Gen 4 Coyote Dual-Throttle-Body Manifold Swap Shows Top-End Gains

Those following the progression of power achieved by Ford’s Coyote 5.0-liter engine family know that a key driver of the Gen 4 engine’s ability to exceed its predecessors is the addition of a dual-throttle body intake manifold. If you have wondered how this intake might improve the performance of the earlier versions, particularly the Gen 3 in the 2018-2023 Mustangs, Darryl Wengerd, of Wengerd Performance, found out for us.

A tuner by trade, Darryl dialed in the earlier S550 to work with the twin-inlet Gen 4 intake, then he set out to test the Gen 3 and Gen 4 intakes on the chassis dyno with filters and velocity stacks, while also logging the manifold vacuum.

“We’re going to run the exact same tune, except for throttle body data, of course. It’s the exact same. Everything is the same minus settings to make both throttle bodies work,” Darryl explained. “Basically, I thought about going back to the MAF for that one, but because I can’t log manifold vacuum without the MAP sensor. I would rather have the MAP sensor and be able to run the velocity stacks on both intakes so I can log manifold vacuum and see if there’s actually a choke point anywhere.”

As you can see on the dyno graphs recorded at HPR Automotive, the numbers were pretty similar throughout the dyno run — until the engine reached 7,000 rpm. At that point, the Gen 4 dual-throttle-body intake pulls away by a wide margin. More interesting still, is that his vacuum logs verified the reason that Ford made the move to the more complex dual-inlet arrangement on the S650.

“We were at 102 kPa at 7,000 rpm on the ’24 manifold with dual throttle body, indicating there’s no restriction going with the dual throttle body…” Darryl added. “…With the velocity stack single throttle body at back to 7,700, we were at 93 kPa, so there is a restriction on the inlet of the ’18 manifold versus the ’24. That proves right there is a choke point, so if you’re trying to shift your ’18 manifold with the stock throttle body at 8,000 rpm, you’re wasting your time.”

With plenty of dual-throttle-body ’24-plus intakes being removed in favor of positive-displacement superchargers, this low-restriction swap might just become a popular move for owners of earlier Coyote-powered Mustangs committed to naturally aspirated performance.