The Bully Dog Eco Boost Challenge

CC | September 21, 2011

The aftermarket performance industry is constantly evolving. Once upon a time, gear heads were focused on hard parts. Upgrading was as simple as bolting the best parts you could afford onto the project vehicle that had taken up residence on several jack stands in the back of your garage.

But today’s gear head is a different breed. As vehicles have become more and more dependent upon computerized controllers, both businesses and enthusiasts have had to adapt, incorporating words like “tuning”, “module” and “downloader” into their lexicon. The world in which many of us operate has quite quickly become part of a technological revolution.

Enter the 2011 Eco Boost engines. Many consider this powerful little direct-injected 3.5L to be a technological leap forward, delivering diesel-esque torque (420 lb/ft max, 90% at just 1700 rpm!) with its twin turbos and a respectable 365 horsepower to the flywheel, according to Ford.

Bully Dog prides itself on tech-forward thinking. The entire company saw this new engine as a challenge. With a new and uniquely capable product in development, the Eco Boost was the perfect showcase platform. And so the challenge was set forth: tune the Eco Boost engine AND assemble a project vehicle for SEMA capable of demonstrating both the tuning and the platform on which Bully Dog will deliver future tunes. Daunting? Sure. Achievable? Hooah.

The idea was simple: Bully Dog is developing the next generation performance electronic device. The build should highlight the emerging capabilities of this new product, and at a huge trade show like SEMA, it must stand out.

Implementation was not so simple. At an initial loss for how to showcase the myriad features of this device, several Bully Dog employees joked the truck should just have a sign on each side advertising them. Many a truth is spoken in jest; we didn’t know it, but we’d stumbled upon the core idea that would shape the build.

The Bully Dog Ego Boost (see what we did there?) will be a true product showcase, with an interactive display station driving two actuated HDTVs that rise out of the top of the custom A.R.E. shell. In addition, each side of the truck will include recessed display areas to showcase additional Bully Dog products such as Rapid Flow Cold Air Intakes, Heavy Duty Exhaust Manifolds and more. The entire bed unit will be removable with a forklift so that any truck in the Bully Dog fleet can be quickly modified into a showcase truck.

In addition, the truck will be fully customized with paint by Stacey’s Paint and Polish, a 3” lift by Ready Lift, wheels and tires from Falken, a custom camper shell from A.R.E, a double TV lift from Nexus 21, lighting by Anzo, a custom grille from T-Rex, custom sound by Sony and AMP Research Power Steps. With them on board, and more sponsors committing every day this truck is truly going to be a show stopper!

And so the pieces have fallen into place. In just the last week Bully Dog’s outstanding engineering team successfully tuned the EcoBoost for a maximum horsepower and torque gain of 42.9 and 55.4 respectively, which will make this the best gas tune we’ve ever delivered. Even more exciting: across the entire power band users can look forward to average gains of around 33 HP and 41 lbs/ft of torque! To top it off, the Bully Dog Ego Boost vehicle is coming together nicely. There is much left to be done, but the culmination will be worth the hours spent. Get ready for an Ego Boost!