I am planning on ordering my 5 star tunes next week, but I really don't know which tunes. I will talk with Mike prior to ordering but I would like some help form those that have his tunes.

I have 2002 v10 Excursion 4wd 3.73s, when I tow it will be a 6-7k camper and the truck will have 4 teens, 2 adults, 100# Golden, and all our camping gear. When not towing, it is our family truck-ster hauling the 6 people and the dog.

So, what should I get? Oh and the X4 comes with 5 tunes, so I need help with all 5 choices. My options are 87, 89, 91, 93 octane and economy, performance, and tow for each octane. I know I can get this info from Mike, but I hope to get input from FTE members and maybe I won't sound so stupid when I call Mike.

 

Last year when I bought my tuner from Mike I got the 87 Octane Econo, Tow and Perf and the 89 Octane Tow and Perf. I have not run any 89 Octane gas yet because I'm too cheap!
For running around without our TT following us I use the 87 Econo and love it! I drive like Grandma and take it easy, with the Econo tune the trans will be in OD and converter locked up before I hit 35 MPH. I also run an Ultra-Guage UltraGauge OBDII Scan tool & Information Center and keep an eye on the real-time MPG reading, Watching that reading and using the Econo tune gives me about 1 to 1.5 MPG better than the stock tune in mixed highway around town driving.
I have tried the Tow tune a couple of times while pulling our 11,000 lb TT and it doesn't work very well for my style of driving. I think it is programmed more for the folks that want to be the first ones to the top of the next hill and get to the campground first, that's not me. I found that the Tow tune wanted to downshift too early while pulling hills and then stay in the lower gear till it really wound out the RPMs before shifting back into OD. Any time spent in lower gears instead of OD costs me MPGs and like I said, I'm cheap!
I found that the Perf tune works very well for my style of driving while towing, it will hold OD much longer while pulling hills and I feel that the power output and trans behavior are a great match for my towing needs. I tow between 60 and 65 MPH and always use OD unless it starts to hunt between OD and D a lot in the hills. Keeping the trans actually in OD more makes a big difference in mileage, I measured that originally when I upgraded from 3.73s to 4.88s. Over the same route at the same speeds with the same trailer we went from 7 to 7.5 MPG to 9 MPG, thats a big improvement! All due to staying in OD more. Last month we were pulling North from Blacksburg VA to Bedford PA up I-81N up and down the Blue Ridge Mountains the whole way. We tanked up before leaving and after an hour using the Tow tune my MPG average was 6.9 MPG, and I couldn't stand the downshifting any more, so I pulled over and loaded the Perf tune. After another hour that average mileage was up to 8.75 MPG with the trans holding onto OD much more, it would still drop down when needed and it never lugged the motor, it also gets back into OD without running the revs up real high. My rig makes plenty of good usable power in that 2000-2200 RPM range.

Your 3.73s and lighter TT will have their own characteristics and you will need to give your driving style some thought before you order the tunes. Hopefully some other folks will join and share their experiences with different loads, tunes and driving styles. Good luck and be sure to report back here with your review after testing those tunes out!

 

Good to know about the TOW tune. I was leaning toward all three 87 tunes, I am also cheap and that is why I am not sure which other tunes to choose. Do you see a MPG increase in PERFORMANCE tune?

Oh, and thank you for such a detailed response, it is very helpful.

 

I'd have to actually look to see what I have, I set mine and forgot.. but I know I've got a 87 perf/tow hybrid tune that Mike updated the shift points on for me , and i love it.

Works well for me towing or unloaded, predictable shift points, so if i need a lower gear, just give it a bit more throttle and she downshifts, not harsh at all.

I can see the advantage of the tow tune (which I think mainly stretches the shift points) if you're always towing real heavy, but it just wasn't for me, and the standard performance tune seemed to shift just a bit early for me, but we've got some steep hills here.

I don't drive mine enough to quote mpg figures, but the performance improvements alone were worth the cost for me, and i'm semi certain there were some mpg gains too.

So, im not sure I'm any help , my needs and wants are likely different from others.

 

So you use the hybrid tune all the time?

Your reply was alot of help, along with WE3ZS' reply, both responses share the same view on the tow tune, which I find very helpful. I am now curious on your hybrid tune.

 

Running solo, no probabily a tiny bit worse than stock but the Perf tune definately improved my towing MPGs.
Glad to help, be sure to keep us posted on your decision and results!

 

Just to clarify, I call it a hybrid, Mike lengthened the shift points on the performance tune for me, somewhere between performance and tow tune shift points. And yes, I run that all the time, for me , it works great.

Mine doesn't seem to have the low end grunt WE3ZS speaks of, Im ok on mainly flats in OD (65mph hiways out here) , but 6%+ grades of any distance, I tend to end up in 2nd before its done with my 4.30s and pulling 7-8k, which is why I appreciate the predictable shifting.

 

Ok, I ordered the 87 econ, tow, and performance and the 91 econ and tow. I received it within 2 days, pretty fast, Thanks Mike.

I have installed the 87 econ but do not have many miles logged yet, will update as I run more miles.

 

I've been runing the 89 tow/perf for a long time and don't plan on changing anytime soon. It's been great on my '08.

 

fwiw, it seems to get better after you run it a while, or so it seems to me, I'd move on up to the perf, you wont make that a 20mpg rig