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Tuning the 3.0 Continental


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After waiting months for Livernois Motorsports to develop a tune for the 3.0 Continental, I finally gave up on them. Since I was the ONLY person in the world who asked them for a tune, I can't really blame them for not going to the time, trouble and expense of developing one.

 

So, I have been working with another tuner. His approach required me to attach an SCT tuning device to the ODB port and do a couple of WOT runs, download the info and send it to him. He then analyzed that info, let me know what could be done safely and sent me a tune. We have repeated this datalog, analyze and tweak process 4 times now with each revision getting better. It sounds like a couple more revisions should make it all it can be....safely.

 

So far, his changes include making sure the drive-by-wire throttle is a actually opening far enough at wide-open-throttle. He has also tweaked the air/fuel ratio to a more ideal setting for my altitude and driving conditions. Ignition timing has been advanced a couple of degrees and the maximum boost has been increased 2 PSI. The transmission tuning has also been tweaked with higher hydraulic pressure at heavy throttle applications.

 

The result of all this has really transformed the car. The shifts are smooth as silk in normal driving but quick and firm under heavy throttle. Speaking of heavy throttle, it is amazing what the engine tweaks have done. The car is really a rocket, now! I will be going back to the track next week to see exactly how it runs but seat-of-the-pants tells me that it is much quicker than before. My Aeroforce gauge is showing 0-60 in 4.2 seconds which is about .7 quicker than stock.

 

Based on the current engine parameters, the tuner says he can add 2 more PSI of boost without fear of spark knock as long as I run 93 octane fuel - which is all I have ever used, anyway. I am not sure if the Conti will be as quick as a tuned SHO or my MKS ecoboost but the tuning so far has made the car 100% more enjoyable for me!

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No cost to me although I will likely send him a gift when we are finished....assuming my car doesn't blow up. :) He is really an SHO tuning specialist and he agreed to tune my 3.0TT as a development vehicle. I know that sounds risky but his personal vehicle is an F150 with the 2.7 Nano and he has tuned it. He tells me that my 3.0 is very similar in terms of the ECU and how the vehicle responds to tweaks. There are some similarities with the 3.5 ecoboost but also some big differences. By the way, his F150 puts out 366 HP and 465 torque at the wheels on the dyno. These little turbo engines can be torque monsters!

 

I am not looking for the ultimate go-for-broke power like some of the SHO guys who are running meth, using race fuel and have performance exhausts, suspension upgrades, etc. I mainly wanted it to shift better and have about the same level of performance as my old tuned MKS ecoboost.

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While the tuning is not complete on my Conti, I did run it at the track last night. It was a hot humid night so conditions were not good for great times. However, the results show we are making progress. Based on racing calculators, the times put the 0-60 MPH at 4.26. That is in line with the 4.2 that I recorded with an Aeroforce gauge, although the 4.2 was done on a cool morning with less humidity. I am car 505. One run was against a Jeep SRT8 who I beat 13.1 to 13.3. (Video) Note that in sport mode, active noise cancellation is gone and you can hear the turbos. :)

 

https://youtu.be/xG2bzHgjy4E

 

 

 

 

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That's really cool. I plan on replacing my current company car with a 2017 Fusion Sport in the next month or so. I would love to see what it could do with a 93 octane tune.

 

I follow a Fusion Sport forum and there are tuned Sports running in the 12s.

 

 

I think that's pretty dang good too. Do you think you can get it down to 4.0?

 

We really have a mild tune in it now. I imagine a 4 second flat is possible with some tweaking. I do want to stay somewhat conservative, though. My old tuned MKS would consistently run 0-60 in 4 seconds flat and ran 3.94 on a few occasions. It only had to shift once to reach 60. The Continental has to shift twice so that might hurt it a little even though the full throttle shifts are quick and firm with the tune.

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It's impressive for sure. Speaking of weight. Seats are heavy but I wonder how much the 30 way seats weigh. A seat in an f150 with heating and cooling are quite heavy. Wonder about the continentals 30way.

well they can't install them by hand at the plant like they can with the Mustang seats, so if the seat lift breaks down (which usually happens about once a shift unless they've fixed it better since I left) it becomes a 2 person job.
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well they can't install them by hand at the plant like they can with the Mustang seats, so if the seat lift breaks down (which usually happens about once a shift unless they've fixed it better since I left) it becomes a 2 person job.

Fuzzy, I appreciate your input from the assembly line perspective. It's interesting and insightful.

 

I worked a summer on the assembly line at Maytag in Galesburg IL back in the day, so I understand the value of the work you guys do.

Edited by tbone
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  • 2 weeks later...

I ran again at Brainerd Raceway last night in typical hot and muggy conditions for this time of year. We had tweaked the tune just a bit and I broke into the 12s in spite of terrible air. I am car 631. Car 646 was a Camaro SS (455 HP). He was having traction issues and in spite of a great reaction time, the car needed a more experienced driver. Car 662 was a 392 Hemi Challenger Scat Pack with drag slicks. He had awesome traction and beat my 60 foot time which he would not have done without the slicks.

 

I am not running again until later in the season when the air is better. The times below put 0-60 MPH at 4.10 based on the racing calculator. Not too shabby for a 4600 pound vehicle with a 180 cubic inch engine. Some Magazines such as Car & Driver adjust their performance measurements to sea-level results to eliminate weather and altitude differences in testing. If I were to do that, I would be looking at 12.5 quarter mile and 0-60 just under 4 seconds.

 

I think the tune is now complete. By the way, the car is getting a little over 1 MPG better mileage with the tune. :)

 

 

 

 

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Good to hear! I had planned on tuning my MKZ. Now that it's gone, I am living vicariously through you and your tuned Conti. What ever happened to the guy that was tuning his MKZ Black Label? He kinda disappeared. The 3.0 engine is no joke. If even stock form, you can get some pretty impressive and violent acceleration. This engine needs to be in the alleged Mustang Lincoln, with the 10 speed.

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Good to hear! I had planned on tuning my MKZ. Now that it's gone, I am living vicariously through you and your tuned Conti. What ever happened to the guy that was tuning his MKZ Black Label? He kinda disappeared. The 3.0 engine is no joke. If even stock form, you can get some pretty impressive and violent acceleration. This engine needs to be in the alleged Mustang Lincoln, with the 10 speed.

 

The guy with the Black Label MKZ is fairly active on the MKZ forum. He is doing some bolt-ons, I think...bigger intercooler, etc. He said he was waiting for cooler weather this fall to go to the track. Yes, that little 3.0 can make some serious power. In a lighter MKZ, a tuned 3.0 should be very quick. The Continental suspension is too soft for really aggressive launches. It will wheel hop if I launch at over 1500 RPM and that could lead to breakage. The Z is stiffer so it should handle more aggressive launches.

 

 

Wow. That's definitely impressive. What do the guys at the strip say about it? I bet they are all surprised. That's a real sleeper.

 

The first time I took the Conti to the track and ran it stock, no one seemed very interested. Now that it is running stronger, it does get a lot of attention. Even a guy with a CTS-V complimented me although his car was running much faster.

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