I have a 08 f250 v10. 3 inch lift 35's no engine after market parts. From the reading i have been doing. I am getting mixed reviews on the tune. I hardly tow. This truck drives 500-600 miles a week. Just looking for more get up and go. And some better mpg if that is possible. Thoughts? Real life experience with mikes?

 

If you are into modding your truck its a worthy upgrade. I recently bought a 2009 bone stock F350 V10 with 4.10 gears. I drove the truck 500 miles home and got an impressive 15 mpg [Canadian gallons] . I put the truck in my shop and modded it up from interior to suspension to motor. With its new 7.5" suspension, heavy duty bumpers, 35" rubber and intake,exhaust and SCT X4 tuner loaded with 89 octane performance tune I did my first roadtrip and got 12.5mpg. The speedo has been corrected to read properly. I was disappointed to lose 2.5mpg. The truck has a slight performance increase. The tranny shifts absolutely awesome. Prior to buying this truck I test drove a 2010 V10 with the same intake and exhaust I put on my truck. It also had a bullydog tuner but I don't know what tunes were in it. This truck had 4.30 gears and it absolutely ripped powerwise!! This truck had more power than any V10 I have driven. At 40mph I could floor it, on a wet road, and brake both rear tires loose. I did this multiple times and was giggling like a little kid. I don't know why that truck had so much "snap". I tried to buy it but ended up losing out on it. The one I bought is much tamer.

 

Gear ratios is one thing

 

Won't own a Ford without one of his tunes. Just got my dad setup with 5star tunes on his 2015 yesterday.

 

So what i am guessing. Its worth going for it? But gears really sound like its the way to go.

 

Gears are going to be your biggest change. It will be your most noticeable for sure. That is the same really for about any application.


I already have a x4 tuner so getting a pre-written program is really cheap. Therefore I'm planning on it.


However, if you're starting from scratch, is the performance gain worth the money, that I can't answer. I probably wouldn't spend that much money on something you may not even really notice.


That said, if you do go with a tune, 5 star is the way to go. I have a friend that tunes for a living and is well respected in the industry and has said the 5 star guys are totally legit.

 

A re-gear will beat a tune as far as acceleration and that quick jump off the line. My truck has 37s and had 4.30 gears. They were changed to 5:13, which is still less than it takes to equalize to stock, and it was a night & day difference.

Put your truck in second and do a take off, then do it in 1st, then imagine if there was one more click in that shifter; that's about what it's like. The downside is that you'll run a little higher RPM on the freeway. Around town driving you'll probably see a small increase in MPG, on the highway it might drop depending on driving conditions and speed. Google up a gear/tire chart to see what your cruising RPM will be. Most charts show RPM without OD, you can multiply the number by your overdrive ratio, guessing somewhere around .65. A ratio change that'll only add around 400-500 RPM at cruise will add significant off the line snap.

If you have 4.30 gears and don't tow I'd say that a re-gear isn't needed, but it will give you the snap that nothing short of a roots blower or nitrous can give. If you have 4.1 or higher you're pushing that edge of *****ty that really merits a change.

I rolled onto the freeway just a little while ago and romped it. The trans dropped to 1st and the tires were barking for a couple seconds, your truck weighs less and has more power so it woulda been a really impressive romp. That woulda never happened with the 4.30s I had. On the flipside I could do 100+ at about 3000 RPM before...not suggesting it's a good idea to set the cruise control at 100+ in a big lifted truck, but it would do it pretty well when there weren't hills to climb. But officer, my speedo said I was only doing 75; words I'm glad I never had to try to sell.

A tune will most likely help your MPG more than gears. If you do a lot of traffic driving, or do any off-roading, or decide to tow the gears will really shine.

 

Until recently I would have suggested gears, but after learning a little about the stock PCM I now would suggest a good tune. 5 star seems to know the ins and outs of this PCM.

I suggest a mild tune over gears, with a recalibrated tire size in tune to help transmission shift better.

 

Do both if you can swing it. I have 4:88s and run Mike's 87 perf/tow tune. My truck wouldn't pass the CA smog test last year so I had to return the PCM to stock. Holy cow! The lack of "snap" was shockingly obvious. The throttle is much more responsive with the tune.

 

Yah, both would be good.

While your at it, if you put ladder bars on to stop spring wrap the seat of pants meter will peg.

 

its worth it.............

 

Rock, I have both gears and tunes (on my 2V V-10, so not exactly what the OP is asking about his 3V) and the gears were hands down the better performance boost with the tunes coming in second but still a good mod.
But now you have me thinking about ladder bars too!

 

I have the 2V with Mike's 87 octane Eco/Tow/Perf tunes. I definitely notice a power increase at about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle when the AFR loop opens, but only at that throttle level do I see any difference with power. The transmission shifts are better as well. I recommend the product, but my opinion is that gears will serve you better.

 

OP says he does not tow. He wants more power and better fuel economy.

Gears do neither of the above. Gears may alow engine to get into a higher rpm quickly but they are not power adders. Seat of pants will say wow, but no additional power. Lower gears will probably hurt his highway fuel mileage too.

So, given that regearing can cost upwards of $2500, for no "real" hp gain the cost per hp may be too high.

Tuner "can" actually add some hp, and "can" add mileage.
Plus I like the security tuners add when it comes to fueling and timing. Figure 15 hp gained and 1 mpg.
Eventually at about 20,000 miles the tuner could be paid for in fuel saved. Approx 500 miles more every 5000 miles, at 10 or 11 mpg.

At 20,000 miles a potential 2000 miles are saved. Or about 200 gallons of fuel. At $2.50 per gallon that's $500.

So, as OP asked "is a tune worth it"

Yes, even if you only get 1 mpg increase it will eventually pay for itself.

 

I have the X4 tuner with 5 stars 89 and 93 performance/tow tunes. I tried the 93 tune for the first time yesterday. Topped er up with some premium fuel and took er for a run around town. It definitely added more "snap" to it! Driving a V10 with this tune is what I think we are all expecting the first time we ever drove a V10!