Mishimoto Intercooler, MBRP Exhaust, and 5 Star Tuning | Boosting a 6.7L Powerstroke Diesel
“Too much power is almost enough.” Those words ring particularly true in the world of diesel trucks. While GM seems to have fallen by the wayside in the HP one-upmanship among the Big 3, Ford and Ram are steadily cranking up the performance dial on their respective diesels. And there no shortage of aftermarket companies out there to help the diesel enthusiast get their torque fix. Recently, we caught up with the guys over at 5 Star Tuning while they had a 2017 Powerstroke F-250 on the dyno. That truck was in for some custom tuning to go along with some newly installed upgrades.
Chief among the new mods was Mishimoto’s newly released 6.7L Powerstroke Intercooler. The 6.7 PSD, unlike previous model Powerstrokes, utilizes an air-to-water intercooler design. Though the factory supplied unit is a good performing high quality piece, the crew over at Mishimoto felt there was room for improvement. Their custom core increase both air and coolant flow, which results in lower intake air temperatures and a denser air-charge. That should all add up to a few more horsepower making it to the pavement and less performance drop when pulling a long highway grade in the summer heat. It’s a win-win all around.
The Mishimoto intercooler tucks neatly in place of the factory unit.
The customer decided to go for a blue powder coated unit for a little extra under-hood bling.
If you’re going to be stuffing more air into the engine it’s a wise idea to help it make its way out. To that end, 5 Star bolted on an MBRP filter-back exhaust. MBRP makes very high quality kits, and the fit and finish are second to none. The 5 Star team found the installation to be simple and straight forward. It’s something basically anyone with an average tool collection can knock out in their driveway in just a couple hours. The result is a much better looking exhaust system and just a touch more aggressive note.
All this work is being done with the factory emissions equipment in place. Long gone are the days of needing to ditch it all to make power.
The MBRP Exhaust is a high quality filter-back system with dual polished tips.
The MBRP system gives a subtle increase in turbocharged tone, but brings a major styling upgrade to the party.
To top everything off, Josh at 5 Star worked his magic with the SCT Advantage tuning software to make sure the calibration was optimized for the new, and previously installed, modifications. The tune was transferred to the Super Duty’s ECU via an SCT X-Cal 4. That particular handheld tuning device has long been a favorite here on SVTP, and for good reason. It’s simple, affordable, and just flat out works. The X-Cal 4 has probably been supported by more tuning shops over the years than anything this side of a carburetor.
Custom tuning from 5 Star, via an SCT BDX tuner, brings all the components together.
After everything was cinched down and tuned up, it was time to make the dyno rollers spin. If you aren’t around modern diesel trucks being dyno’d on the regular it’s easy to forget just how quickly and quietly they make power. A full pull takes just seconds. In about the time a gas powered engine is just starting to make some real torque the diesel will already be at redline. And with the emissions components fully intact engine noise is quite subdued. For the efforts of the 5 Star team, this truck laid 485.5HP @ 3,000RPM and 1,027TQ @ 2,400RPM. I’d say that’s fairly healthy for daily driver duties.
You can't argue with results like this.
Some Mishimoto intercooler pipes replaced the factory ones that are prone to failure.
The lift and wheel/tire combo may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this truck should get noticed at the mall.
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