Installed 5 Star tuning
 

I installed a 5 Star tune yesterday. Today we took a family day trip. I thought I would share with you my observations. Admittedly I was a little dissappointed at first. Then I realized the source of my bias. My other truck is a diesel. When you add a tune to a turbo diesel you can easily get an extra 100HP and gobs of torque. I guess in my head that is what I was anticipating in the expy, not the case.
Our expy already had a AIRAID cold air intake and a flowmaster 40 series connected to the factory exhaust pipes. After adding the tuner to the mix the power increase wasn't huge, like on a diesel, but the throttle response is much crisper. When you step on the gas, the engine comes to life.

For me the biggest plus of the tune is the transmission strategy. As many of us are all to familiar with, the expys feel like they are trying to pull away in 3rd gear, then they clunk down into 1st and finally go. Well that problem is GONE; it shifted flawlessly. Also the expy shifted like a 4 cylinder car. What I mean by that is the cars rely on rpms to make HP to compensate for the torque they lack; constantly gear shopping to stay in the right rpm range. I felt like that is how the expy drove. Always moving up and down through the gears for even the slightest incline. For example if I was coming out of a corner and gave it some gas, the throttle response would be lagging and it would eventually drop down gear to get itself going. Now with the tune in, the torque convertor is staying locked up (no gear shopping) and the throttle response is immediate. Letting the engine utilize its power without depending on a down shift. I was coming out of traffic circle, yes we still have some of those in NJ, I stepped on the gas like I always would, expecting the lag and shift I was use to. The truck took of on me, I had to back off the throttle as I was going to fast to soon.

Im currently running the 87 performance / tow tune. One day when Im bored and have money to waste I'll fill up with 91 octane and try the 91 tune. So far Im very happy with it. A little extra power, crisper throttle response and a great transmission strategy is a winner for me. :-drink:-drink

If you don't mind me asking what was your total cost for the 5 star tune?

Also have you noticed any mpg increase/decrease?

They were running a memorial day special for $379 plus $8 shipping. I did notice about a 1 to a 1.5 mpg increase, its hard to tell as I'm still playing with it alot. It did come with an 87 economy tune which I'm sure would do better. I'm running the perf / tow tune because I'm using the truck to tow our 30ft travel trailer.

It sounds like it made a huge difference in the performance. My wife was just complaining about the "push the gas, wait then it goes feeling" she sometimes gets. I need to convince her to let me tune her Expedition. My F-150 has been running a canned superchips tune for about two years now. I never liked the soft shifts and the slipping feeling in the transmission when you would get on it from a stop. Why Ford does this is beyond me. At least the canned tune took care of that, but i hear that Mike is a genius with the transmission mapping, and your post seems to prove it again.

The reality is the 5.4 isn't going to pull like a 383 stroker, at least not without some serious engine work. The tune does help, but keep in mind I'm also running a cold air intake and a flowmaster exhaust which really lets the engine breath; so your result my differ slightly.

Getting back to the notorious clunk down into first gear when pulling away from a stop. I spoke to soon, I got two of them today. However the aren't nearly as pronounced and prevalent as they used to be. It happens much-much quicker, a fraction of what it use to be; and it isn't so much of a clunk, its more of a little bump.

i expected the same result with my edge tuner in my 03 f250 5.4/auto (a bigger boost) as my other truck is also a diesel with bully dog goodies.ive tried all the tunes in my evolution tuner and i keep it 91 octane tune or extreme other wise i cant stand how much of a dog it is!its no racer but its nice to drive .revs way higher doesnt shift to soon and i can pass cars now on the highway.the other mod with tuner was i put a 4" diesel excrusion exhaust system an lost the cat .sounds way cool!ive found no mpg improvement with my mods.next thing is toss 4.11 gears in it im wishing i would have bought a v10 truck as my mpg blows and then at least it could get out of its own way!

No mod with the exception of a supercharger is going to make a huge difference on a 6,000 pound tank and the 5.4.

1.5 mpg and your only mod was the tune?

Take mpg increase claims with a grain of salt. Getting almost 10% better mpg from anything is usually placebo effect. If Ford could boost the mpg that easily, it would have.

jkcamper,
Is there a noticeable change going from the 87 tune to the 91 tune. I only ask because I took our travel trailer out for a test drive in preparation for vacation. The old girl was struggling under the weight of the trailer. I might have to spend the extra money for the 91 octane if it helps me that much. With the way they jack up the price on 91 octane, I wonder if its cost effective to just buy a few bottles of octane booster and mix it with 87 octane.

You need to run 91 not supplement with octane booster. I doubt you would actually save money when you look at the number of cans vs the increase you get.

That being said try running E-85. I threw some in this truck, only because it's 50 cents a gallon cheaper here in Houston and there was a noticeable difference in power. Most cars gain 10 to 15 hp on E-85 alone. Ford is pretty tight about their bumps but GM shows a dyno chart of the 5.3 going from 315 to 326 hp and 335 tq to 348 tq on E85.

I have an 07, i dont think I can run E85

yes theres a big difference from my tow tune to my performance tune.BUT at least with mine i wouldnt tow with it. puts the engine to max timing parameters and fuel mapping.witch would most likely start to detonate with working it.but as far as normal driving run the 91 tune for a week and then take it out....youll notice!gas is cheap might as well enjoy driving it!

5 star doesn't do a separate tow tune and perf tune on the Expy. It's a perf/tow or economy.

I have a 08 expedition I install the economy tune after trying out performance tune since its my wife's. I say a slight increase in power but saw a bigger increase overall with performance tune but MPG when down. Hard to keep your foot out of it. Still thinking of putting performance back and see if she can tell.