Active ReGeneration Attacks
During our testing, the truck went into its Active Regeneration mode after a few acceleration passes. Active Regeneration is Ford's way of cleaning the 6.4L's new diesel-particulate filter (DPF) mounted in the exhaust system. The DPF is required to trap soot produced by the engine to meet the current diesel emissions standards. You can think of Active Regeneration like the automatic oven-cleaning setting on your kitchen stove, except in the 6.4L, diesel fuel is injected into the engine after the main combustion to superheat the DPF. The whole process is controlled by the factory engine computer and is triggered when the DPF in the exhaust system begins to clog. We suspect the added power of the Bully Dog programmer could produce more exhaust soot and may cause the engine's computer to trigger Active Regeneration more often. How often the engine goes into Active Regeneration will depend largely on how the vehicle is driven.- David Kennedy
 Before we started playing...  Before we started playing with the PMT's thousand different readouts, we wanted to see the horsepower and torque increases from its electronic tuning. The 6.4L was strapped to Bully Dog's Mustang dyno, and several dyno runs were performed using the stock, tow, performance, and extreme modes. Bear in mind, these numbers were achieved using a preproduction PMT unit, and they may change by the time you'll be able to purchase one. |  We heard rumors about 6.4L's...  We heard rumors about 6.4L's ECU detecting additional horsepower and backing off the power on the road. Even with some impressive numbers on the dyno, we wanted to see how the new tuning related to increased power on the road and tried some unofficial quarter-mile testing with and without a trailer. On the road, the truck was definitely faster than the stock 6.4L, and the power seemed on par with the first programmers that came out for the 6.0L when it was brand-new. |  To keep it safe and not cause...  To keep it safe and not cause an accident from playing with the PMT's display while driving, we pulled over to the side of the road and checked out the PMT's different readouts. It uses a simple interface button on the side of the display and a touch-screen display that allows the user to navigate through the simple menu system. Basically, the PMT lets the user pick four numerical displays on the lefthand side of the screen and a graphic readout on the top, right corner of the display. The bottom, right corner of the display keeps the driver informed of the date, time, and current horsepower program. |
 There's a host of different...  There's a host of different inputs the user can choose to display, ranging from battery voltage to EGT. Our favorite showed real-time fluctuation of the engine's intake temperature. This kind of information could be very helpful in determining the performance of a new air-intake system. | | |