Budman1962

I was thinking of getting a SCT tuner from 5 star. When it says Performance/tow does that mean its performance all the time and tow when the tow/hail button is pushed? Has anyone had good luck with theses tunes for towing? I am hoping to get better shifting while towing a Travel trailer.

Sirikenewtron

No it is tow perf all the time, pushing the tow/haul button dose the same thing as if you are stock.
5 Star has some of the best towing tunes and they do extensive real life testing.

Their performance tunes on the other hand are great too but some other companies MPT, Unleashed will get you a little more power.
But if you are looking for a towing tune I highly recommend 5 Star Perf/tow tunes

Budman1962

So when a tow tune is installed I shouldn't press the tow/haul button? How hard is it to switch from a tow tune to performance tune? I was thinking of getting 5 custom tunes. The highest octane I can get here is 91. Does he have to change the tunes to accommodate this?

Brokemillwright

Go to a website like you are going to order and it let's your pick what you 3 tunes will be, you can choose all the same or different octanes.

I have the performance/tow, when you press the tow/haul button it's just like factory and changes your shift strategy. I run the 87 octane tune, and when I want to play I push the tow/haul, or going up passes so it hold a gear longer before shifting

Sirikenewtron

You use the tow/haul button just as you would normally, when towing or as was said to just hold gears longer, have some fun.
To change from one tune to another it takes around 10 minutes give or take.

Budman1962

If pressing the tow/haul button makes it just like factory what good is having the tuner?
Ok I'm officially confused

jerparker1

Pressing the tow/haul button just makes the transmission hold the gears longer before shifting. It does nothing for the "performance" of the truck. You can still press the tow/haul button with a tuned truck.

A tune on, the other hand, gives you noticeable performance improvements. The shift points are different & much smoother, acceleration is quicker, throttle response is quicker (no more lag). Some people even experience a gain in MPG. A tune is something you have to experience for yourself. Once you've driven a tuned truck, you'll be hard pressed to drive a non-tuned truck again. I hope this helped clear things up a bit.

Budman1962

I see. so pushing the tow/haul doesn't revert everything back to stock just the shift points. It still keeps the performance part of the tune going.

acdii

Don't waste your money on 5 tunes. I did, and never use more than 2. I have the 87 Tow/perf, 87 Economy, 89 Economy, 91 Economy and 91 Perf/Tow.

The Eco tunes dont work*, they dumped raw gas in my oil. The 87 and 91 perf tunes though work great. If you want 3 tunes, I suggest the two I have and the 93 ***** to the wall tune. I use the SCT x4 with 5 Star tunes and got it through Stage 3. It takes a few minutes to update the PCM, and you can adjust settings like gear ratio, tire revs, etc. for when you change things. If you install a CAI or Exhaust system, you can get the tune adjusted for no cost for the upgrades.

* I used then on highway, they may work better in 100% city, but can't say thats true.

cmbezln

My truck actually feels noticeably faster on the butt dyno with my 5 star tunes vs my MPT tunes , but I have the 5.0....not sure about OP