Doing the 300T Install on the Ford Maverick
I’ve always been a car guy like many truckers. One of the happiest days of my life was getting my driver’s license, and I’ve been fortunate to have been able to own some great performance cars and a couple full size pickup trucks.
After spending 37 years in trucking, pulling single trailers, super-sets, Rocky mountain doubles and triples throughout my career, I retired and moved back to northern Wisconsin, where I was born and raised. After going through the first winter I was done with two wheel drive vehicles and decided to go with all wheel drive. And I wanted a right size (smaller) vehicle. After so many years of trucking, I was tired of constantly having to consider parking large vehicles every time I stopped anywhere. So we started buying Ford Escapes, our last was a great 2022 model SEL optioned out with a 250hp 2.0 liter with 8 speed transmission. Great car and very quick as I discovered a road test where it ran a 14.4 quarter mile on 91 octane gas. Then last year I read that Ford was canceling the Escape line and I was not at all happy. That was our 3rd Escape. So I started looking around to research our next vehicle.
I started pricing the new Mavericks out and we took delivery of a new Lariat in January, 2026. Great little “right size” 4 door pickup that handles and drives great. The standard 2.0 Ecoboost has plenty of pep to go with it and gets a decent 27 miles per gallon on premium fuel. I spent 37 years driving semis and am now perfectly happy with small and easy to park vehicles. I don’t haul stuff around much anymore but it has a 4k tow package on it, so we’re happy.
Finally, after a long wait, Ford started shipping the turbo kits early in October. I was on a list that my dealer had ordered months ago but wouldn’t deliver because they were waiting on production. I just got my kit in on Oct 6th and my dealer scheduled the install for last Monday, Oct 12th. I’ve been in a Maverick owner’s group on Facebook and many people have asked me to document the process for others to follow. You can read them in the next couple paragraphs. Short answer, this truck is a BLAST to drive! The performance boost is impressive in that little light (3500 pounds) truck. I know there’s cheaper ways but on a brand new vehicle I’m not going to go nuts and risk damage. Each of these components has been thoroughly tested and evaluated. Ford engineers did the tune and feel the Maverick can handle 300hp and 350 torque.
UPDATE: October 12, 2026 300T Install
Day 1The Maverick is at the dealer today, Monday. 6 hours and waiting. I don't expect it to be completed until later tomorrow.
Day 2, Tuesday. Just called the dealer, they said "it's a big job", LOL. I knew that, but they didn't until the tech started on it. I figure they got about 12 hours into it by now. They said no way it'll get done today. I remember reading the Ford press release somewhere that Ford engineers figured typical install time at 18 hours.
Day 3, Wednesday 10/14/2026: The dealer just called. It is done, said everything went well. They're waiting to pull it into the wash bay and doing the paperwork. I'll pick it up in the morning. Told him not to burn out his calculator figuring the bill, LOL.
October 15, 2026: Well, the 300T install is done! Picked it up at the dealer this morning, unfortunately a rainy, crappy weather day. First the drive: I jumped in and started it and was a bit shocked at how noisy it was before remembering the Mav is always noisy after a cold start for a few minutes. We had to run about 50 mile round trip on an errand so had a chance to feel it out. The acceleration was great when putting your foot in it. I’ll bet it will turn a quarter mile well down in the 13s. It’s got what I wanted and I am really happy. By the time we got home I was more used to the noise, and did not feel it would be an issue. If you stay soft on the throttle, it’s not bad at all. Now, the cost breakdown: Turbo, tune, intercooler and Borla total was $3550 plus some tax and shipping on the Borla. The labor is about what I expected at $200 per hour. Looks like the engineer’s time estimate was right on target with turbo labor $2320, intercooler $1020, Borla $100 and programming $300. One thing to consider if you do it yourself, the A/C needs to be evacuated and recharged to R&R the intercooler. And it will need an alignment as the subframe needs to come out for the turbo replacement. They also did an oil & filter change. Also had sales tax of almost $400. So the total out of pocket cost for me for the parts, professional installation and factory backed warranty was right about $7500. The only thing else I may do is have the Lobo springs installed if I don’t have to replace the wheels and tires.
The final verdict, I love this little truck. It does everything I need it to do. And it really scoots and is so much fun to drive. There’s a slight turbo lag but it seems no different from the stock setup. And if you’re in a situation, let's say, that you are behind a slow vehicle waiting to pass, you can press the button on the steering wheel for “Sport Mode”. That will downshift and keep the motor in it’s power band and will instantly go at the touch of the throttle. So, we ended up with a fully loaded Lariat that we paid about 37k for and put in 7k to make it a great ride for about 44k. And the MSRP of our previous 22 Escape was over 40k. So this hot rod truck is only 4k more than the Escape. We’re very happy.
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