2.3L Engine Upgrade Priorities / Lowest Hanging Fruit

[ericsmr]

Im considering some upgrades to boost power, but also want to make sure that power increases are matched with corresponding upgrades to make sure that I maintain reliability. Is there any consensus around the order of upgrades and what is needed to support those upgrades?

Im going to start with the Ford Performance Calibration, and will then consider an S&B intake (once it is available, and would use a dry filter). After that it seems like the downpipe is the next step, and probably a larger undertaking than I'm looking to take on. Is there other low hanging fruit that I'm overlooking and should be considered? As much as I'd like a better sounding exhaust, that seems to be a very limited (or no) performance upgrade? Charge pipes?

At what point is an upgraded intercooler recommended?

This is largely a theoretical topic - and I am likely to just stop after the tune. Posing this question out of curiosity and to better understand the engine.

My order of operations will be as follows: 2025 2.3 tune (when it comes out), S&B Intake, Borla Exhaust, then eventually the intercooler. No other modifications I am looking at, should add plenty of HP there

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[Txquailguy]

I’m chomping at the bit! But here’s the scoop…you want that tune running like the ones from the 19-24’s….super stable…loads of power…really safe and honestly much better transmission mapping than Fords.
I want to load that up and forget about it.
I know they are working diligently on it. I’m thinking any day now….

 

[superj]

I would be happy if someone could tune the transmission on its own. I like my procal tune and will like an aftermarket tune some day but really, just a transmission tune would be awesome also

 

[Txquailguy]

I would be happy if someone could tune the transmission on its own. I like my procal tune and will like an aftermarket tune some day but really, just a transmission tune would be awesome also

I understand why folks run the Ford Procal tune with the warranty. I definitely understand that there is some inherent risk in running an aftermarket tune without a warranty. That being said, I ran the complete dog doo doo out of my 2019 2.3 Ranger with the Livernois 93 octane, hard shift tune as my daily driver for 86K before I traded her in. She was still running like a beast at 106K! I truly believe their programming is superior to Ford factory programming....IMHO
BTW...Just so you know how Ford feels about Livernois Motorsports.....you may not know this, but the Ford Procal tuner calibrator the tunes are loaded on.....is built by Livernois for Ford...

 

[got3fords]

I understand why folks run the Ford Procal tune with the warranty. I definitely understand that there is some inherent risk in running an aftermarket tune without a warranty. That being said, I ran the complete dog doo doo out of my 2019 2.3 Ranger with the Livernois 93 octane, hard shift tune as my daily driver for 86K before I traded her in. She was still running like a beast at 106K! I truly believe their programming is superior to Ford factory programming....IMHO
BTW...Just so you know how Ford feels about Livernois Motorsports.....you may not know this, but the Ford Procal tuner calibrator the tunes are loaded on.....is built by Livernois for Ford...

I think there are some top notch aftermarket tuners out there. I too had the Livernois tune on my '21 XLT. This time after reading up on the vast Ecoboost tuning background of Winfield at GooseTuned, I went that route. Got about 100HP more and it drives awesome.

 

[NickyFlippers]

Spoken like a true Ranger Raptor owner...
Performance decrease? Really?
SO NOT TRUE!!
If you have your ecu tuned for those modifications YOU WILL see a massive power/torque increase. You must not know very much about tuning in the 2.3 ecoboost. 100 HP/100 FT/LB of torque increase are easily achievable with the old 2.3....We'll see about the 2.3 MPC, I'll let you know when they finish building the tunes at Livernois (I'm first on the list...)

You might need a refresher in reading comprehension, hoss. You even said it yourself. "IF YOU HAVE YOUR ECU TUNED FOR THOSE MODS"

Now show me where OP mentions anything about custom tuning? I'm simply stating that bolt ons won't be recognized by the Ford tune, that would require... say it with me now "CUSTOM TUNING"

I swear people like you just log in here to bitch and moan. Weird.


(Particularly funny because I owned a 2024 2.3 Lariat for 2 years, which is visible in my PFP)

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