My initial tune thoughts

[BAJASVT]

I jumped directly to a 93 performance tune and definitely noticed the power increase, but not nearly as much as I noticed the power decrease after going back to stock a week later.

 

[Deleted member 12951]

ZBoater,

I know you are still debating on a solid opinion but at this time if you had to do it again knowing what you know, would you have still purchased a tuner?

 

[TurboEd]

The provided SCT tune is pretty good.

I do not have "soft" tunes. Ask him to give you regular tunes IMO. The 87 performance and the 93 performance tunes I have are very different. Keep in mind. It is still a truck and trucks are slow. NOTHING is night and day on an all motor 6000lb truck. If it were a turbo diesel this could be a different story.

On the Raptor with the 5star tunes... Learn to differentiate efi and trans tunes. The 93perf engine tune is a noticeable improvement over the 87perf. The truck is significantly more powerful but just to a degree that can be noticed, nothing spectacular really. The trans tunes between these two programs I have are very VERY different.

I do a lot of inner city, in traffic, stop and go driving. While I love the power increase I just had to take down the 93perf tune. Just because the trans control annoys me. The constant hanging of gears, the ups and downs, whatever. Pissed me off. Switched to the SCT 93oct tune and immediately I noticed I had been having a headache for a week. Truck power is definitely weaker but I can breather, truck just rolls.

Ideally I would do the 5star all out 93perf efi tune with near normal trans control. Maybe that is what the 93economy would be like, but I don't have that one.

Seriously considering this for ***** and giggles http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/scl-4332

 

[Orionkhan]

Good info, ZBoater. I think your points about expectations are spot on. I bought a 5 Star X4 last week. Loaded the 87 eco over the weekend. I'm not really a believer in the cai/tuner/exhaust magical big hp number gains that get thrown around. I bought my tuner for the specific purpose of adjusting shift points after switching to 37" tires. Plus, re-calibrating the speedo, adjusting the top speed regulation, etc. Givin' that I didn't have a bunch of lofty expectations about "noticeable hp" gains and it "waking up" the truck, I'm pretty happy with it so far. With my driving style and the area that I live in (fairly hilly), the tune has been a benefit for me. I'm getting a little better mpg and the shifts seem more in line with my driving. I've only experience one "hard" shift. But I haven't been out drag racing it either. I figure I'll give this one a few tanks before I move up the performance tunes.

 

[ZBoater]

ZBoater,



I know you are still debating on a solid opinion but at this time if you had to do it again knowing what you know, would you have still purchased a tuner?

Yes, I think I would. Maybe not the Livewire, but I understand what tunes are supposed to do any I think the 5 Star tunes are a great deal, even better when bundled with a tuner. I may sell the Livewire and get the iOS version. The screen is a disappointment and I won't be using it to display the front camera image, and leaving it installed is a bad idea as someone might steal it. So the more discrete iOS version which is just the wireless ODB connector and connects to my iPhone I think will be a better long term solution for me.

 

[Deleted member 12951]

See I was thinking of just getting the X4 because the tunes are all the same and then just get this, does what you want. The app is only $10.
http://www.cravenspeed.com/obdii-connector/

 

[ZBoater]

I like it! And the price! I may just buy one to check it out. Thanks!

 

[mudblood]

I just installed the 5 Star 87 performance tune using my shiny new Livewire TS tuner. Wanted to share some thoughts and qualify them as being based on a single test run. I'll drive a couple of tankfuls before I try other tunes.

First off, let me say that expectations are a powerful thing. In reading a lot of "reviews", I kept hearing comments about the tune "waking the truck up" and being the "best mod" out there. Those comments are setting up some pretty lofty expectations. The problem with high expectations is that they are often hard to meet, and lead to disappointment.

The truck seems more responsive off the line. Some of the comments I read about the shifting being "harsh" seem to have been overstated, at least according to my butt dyno. YMMV. I ordered "soft" versions of the performance tunes because of this supposed "hard shifting", but now I'm thinking I've wasted a couple of tunes on a non-issue.

I'm having a hard time justifying in my head the expense with the result. This is a question of relative worth and not a reflection on the tuning device or the tunes. And I'm 99% sure this is due to the excessive high expectations set by some reviewers. I know the internet is prone to hyperbole, so I should have known better.

I'm not sure if I was expecting white unicorns to fly out of my exhaust or my Raptor to suddenly develop a flux capacitor and take me back to the future. It seems to start a bit quicker off the line and hold on to 3rd or 4th under WOT getting me to 110mph (oh yeah, no limiter!) very quickly. I'm not a drag racer so I'm not planning on doing that every day. I plan to stay under 80mph 99% of the time, so for that the truck does seem "perkier".

The problem I have with the description of "wakes up the truck" is that it set, in MY mind, a very high expectation. Since I think the stock Raptor is pretty awesome, I guess that makes me less impressed. If you are unhappy with your Raptor's performance, perhaps you will have a different experience.

On the Livewire is will say I am disappointed on the readability of the screen, which is zero in broad daylight. It'd be nice to have a couple of other choices for the gauges also, but since I couldn't see them it really didn't matter.

This is not a post to dissuade anyone from buying a tuner. The jury is still out as a 1000 mile run is necessary, IMO, to really form a solid opinion. Let's see how MPGs do. This tune definitely makes me feel comfortable filling up with 87 octane and saving $15 per tank. I just want to lay this out there to provide some balance to the "tune will make your Raptor feel like a whole different truck" comments. It will improve responsiveness for sure, but keep those expectations level and realistic. It will be a lot harder to become disappointed.

My $0.02.

Thank you for a very honest evaluation.
My experience with tunes is somewhat similar. Listen, if you own a company that does this kind of work think about your risk. You simply can not offer risky tunes to every Tom, **** and Harry out there all over the country or you will spend you life in court. These tunes by nature MUST be conservative. 5 Star has an excellent history and produces excellent tunes but some folks expectations are, in my opinion, directly proportional to the money they spent. You will experience more performance with a high octane tune than a low octane tune but that being said......our trucks are not "race cars" and never will be. They will produce more power but they will never be a tire shredding monster. If that is what your wanting then your needing to consider much more expensive modifications than a simple canned tune. Power means money and the more you want the more you have to spend. A safe reasonble tune will never produce the kind of increases that will be life altering. For 500 bucks you get some improvement in performance and improved shifting and perhaps gas mileage. For 5000 bucks you can get noticably more power!

 

[pat247]

Well said mud.

 

[Orionkhan]

Thank you for a very honest evaluation.
My experience with tunes is somewhat similar. Listen, if you own a company that does this kind of work think about your risk. You simply can not offer risky tunes to every Tom, **** and Harry out there all over the country or you will spend you life in court. These tunes by nature MUST be conservative. 5 Star has an excellent history and produces excellent tunes but some folks expectations are, in my opinion, directly proportional to the money they spent. You will experience more performance with a high octane tune than a low octane tune but that being said......our trucks are not "race cars" and never will be. They will produce more power but they will never be a tire shredding monster. If that is what your wanting then your needing to consider much more expensive modifications than a simple canned tune. Power means money and the more you want the more you have to spend. A safe reasonble tune will never produce the kind of increases that will be life altering. For 500 bucks you get some improvement in performance and improved shifting and perhaps gas mileage. For 5000 bucks you can get noticably more power!

Exactly.