MattSVTM3
Active Member
Hi everyone, the goal of this thread is to give my insight into the tunes offered by JDM and 5 Star. As these are two of the most popular tuning options for the 6.2L Raptor, I figured a personal review of both options would be beneficial to the community.
First, I want to mention that I have no affiliation with either JDM or 5 Star. These opinions are solely my own, and the tunes were purchased myself entirely. I have not been contacted by either company to make a post. This review is simply to help members make an educated decision when choosing a tune.
The tunes I will be comparing will be the JDM tune, 5 Star Performance tune, and 5 Star Daily Street tune. All tunes are based on 92 octane fuel, and I put at least 500 miles on each of these tunes to ensure that the truck had fully adapted before coming to a conclusion. The four categories I will be reviewing are daily drivability, performance, efficiency, and customer service.
Truck Details
Daily Drivability
5 Star Performance Tune
This tune is designed to significantly increase throttle response, increase shift speed, and increase the shift points to maximize performance.
Right off the bat, this tune is A LOT of fun… for the first 30 min. As soon as I loaded up this tune, the truck just shot off the line, and it felt like I was driving a completely different truck. The throttle response was fast, shift points were held much higher, and felt awesome when driving all out. I still believe this tune is a ton of fun and an excellent option for someone who doesn’t drive their truck daily.
With that said, once I started driving the truck regularly as my daily, this tune turned out to be way too much. The throttle was very sensitive, gears were held for far too long, and the shifting was extremely harsh. I did my best to adapt my driving style, but I just felt like I was working harder than I should be to drive smoothly.
Overall, this tune is fantastic for what it is designed for, maximizing the truck’s performance feel. However, I personally thought that as a daily driver, it was a bit much for me.
5 Star Daily Street Tune
This tune is designed to increase shift speed and throttle response while retaining similar stock shift points.
This tune was a bit lackluster compared to stock or the other tunes I tested. Throttle response seemed very similar to stock in my experience. I did request if they could update the tune with more throttle response, which they eventually did. However, the updated tune was incrementally better and still hardly noticeable compared to my stock tune. My main issue with the driveability of this tune was that shifting was very harsh. These trucks are known for short gearing from 1st to 2nd, and this tune made driving the truck off the line very unpleasant. Driving around town and in slower traffic became frustrating, as I just became annoyed with the shifting.
Overall, this tune is much tamer than the 5 Star performance tune and better for daily driving relative to that tune. However, compared to stock, the harsh shifting made this a negative experience.
JDM Tune
This tune is designed to increase throttle response, improve shift points & firmness, and have sporty drivability.
With this tune, there is an excellent balance of increasing throttle response and improving the shift feel. Compared to stock, I immediately felt an increase in throttle response. However, it was easily controllable, and I adapted to it quickly. The shifting is where the JDM tune truly shines. You can tell that they spent a significant amount of time focusing on shifting. The shift points are just right, and the shifting is very smooth, even smoother than stock.
Overall, daily driveability is where the JDM tune truly excels over the other tunes I have tested. It was just enough throttle response to make the truck feel quicker, but the smoothness of shifting won me over. This is the primary reason that this will continue to be the tune I use on my truck.
Performance
Full disclaimer: I have not put my truck on the dyno to get real performance figures. These tunes claim to increase both torque and horsepower, and my opinions are strictly based on my butt-dyno
I will compare both low-end and high-end performance feel.
5 Star Performance Tune
From a performance feel standpoint, this tune shined on the low-end. The increased throttle response and higher shift points made you feel like the truck was much quicker. Just tapping on the throttle made the truck shoot of the line, which was a lot of fun. With my issue about daily driving set-aside, you can definitely feel a significant improvement in the low-end performance feel with this tune.
On the higher end, the truck does continue to pull very well. However, I didn’t notice as much of a difference when doing a short highway pull compared to stock with this tune, but I’m sure there is a difference.
Overall, performance is there with this tune, with more of a focus on the low-end feel.
5 Star Daily Street Tune
To be frank, this tune in terms of performance feel was a bit disappointing. I honestly had a difficult time telling the difference between this tune and my stock tune. Performance feel stayed the same, but the daily driving experience suffered significantly, as mentioned above.
Overall, this tune disappointed me in terms of performance. I’m sure it’s there, but I couldn’t tell that much of a difference compared to stock.
JDM Tune
This tune felt a bit quicker on the low-end. It wasn’t as apparent as the 5 Star performance tune was, but I think it was just the right balance of performance and usability. I did appreciate that downshifting with this tune was very smooth, and the power came on very quickly. Passing cars or just dropping a few gears was very fun.
Where I think this tune surprised me was on the higher end. After driving the 5 Star performance tune for quite some time, I didn’t expect the JDM to be quite where it was. However, I feel like this truck continues to pull harder and rev’s faster compared to the other tunes.
Overall, I think this is how the raptor should have came from the factory. It was a welcomed increase in performance, without making any sacrifices.
Stock
Averaging 11.8 mpg
5 Star Performance Tune
Averaging 11.6 mpg
5 Star Daily Street Tune
Averaging 11.8 mpg
JDM Tune
Averaging 12.6 mpg
JDM Engineering
My pre-sale experience with Jim was nothing but positive. When I was first interested in the tune, I gave him a call and talked over my goals. He gave me a lot of insightful information. I emailed him again right before I placed my order with more questions, and he quickly got back to me.
5 Star
My pre-sale experience with 5 Star was great as well. I had emailed them before I purchased the tune with some questions. They quickly got back to me and were very courteous.
JDM Engineering
Again, my experience with Jim was great. Once my order was placed, he quickly asked me for a few more details and got to work on the tune. The turnaround time was about a week or so for the tune, but Jim informed me of that from the beginning, so my expectations were in line.
5 Star
My post-sale experience with 5 Star was a bit mixed. After I was using the daily street tune for a while, I emailed them through the contact form, asking if a revision could be made to increase throttle response. The answer I received was that in order to improve the throttle response, you would also need higher shift points. I assumed, based on that email, that it couldn’t be done. However, I later emailed 5 Star again, responding to the order confirmation email, asking if a revision could be made. This time they had no problems getting me that revision, and it only took a day or so, and they sent it over.
Overall, my experience was positive in that they were willing to accommodate a revision. It was just confusing since I was getting mixed messages.
I think both companies provide solid tunes for our trucks, and these are two of the most reputable tuning companies in the industry. I personally believe the JDM tune is the better way to go, as it was the perfect balance between a significant increase in performance while maintaining the driveability that makes this truck so enjoyable to drive.
First, I want to mention that I have no affiliation with either JDM or 5 Star. These opinions are solely my own, and the tunes were purchased myself entirely. I have not been contacted by either company to make a post. This review is simply to help members make an educated decision when choosing a tune.
The tunes I will be comparing will be the JDM tune, 5 Star Performance tune, and 5 Star Daily Street tune. All tunes are based on 92 octane fuel, and I put at least 500 miles on each of these tunes to ensure that the truck had fully adapted before coming to a conclusion. The four categories I will be reviewing are daily drivability, performance, efficiency, and customer service.
Truck Details
- 2011 Ford F-150 Raptor w/ 6.2L (55k miles)
- Wheels & Tires:
- KMC XD135 GRENADE 17x8.5” ET0
- Falken Wildpeak MT 35x12.50r17
- Suspension:
- Geiser Progressive front springs at mid-perch.
- ICON RXT multi-rate rear leaf springs
- Shock Rebuild at 50k miles (Forged Offroad)
- Performance:
- Corsa Extreme Exhaust
- S&B Air Intake w/ dry filter option
Daily Drivability
5 Star Performance Tune
This tune is designed to significantly increase throttle response, increase shift speed, and increase the shift points to maximize performance.
Right off the bat, this tune is A LOT of fun… for the first 30 min. As soon as I loaded up this tune, the truck just shot off the line, and it felt like I was driving a completely different truck. The throttle response was fast, shift points were held much higher, and felt awesome when driving all out. I still believe this tune is a ton of fun and an excellent option for someone who doesn’t drive their truck daily.
With that said, once I started driving the truck regularly as my daily, this tune turned out to be way too much. The throttle was very sensitive, gears were held for far too long, and the shifting was extremely harsh. I did my best to adapt my driving style, but I just felt like I was working harder than I should be to drive smoothly.
Overall, this tune is fantastic for what it is designed for, maximizing the truck’s performance feel. However, I personally thought that as a daily driver, it was a bit much for me.
5 Star Daily Street Tune
This tune is designed to increase shift speed and throttle response while retaining similar stock shift points.
This tune was a bit lackluster compared to stock or the other tunes I tested. Throttle response seemed very similar to stock in my experience. I did request if they could update the tune with more throttle response, which they eventually did. However, the updated tune was incrementally better and still hardly noticeable compared to my stock tune. My main issue with the driveability of this tune was that shifting was very harsh. These trucks are known for short gearing from 1st to 2nd, and this tune made driving the truck off the line very unpleasant. Driving around town and in slower traffic became frustrating, as I just became annoyed with the shifting.
Overall, this tune is much tamer than the 5 Star performance tune and better for daily driving relative to that tune. However, compared to stock, the harsh shifting made this a negative experience.
JDM Tune
This tune is designed to increase throttle response, improve shift points & firmness, and have sporty drivability.
With this tune, there is an excellent balance of increasing throttle response and improving the shift feel. Compared to stock, I immediately felt an increase in throttle response. However, it was easily controllable, and I adapted to it quickly. The shifting is where the JDM tune truly shines. You can tell that they spent a significant amount of time focusing on shifting. The shift points are just right, and the shifting is very smooth, even smoother than stock.
Overall, daily driveability is where the JDM tune truly excels over the other tunes I have tested. It was just enough throttle response to make the truck feel quicker, but the smoothness of shifting won me over. This is the primary reason that this will continue to be the tune I use on my truck.
Performance
Full disclaimer: I have not put my truck on the dyno to get real performance figures. These tunes claim to increase both torque and horsepower, and my opinions are strictly based on my butt-dyno
I will compare both low-end and high-end performance feel.5 Star Performance Tune
From a performance feel standpoint, this tune shined on the low-end. The increased throttle response and higher shift points made you feel like the truck was much quicker. Just tapping on the throttle made the truck shoot of the line, which was a lot of fun. With my issue about daily driving set-aside, you can definitely feel a significant improvement in the low-end performance feel with this tune.
On the higher end, the truck does continue to pull very well. However, I didn’t notice as much of a difference when doing a short highway pull compared to stock with this tune, but I’m sure there is a difference.
Overall, performance is there with this tune, with more of a focus on the low-end feel.
5 Star Daily Street Tune
To be frank, this tune in terms of performance feel was a bit disappointing. I honestly had a difficult time telling the difference between this tune and my stock tune. Performance feel stayed the same, but the daily driving experience suffered significantly, as mentioned above.
Overall, this tune disappointed me in terms of performance. I’m sure it’s there, but I couldn’t tell that much of a difference compared to stock.
JDM Tune
This tune felt a bit quicker on the low-end. It wasn’t as apparent as the 5 Star performance tune was, but I think it was just the right balance of performance and usability. I did appreciate that downshifting with this tune was very smooth, and the power came on very quickly. Passing cars or just dropping a few gears was very fun.
Where I think this tune surprised me was on the higher end. After driving the 5 Star performance tune for quite some time, I didn’t expect the JDM to be quite where it was. However, I feel like this truck continues to pull harder and rev’s faster compared to the other tunes.
Overall, I think this is how the raptor should have came from the factory. It was a welcomed increase in performance, without making any sacrifices.
Efficiency
This section will be straight forward data comparing the tunes. For context, I drive mostly in the city and only go on the highway when taking weekend trips.
Stock
Averaging 11.8 mpg
5 Star Performance Tune
Averaging 11.6 mpg
5 Star Daily Street Tune
Averaging 11.8 mpg
JDM Tune
Averaging 12.6 mpg
Customer Service: Pre-sale support
JDM Engineering
My pre-sale experience with Jim was nothing but positive. When I was first interested in the tune, I gave him a call and talked over my goals. He gave me a lot of insightful information. I emailed him again right before I placed my order with more questions, and he quickly got back to me.
5 Star
My pre-sale experience with 5 Star was great as well. I had emailed them before I purchased the tune with some questions. They quickly got back to me and were very courteous.
Customer Service: Post-sale support
JDM Engineering
Again, my experience with Jim was great. Once my order was placed, he quickly asked me for a few more details and got to work on the tune. The turnaround time was about a week or so for the tune, but Jim informed me of that from the beginning, so my expectations were in line.
5 Star
My post-sale experience with 5 Star was a bit mixed. After I was using the daily street tune for a while, I emailed them through the contact form, asking if a revision could be made to increase throttle response. The answer I received was that in order to improve the throttle response, you would also need higher shift points. I assumed, based on that email, that it couldn’t be done. However, I later emailed 5 Star again, responding to the order confirmation email, asking if a revision could be made. This time they had no problems getting me that revision, and it only took a day or so, and they sent it over.
Overall, my experience was positive in that they were willing to accommodate a revision. It was just confusing since I was getting mixed messages.
Conclusion
I think both companies provide solid tunes for our trucks, and these are two of the most reputable tuning companies in the industry. I personally believe the JDM tune is the better way to go, as it was the perfect balance between a significant increase in performance while maintaining the driveability that makes this truck so enjoyable to drive.
