It was high time we turned our attention to our 2013 F150 5.0L's power output and exhaust system. We started off with the Holy Trinity of Performance Modifications: a cold air intake kit, a cat-back exhaust, and powerful custom tuning. These gave our truck a nice bosst in power without breaking the bank , but we later jumped up to a full ProCharger supercharger kit!
First up was a cold air intake kit. Opening up the 5.0L V8's intake airflow with a cold air intake can provide a nice bump in throttle response and overall performance. We grabbed ourselves S&B's cold air intake with an oiled re-usable filter. This intake comes in at a fair price point, features high-quality construction, and offers up excellent levels of fitment and performance. S&B certainly doesn't leave much to complain about, and their cold air intake kit looks great in our 5.0L's engine bay. S&B Cold Air Intake Kit (Cotton)
The stock exhaust system of the 2011 to 2014 F150 5.0's isn't really befitting of a big, aggressive V8. The good news is that there's a ton of aftermarket cat-back options to get your V8 sounding as awesome as it rightfully should. One of our personal favorites is the Flowmaster American Thunder Cat-Back Exhaust Kit. The American Thunder Kit has a big, aggressive sound with only a hint of drone at cruising, making it an excellent choice for anyone who wants to hear their motor sing when they stomp on the throttle. The system fits all wheelbase sizes and comes with options for either a straight out the rear or side exit configuration, giving you options for looks. Flowmaster American Thunder Cat-Back Exhaust Kit
While a cold air intake and a cat-back kit are good for some mild performance gains and sound, the real power comes from replacing the stock PCM tuning with much more potent custom tuning. We turned to our old friends at 5-Star for a set of their F150 5.0L custom tunes on an SCT Livewire TS+ so we could get the power and drivability we wanted out of our 5.0L Coyote V8. 5-Star's custom tunes adjust key engine parameters and revise transmission functionality so that the truck makes more power, holds gears longer, and gets faster and firmer shifting which all work together to greatly improve drivability in practically any application. SCT Livewire TS+ with 5-Star Custom Tunes
When it came to getting the maximum amount of power out of our F150's 5.0 there was really only one option, a supercharger. We chose to run the Procharger Stage 2 intercooled system in our truck which would net us around 8 to 9psi of boost pressure and 590 horsepower at the crankshaft! The kit comes standard with eight high-flow fuel injectors, a revised intake system with performance air filter, ProFlow bypass valve, a PCM programmer that's pre-loaded with a powerful ProCharger tune, installation hardware, and detailed instructions so we didn't have to sweat the details. With our truck sitting on 37" tires this ProCharger brought back some much needed pep. ProCharger P-1SC Stage 2 Intercooled Supercharger Kit
