2008 F250 5.4 SD SB CC 4x4 3.73LS Camper Pkg 8,000 miles on the clock.
I ordered the 5.4. Thought about it alot. It's what I wanted and really like it. It did though need fine tuning.

I talked with Mike Butler at 5 Star Tuning because of the good reviews he has had on this site.
Mike set me up with the SCT X3. The programmer came with 3 tunes.
87 economy, 87 performance and 93 performance.

First off I am getting a mile per gallon more. Went from 12.8 to 13.8 average. I have gotton 14.8 highway at most so far.

87 economy makes the truck shift higher in the rpm range than the stock set up. I felt the stock set up short shifted and then wouldn't down shift on inclines till you really stepped on the pedal. The 87 economy is a much better all around set up. The truck to me runs like it is supposed to. It is in the power band when you want it to. Much less pedal pressure and the transmission will down shift. It will stay in a lower gear longer and not up shift if you don't back off the pedal. If you do take it easier on the pedal it will still short shift almost like stock but still a little higher in the RPM range in each gear.
If you are on a long incline and you step on the pedal to downshift and hold it to let the RPMs climb the friggen motor is very pipey. I am very surprised how much power is in the motor above around 3000 RPM. From there up is more than enough power. Again this is the way I FEEL it should have come from the factory.

87 performance. This is a tune which you don't really notice much until you look at the speedo vs the tach.
In lower RPMs with this tune there is more low end grunt. If your stopped or rolling slowly and hit the pedal the truck jumps from the increased tourqe. The motor runs less pipey with this tune. When you accelerate the truck now does so in a higher gear but pulls stronger than with the stock tune.
The shift points with this tune are lower in the RPM range in each gear compaired to the 87 economy. But the power seems to be higher in the lower RPMs with the 87 performance rather than higher in the higher RPMs with the 87 economy.

I personally like the feel of the higher shift points of the 87 economy tune.

So far I have not seen much of a difference in the MPG numbers between the two tunes. They are both though better than the factory settings.

I have not tested the 93 performance as of yet. I am being cheap at the pump right now and wanted to get some decent seat time with these two tunes.

Mike was very helpful. The programmer has worked flawlessly.
I love the truck and the motor setup. The 3.73s let the engine turn about 1850 on the highway at 65 and the tranny now does the work when you need the power.

I will report after some time in the 93 performance mode.

Thanks for all your posts. This is a great resource. <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig --><!-- END TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig -->

 

Great review! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the 93 Performance tune!

 

I too just ordered an 09 with the 5.4L because I test drove both a V10 and V8 and could not justify waisting the 2-3 mpg for a truck I won't tow with everyday. But I ordered the 6spd and 4.10 gears instead of the auto. I want the same tuner but unsure about how long to allow the engine to break in before doing so. Keep me posted, I am defintely interested.