First Impressions of my new STA

[Henry Suarez]

Well after 22 hours of driving from Dallas, TX to Miami, FL I've gotten to know my new STA pretty well. I am 100 % in love with my new truck. The dealer (Davis Ford) was fantastic and the truck, which had 30k miles looked and smelled like brand new.



First the negatives (which are not many):

1-I don't like the empty switches on the dashboard.

2- The rear headrests are too tall and make it almost impossible to go in reverse.

3-The 3.55 gears make her a little slow off the line (I will be upgrading to 3.73's if someone could tell me what and where to buy them).



The Positives:

1-EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!! The truck is great. Took me 4 tank fulls to travel the entire distance, which at one point I pushed her up to 115 mph and she still felt like their was plenty more left.



As soon as I got home I changed the oil to full synthetic (Mobil one) and took the front tag holder off. Future mods will be exhaust, exhaust tip, intake, and thrttle body.

 

[OLE442]

Negatives:

1) You could find add ons to use the empty spots for.

2)Rear head rests - I keep mine folded down all the time when I don't have an adult passenger in the back seat(I also am irratatated by them). I also added a rear camer in my rear plate to help with rear vision(see pics in my library).

3)I think the tuner you can get from Torrie would take care of that since it changes the shift points in the tranny(That's next on my list) and that's easier than changing gears IMO.





Get the Todd Z modded throttle body. One of the best things you can get IMO.



Congrats on the new STA!



'07 ST

 

[Todd Z]

Cop



1)---- Those are for the regular explorer and mountaineer.... Options the ST does not use... Ford is not going to make a complete different dashboard.... heck my 94 supra had these on the dash as well.... all manufacturers do it...



2)--- Pull the straps, the rear headrests FOLD down out of the way !!!



3) ---- Get a wrecked V6 07 and UP..... DIRECT SWAP !!! take the OEM stuff and switch it... the V6 comes with 373.... BUT THERE IS HOPE !!!



4) The truck from the factory has a "RAMP IN" built in the computer that KILLS the off the line take off........ An XCAL tuner fixes that, and the TB,,,, air flow wakes up the truck !!!



The MPG suffered doing that kind of driving........ Rachel is getting dam good mileage in my 2010.... I drive it and it suffers 3+ mpg loss !!!... LOL



Check out my youtube videos of my adren taking off.... you can see the differance....



GOOD LUCK WITH IT MAN !!!!!



Todd Z

 

[Carey Frennier]

If you have a RWD I would definently change the gears. With an AWD it would cost you about $3,000!



The tune will make a huge difference. I noticed a big difference with the ZTB and the K&N KIPK for take off power. My Magnaflow exhaust actually reduced the low end grunt but I love the sound so much, I wouldn't go without it!

 

[Galen Burden]

I dont think you will notice much difference between the 3.55 and the 3.73 gears.



I had 4.30's put in my 2wd 4.6 Limited and I absolutely love it. I tow a small boat in the summer and the difference is pretty dramatic.



Fuel economy remained unchanged with the 4.30. The 6 speed trans has a double overdrive and at 70 mph mine was turning 1800-1900 or so rpms. The 4.6 makes zero torque there and the slightest hill made it downshift twice to maintain speed even when not towing.



With the 4.30 at 70 mph, it turns 2400 rpm which is a much sweeter spot for the motor. When not towing, it rarely downshifts unless you snap the throttle pretty good.



If I was doing it again, I would probably go for 4.56 but I would recomend it without actually trying it my self.



I got the idea from this post on another board. I am very happy with the results.



http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220833

 

[EddieS'04]

gbb, is right. You will need to change the gears .75 increase or more. Thats the only way you will feel it on low end grunt.



Been there done that on other cars.

 

[David Roll]

4) The truck from the factory has a "RAMP IN" built in the computer that KILLS the off the line take off........ An XCAL tuner fixes that, and the TB,,,, air flow wakes up the truck !!!

Todd - what is an XCAL tuner? Can I get that done? Do it myself with some equipment?



Dave

 

[EddieS'04]

Droll, touch base with our site sponsor, Torrie. He sells the tuners and very good at writting tunes you need.



Aslo great customer service after the sale. He will satisfy you.

 

[David Roll]

Interesting, before I contact the vendor, are any of the flash devices "better" than the others? Do they have "better" pre-tunes? I'm sure the vendor has an opinion, but I would like to hear it here 1st.





Thanks

 

[EddieS'04]

IMO, The SCT flasher is the best on the market. Not the only one though. The SCT X-CAL3, is probably the most easiest to use, for the $$.



Do a search on ECU flashers. You will come up with a few others. Not all write tunes for all cars. Or not all motors within a, auto brand.



Definitly go with a flasher in stead of a piggy back chip. Piggy backs sometimes have connection problems and have to be removed to go back stock. Have to be sent to the factory or seller for tune changes.



Flashers plug into the OBD II port. Simple to use. Our sponsor is familiar with our motors and transmissions. He can write tunes for you that are better than pre-tunes. His prices are competitive for the SCT brand. Also he helps keep our site free of membership fee's.



If no else chimes in here. Start another thread for Q & A. Our good folks here will help you.



EDIT; read the faq on unleased site also.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Sounds like a GROUP BUY opportunity!

 

[David Roll]

Thanks Eddie