CoreyMS

You can change from anything to another. What did you change from?

crash_ice

i change from 93 it s not a big change but the trans shift weird and it accelerate like the stock tune!!!

mhamershock

I loaded the 87 Econotune a few days ago for a test. Drove my usual highway/city/country routes for a few days. Averaged 19.5 MPG in the hill country where I live. That's 1.5 - 2 MPG better than normal. But, not suprisingly, power sucks. Can't drive it like this on a daily basis. All my long-haul stuff is usually towing an 8000 pond toy hauler, so can't use it there either. Effective tune for the purpose, but not much use to me. I will likely load the 87 P/T tune and leave it alone.

Redmilk

Loaded the 87 P/T tune on Saturday and went for a twenty minute joy ride. My initial impressions were great. From a dead stop, wot, no break boosting, the truck launched hard, tires squawking for 15 - 20 ft. and a firm bark of the tires into second gear. Now there was no plum of smoke rolling of the tires but I
Will tell you the truck pulled pretty darn hard up too letting off at 75 MPH.
Break boosting, TC off? That could get expensive lol! Left 10 foot long black lines on the smooth asphalt and let off the go peddle.
My son (29 yrs young) has an 05 Mustang GT with custom tunes, Magnaflow cat back, CAI, larger TB, Ford Racing polished 4:11's, short throw shifter and so on. After the first run, the smile on his face was priceless when "WTF" left his lips. Funny!
Returned it too stock and dropped it off at the dealer on Monday for an alignment under warranty (they botched the first one). Wouldn't you know it...they flashed the truck too a new strategy (TCM update). I emailed Mike @ 5* and received an out of office reply and still received the updated tunes the following morning. That is GREAT customer service. Thanks Mike.
Tomorrow evening the 91 P/T tune goes in and I'll give you my thoughts after some windshield time. I'm sure it'll be fun.
Ed

tandem

A question but first some background:

I'm running a stock truck but have a SCT tuner on the way. It is unlikely I'll ever do other performance mods to the truck other than tunes, unless a mod would result in better overall fuel economy.

What I'd like, even if I drive granny style at times, is a crisper feel to shifting. I'd like to get at least that without sacrificing fuel economy but if I can get some performance (fun) gains and economy gains at the same time, that'd be golden.

What tune(s) should I obtain?

We won't be towing anything any time soon; sometimes will travel a little loaded (holidays). 2012 V8 5.0 FX4.

Thanks for any input!
Mike

Redmilk

Hi Mike. I guess I should have mentioned the shifting. The best way I can describe the shifting is that it is linear, meaning, the harder you get on it the harder it shifts but mine has never shifted hard as in a banging shift. The shifting of my 5* custum tuning is probably the best part of the tune although I love the extra umph. The truck doesn't shift into 3rd gear at 15 MPH with the torque converter locked like it does in factory form. The best way to describe the shifting is that it always seems to be in the right gear at the right time, never searching or thinking. Passing speed downshifts occur much quicker than stock. With the stock tuning, I almost had to think about the passing situation seconds ahead of time to allow the down shift to happen when I needed it to, not when the computer thought it should. To sum it up I guess I would put this way: If the only tuning option was the new shift strategies and no added horsepower and torque, I'd buy the tune for the shifting alone. I really think ford should hire some of these guys who do the after market tuning, most of them could probably "school" some of their high dollar engineers. Lol
I can't comment on mileage with the tune as I don't drive my truck the way I drove it whilst "testing" the new tune. I can tell you I've got 25k miles on the truck and average a solid 19 MPG on my daily commute. I will chime in at a later date with the TUNED mileage results once I learn to drive in a more civil manner. Lol
As for tunes? SCT, 5*, Livernois, MPT. From what I've been reading here,? you probably couldn't go wrong with any of the companies mentioned. Stay away from BULLY DOG tuners, I have read nothing favorable, well frankly I've read horrible reviews about them. If you do any towing in the future make sure you use a tune developed for towing. Hope I've answered some of your questions. Hopefully some other members will chime in, in case I've steered you wrong!
Ed

tandem

Thanks very much Ed, your observations are helpful.

Crisp and always in the right gear, that sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. I find the stock plan can be mushy feeling or hesitant at times, particularly times (like passing or a sudden hill) where I don't want it to hesitate.

Not that I *always* drive like a granny, certainly I don't, but on balance I do try to be kind to my pocketbook when city driving. Of course like most here I enjoy some get up and go. I'll admit to doing a hardware store run just now while the streets are quieter just for that opportunity.

This being a 5 Star thread I guess I'm looking for advice on a tune or two to select.

Being in the expensive part of Canada for fuel (west coast) we generally will run 87 E10 fuel as that is what is the least of all evils here, but once in a while I'll get some premium fuel for fun... but it'd be inconvenient to swap tunes all the time for a tank of gas here or there.

I guess the forgoing leads to two specific thoughts or questions...

- should I pick up a 5 Star 87 performance tune, and

- how will the truck behave if I run a tank of premium once in a while if the 87 tune is in place... should I avoid premium at all costs while running such a tune?

I'm not worried so much about the cost of a second high octane tune as I am concerned I'd forget to switch!

Sorry... a third question for anyone... will a tuned truck be an unpleasant truck for my lovely wife to drive. She does get behind the wheel once in a while and is now over her fear of driving the beast... wouldn't want to scare her you know.

At any rate, all the reports of nice crisp shifting in all the right situations have me keen to join the club. I've only driven one automatic vehicle in my entire life before this one and that wasn't a satisfying shifter to be sure. My 92 F150 with a 5 speed manual was my favourite to date, although driving this truck is *fantastic* and an improvement in all respects, don't get me wrong. But I am hoping to regain some of that manual transmission feeling I miss.

CoreyMS

On the 87 tune you can put higher octane gas in without a problem. Just don't put in 87 with a higher requirement tune. And its not crazy, it won't scare the wife..it drives like it should have...

sllydderrr

Slightly off topic:
Has anyone encountered long delays in receiving the tuner?
Mine left Mike's hands on Aug 22 as promised. There have been no tracking updates since Aug 26. Anyone else experienced this?

Probably a Canada Post issue..

I'm getting antsy. I love reading all these happy stories but I want to get in the sand box.

tandem

And/or Canada Customs.

Depending on the service used, often there are no updates. Some service levels will tell you it is at the border, when it is released and when it is out for delivery.

Generally speaking I've found that paying more for courier-like delivery generally does not mean parcels clear Canada Customs any faster, via post.

Fastest clearance I've ever seen is prepaid HST and duties, if any, one vendor I deal with offers... I think they use a Purolator based service but can't recall for sure.

Waits of a week at customs are pretty typical; sometimes much less, sometimes a little more. Provided it was shipped soon after the order you should receive it soon.