.  All I've ever heard was Livernois up until 3 days ago when everyone on here says ORTIZ OR GEAR HEAD. Never heard of them but I'll take a look.  That's exactly what I did on my Silverado is throw a k&n in and and then the bottom of the stock box I actually drilled a bunch of holes in it for more airflow. What do u guys think about down pipes? Or a catch can?

 

[Macgyver]

Tune it first. It may be all the fun you need. No need to complicate things yet.

Down pipes certainly work. I would get Catted ones to avoid possible issues in the future ? with inspections etc etc.

Catch can. They work. I would do it if it was brand newish but you got miles on it and what benefits are you going to get from it now ?

I would also recommend a dry filter if you need to replace the filter at all. AEM make excellent ones. Besides. Show me a SHO or any car do a 1/4 mile faster with a K&N in with back to back consistent runs over other filters. There is a thread in here somewhere where a SHO made 1/4 mile runs using the OEM air box. MD Design CAI, and a Air Raid set up. Nothing was better with times.

 

[TopherSho]

Tune it first. It may be all the fun you need. No need to complicate things yet.

Down pipes certainly work. I would get Catted ones to avoid possible issues in the future ? with inspections etc etc.

Catch can. They work. I would do it if it was brand newish but you got miles on it and what benefits are you going to get from it now ?

I would also recommend a dry filter if you need to replace the filter at all. AEM make excellent ones. Besides. Show me a SHO or any car do a 1/4 mile faster with a K&N in with back to back consistent runs over other filters. There is a thread in here somewhere where a SHO made 1/4 mile runs using the OEM air box. MD Design CAI, and a Air Raid set up. Nothing was better with times.

Agree with additions ;

(1) The PTU has 60k on it.  Read up on the PTU fluid change and change it asap.  And maybe send in a oil sample to blackstone or drag a strong magnet through it.  The PTU's do NOT have a service schedule and are sealed for life with a ''lifetime'' fluid that craps the bed around 50k,  especially in hotter climates. And even with care they can crack the case or eat the gears pretty suddenly. 

(2) Change out the tranny fluid, then over fill it by a *PINT* or maybe a bit more. When you start hitting higher TQ levels the tranny will slip\hop on launch and cause terrible shock to the drive train.


(3) Get some water wetter. I use it and drop the head temps around 5c .. i use 2 full containers in the 50/50 mix.


(4) get 1 step colder plugs,  gap them around .026 -.028 .. helps with spark stability at launch and higher rpm.

High flow cats help quite a bit .. but a number of them will require a j-tube or spacer to not throw a code.  be sure to talk to the vendor on how to avoid codes for the platform you are on.

~cheers