The price isnt too bad really, for the X3. This will definately be a future upgrade. If only I didnt waste my money on new guns and a dirtbike!

 

Priorities my friend. And it sounds like yours are set right.

 

Ok guys...tuner was at the door about 1pm today. The installation and upload of the tunes was a breeze. No hiccups at all, and it uploaded in about 10 minutes.

I went for a 25mile loop of mostly city, with about 12 miles of highway cruising. All I can say is WOW.

Lets talk about the transmission first.
Shifts are clean, quick, with just a slight grab. No hesitation and no jerk under throttle. I'm on the 87 Perf tune and the truck is very eager to get into higher gears...and stay there. Right now she shifts into 3rd around 30mph, then 4th near 40mph under easy throttle. The converter lockup is awesome. With just a light throttle input the truck will hold 4th and accelerate from 40-60 effortlessly. Of course she'll pull past 60, but I was in a 45mph limit zone at the time. The downshift to 3rd was nice and sharp and the truck just pulls. This could be dangerous!
On the highway the truck gets into 4th and stays there. You have to give her about 1/2 throttle to get her to downshift, and she'll pull from 65-90mph in a snap without leaving 4th gear. Previously this was impossible without a downshift to 3rd.

Onto the power.
The low end torque is noticeable, but not OMG power. She'll break the rear end loose, but she did that before, just now with less effort from my right foot
The truck has a different sound. Much cleaner, more smooth, and much more direct with the power transfer. I can easily see myself having to deal with a local LEO if I'm not careful now with the tune. The truck just wants to GOOOO!

I have to say that Mike Butler's work is outstanding. The truck is now a pleasure to drive. She responds to my every input without thinking much, and she just wants to take off. I cannot wait to see what mileage gains I get from the new shift strategies, the TC lockup, and the new found power.

Fellas...if you have $400 to burn, and you need something for your rig...then you better call or email Mike @ 5 Star. You can't go wrong.

I'll update more as time goes on with more impressions and mileage updates.

Thanks MIKE!!!

 

Great to hear! I cant wait to hear more about it. Can you give some more details about installation and downloading the different tunes? No rush though, I'm sure you are out driving. Dont get caught speeding

 

Installation is easy.
Get in truck, insert key in ignition, plug in device.
Device powers up, go through a few steps, turn key to "ON" (don't start) then follow the prompts.
Stock tune loads onto device.
Custom tune loads onto truck.
Device lets you know you're done.
Unplug and enjoy.
Total time was about 15-20 minutes.

I'll be headed out again in a minute for another drive

 

Good to hear Chandler sounds like you are really enjoying the tunes you got. I might have to look into this in the near future.

 

X2 I found the same impression with my tune Love it

 

Good review...I might have to do this in the future. Can you update when you get a better idea if it helps the MPG any ? Always easier to convince the wife when there is a possibility of a long term saving...LOL

 

I will certainly update you guys on that status. Actually, I should go ahead and put my Fuelly.com in my signature.
I'm still on my first tank since the tunes (I have a 3 mile commute) and I'm about a half tank in. I can say that I'm about 30~ miles futher traveled on the half tank than usual. I'm guessing that in town I'm going to pick up about 1mpg and maybe as much as 2mpg with some town/hwy mix.

 

Joe, I will add one more thing. If you are concerned about long term savings, then you might want to think seriously about the benefits the tuner has on the transmission.
The "quicker" shifts are actually reducing the amount of slip the factory has programed into the truck. The tranny has to slip somewhat to give comfortable & smooth shifts. Reducing slip is reducing heat and reducing heat should extend the life of the tranny. Now, if you go out and beat on the truck then the tranny is going to be working hard regardless. Just saying.
I like the crispness of the new shift schedule. A little more grabby than before. I'll put it this way. The wife is very picky and notices harshness alot (one reason we didn't buy a SuperDuty - she hated the ride) and she has yet to make a peep about how the shifts feel

 

Hey Chandler, You're absolutely right on with the transmission, real sloppy sometimes. Cool! I'll have to sneak one of these in come fall. The truck will hopefully get parked soon for the summer toys! There are some odds and ends I want to do to it. I plan on pulling off the step bars and cleaning up the mounting brackets , do my spray in bedliner...and oh yea...the infamous spark plug challenge

 

Then they're not stiff enough.

 

told you that you would like it. glad to see your enjoying it.

 

Shawn you were right. I'm completely enjoying Mike's work. I wasn't that easy on my truck this past week. Just over 250 miles on the fillup and averaged 14mpg. A small portion of that was hwy miles (about 80miles of it) so I'm sure that brought it up some.
The 2nd and 3rd gear acceleration is OUTSTANDING. I love the 2nd to 3rd shift at WOT...it's nice and sharp, and the torque just comes rolling through. Amazing how hard those two gears will pull. What a great feeling.

 

Thought I'd chime in here with a little info on mine. I have an 05 5.4 4x4 w/ 3.55 rear. I got Mike's tuner loaded with an 89 economy, tow, and perf tune. I've had it for about 8 months now, and I really do like it. The one gripe, and this isn't really a gripe I guess, that i do have is that I don't notice a mileage difference between the Performance tune and the Economy tune. I've picked up 1-2 mpg, but it doesn't matter if I'm on perf or eco. I run mostly highway miles (probably 75/25 or better), and I consistently saw 17-19 mpg in the summer, with it dropping a little in the winter. I actually took a trip from northeast Nebraska to Ames, IA last fall and drove 60-65mph the entire way and recorded just under 20 mpg (19.6 i think it was), and this was on the performance tune. So either the perf tune is overachieving, or the eco tune is underachieving. With that being said, I just run the perf tune all the time and let it rip. It definitely has tightened up the shifting, and the power gains are very noticeable. Good product, and the support has been great.