Initial 5-Star Tuner Review
02-20-2013, 06:52 PM
#1
Initial 5-Star Tuner Review
Received my 5* tuner a few days ago and now that I've had a chance to drive it a bit here are my initial findings. As a point of reference, my commute is 50 miles of rolling 55-65 mph highways (which I drive at 60-70mph) each way and with stock tune I was averaging 18.2-18.8 mpg. Truck is a 2013 FX2 with 3.15s.
87 eco tune: Dramatic drop off in power (which was expected), turbos seem to rarely spin up very high. Was able to accelerate onto the highway and pass safely but it definitely made the truck work a lot harder. Steeper grades required the truck to downshift to 5th or 4th gear to maintain 65mph (normally can just cruise it at 1500rpm in 6th). mpg averaged 20.8-21.6 mpg with moderate cross winds when I'm along the coast.
87 Perf/Tow: Much more lively throttle response and shifting than factory form, and the turbos seem to keep a bit more boost being fed to the engine even at low rpms which comes in handy since with my gears being so tall the truck tended to shift out of the boost every time the it went up a gear with the stock tune. It's also holding the lower gear a little longer so I'm not lugging down the boulevard at 45mph spinning 850rpm in 6th gear. Truck seems to have a lot more power, drivability hasn't suffered any, and I averaged around 18.8-20.6 over my commutes.
All in all, the 87 performance/tow seems to be the better balanced of the two. Around the same MPG as stock tune but its much easier to drive than stock since the engine, turbos, and transmission are coordinating with each other much better.
87 eco is probably great if your commute is in the flat lands, I'll probably use it when I drive I-5 from my home near San Jose to LA, but in areas with large rolling hills or steep grades it makes the truck work a lot harder than it does when it has full power available.
87 eco tune: Dramatic drop off in power (which was expected), turbos seem to rarely spin up very high. Was able to accelerate onto the highway and pass safely but it definitely made the truck work a lot harder. Steeper grades required the truck to downshift to 5th or 4th gear to maintain 65mph (normally can just cruise it at 1500rpm in 6th). mpg averaged 20.8-21.6 mpg with moderate cross winds when I'm along the coast.
87 Perf/Tow: Much more lively throttle response and shifting than factory form, and the turbos seem to keep a bit more boost being fed to the engine even at low rpms which comes in handy since with my gears being so tall the truck tended to shift out of the boost every time the it went up a gear with the stock tune. It's also holding the lower gear a little longer so I'm not lugging down the boulevard at 45mph spinning 850rpm in 6th gear. Truck seems to have a lot more power, drivability hasn't suffered any, and I averaged around 18.8-20.6 over my commutes.
All in all, the 87 performance/tow seems to be the better balanced of the two. Around the same MPG as stock tune but its much easier to drive than stock since the engine, turbos, and transmission are coordinating with each other much better.
87 eco is probably great if your commute is in the flat lands, I'll probably use it when I drive I-5 from my home near San Jose to LA, but in areas with large rolling hills or steep grades it makes the truck work a lot harder than it does when it has full power available.
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varithms (02-20-2013)
02-20-2013, 11:57 PM
#2
i use those tunes also but with the natural v6 and its great. i use his eco tune on a regular bases. i only used his 87 perf tune when i towed but since i have a natural v6, i asked him up the shift points in tow/haul mode in all tunes where the v6 will stay up in higher rpms where it wants to be.
even in the eco tune and having higher shift points when towing, it works great. but i am only towing 5300lbs out of a 6300lbs capability.
even in the eco tune and having higher shift points when towing, it works great. but i am only towing 5300lbs out of a 6300lbs capability.