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If you talk to EcoBoost performance fiends pushing the performance envelope, one of the first things hurdles you will hear them bring up is the fuel system. Adding power with bolt-ons, tuning and bigger turbos is easy enough until you run out of fuel. That’s why the clever crew at Livernois Motorsports developed the Firestorm high-pressure fuel pump, which is said to deliver 40 percent more fuel.
The first vehicle to receive the benefit of more fuel flow from this more robust HPFP is the 2015+ EcoBoost F-150 (PN LPP501117; $1,599). Wanting to know what these pumps could do for the 3.5-liter pickup, we reached out to the company’s marketing specialist, Cason Kirkpatrick. It turns out necessity was the mother of invention for Livernois.
Designed and machined at Livernois Motorsports, the Firestorm high-pressure fuel pump includes a dual-spring design, a lifter drive adapter a low-pressure adapter and the necessary wiring to install it. The company says it offers a 40 percent increase in fuel flow over the stock HPFP.
“The inspiration for the HPFP was based in our extensive background and experiences with the EcoBoost family of engines. One common theme among them is that the stock fuel pump has very little room left in it when adding power over stock. This means that with just a tune, there is a potential for the engine needing more fuel than the factory pump can produce,” Cason explained. “Because of this, we spent a great deal of time ensuring that our tuning would provide the most power possible, but in the case of a drop in fuel pressure, would be proactive in protecting the engine from any harm.”
This pump was really intended to increase the tuning and modding capabilities of the EcoBoost platforms without the need of supplemental fueling. — Cason Kirkpartrick, Livernois Motorsports
“The problem here is that once you do much past tunes and bolt-ons, you always had to add a supplemental fuel system of sorts, which adds greater complexity, which some people are not wanting,” he explained. “So, in short, this pump was really intended to increase the tuning and modding capabilities of the EcoBoost platforms without the need of supplemental fueling. And, in some applications, it will even allow the use of high-ethanol content fuels for even more capability over the stock unit!”
As we mentioned, the Firestorm HPFP is now available for the 3.5-liter EcoBoost F-150. It bolts on in place of the stock pump and brings along several enhancements.
Because the Livernois HPFP for the 3.5-liter Ecoboost F-150 flows so much fuel, it requires a new calibration. You can either buy the pump itself and provide your own tuning or by Livernois package, which includes the pump and a custom tune devivered via the company’s proprietary MyCalibrator handheld device.
“This pump includes high-flow lines, custom tuning, and even full E85 capabilities for the 2015 to 2016 Ford F-150’s EcoBoost 3.5-liter,” Cason said. “After years of engineering and design we have developed the best-flowing pump on the market. The stock unit simply was never designed with the capabilities to perform under high horsepower and racing settings. Its design differs in almost every measurable way, which allows for far more flow capability than the OEM units.”
Testing is ongoing for the new pump, but thus far it has easily been up to the task of supporting the common modifications and tuning.
“As of now, we have not reached the limit of this pump in our testing with full bolt-ons, even when using E85!” Cason enthused. “We actually found that the OEM injectors become the limit on certain platforms.”
Our next phase of testing will be one a build with upgraded turbos, injectors, and E85 to see where the limit truly lies. — Cason Kirkpatrick, Livernois Motorsports
“Our next phase of testing will be one a build with upgraded turbos, injectors, and E85 to see where the limit truly lies. Even when we do hit the limit with the standard Firestorm model, our Severe Firestorm is already underway to fill that void as well, and even more upgrades in the engineering phase to go beyond that,” he added. “So, depending on the build, we have options to get our pumps to support a theoretical 750 horsepower! Real-world testing is already under way, and will be incremental for obtaining the most accurate information possible.”
The software side of this one-two fueling punch is a custom calibration delivered by Livernois proprietary MyCalibrator flash tuner. The pump is sold on its own, but it can be had with a dedicated calibration to safely make the most of all that extra fuel flow.
As you can see, the Livernois Firestorm high-pressure fuel pump handily outperforms the stock pump with flow of up to 250 liters per hour. If that’s not enough for you, Livernois is also developing the Firestorm Severe, which will flow even more.
“Our calibration is required for proper control of the pump as the stock calibration will not understand the increased flow of the high-pressure fuel pump, and in many applications, will have the ECM enter a failsafe mode which fails out the fuel pump operation entirely, making the vehicle operate only on the low pressure fuel pump, which will allow for basically idle only operation safely,” Cason said. “Without the HPFP being properly controlled, you could be thousands of PSI below where it needs to be, which will lead to a myriad of issues. With our calibration, we are able to ensure proper functionality throughout all situations.”
Expect more Firestorm applications to arrive, but if you want to know more about the F-150 high-pressure fuel pump and its companion calibration, check out the company’s website here.
