I sent another email to Justin on June 6th, still no response. I will have to call him this time and ask him again to review the tune...

I realize he is busy but this has been a month.

 

Cheef, just wondering were u happy with 5star,reason being i know nothing about tuning so don't bash.thinking of the ecoboost tune from 5 star and I only live about an hour from 5star. Waiting te here some insight b4 I take the plunge

 

6pack
Very happy with 5star, been tuned since January and wish I'd taken the plunge 2 years earlier. If I lived within an hour from any of the big name tuners ie 5star, vmp, troyer etc I would go for some actual dyno tuning. If that doesn't interest you then just order a tuner from one of them. I've had great luck with 5star so far and would use them again in a heartbeat. Give Mike a call, he will most likely answer the phone, and discuss the eco tuning with him.

Like myself and others have mentioned here the $400 is worth it just for the transmission tuning!

 

I spoke with Bobby at VMP yesterday. He sent Justin a "high priority" email to review my tune. Would love to get the tune sorted out before the summer kicks in because I'll be even busier.

 

to justin
Justin have you had a chance to go over the tune?
Thanks
Justin Starkey justin@vmptuning.com

Jun 19 (3 days ago)

to me

Not yet



Justin Starkey

VMP Tuning – owner & tuner

321-206-9369

www.VMPTuning.com

***Please reply with your previous email copied below***

Click here for instructions on how to load a custom email tune (.CEF file)


Getting impatient......................................... ................................

 

Good news, revised 91 tune from Justin showed up at 11:43am !

Said he took out some VCT and added a tiny bit of shift firmness. If the last tune wasn't making a lot of power won't a reduction in VCT further reduce power?

Will put it on this afternoon and report back once I put a few miles on it

 

Has anyone using aftermarket intakes put their mail-order tunes from 5star or VMP on the dyno to check A/F ratios?

My Troyer tune was dead on, I now have logged 70k miles on it with no issues.

 

Stock intake
No dyno time

~ 12000km tuned on 5star since January, been a helluva good ride!

 

Drove the VMP tune last night, really good weather and traffic conditions. Seems decent but I'll let the adaptive do it's thing over the next week or so before I review it.

Best part so far is it didn't lurch on me on it's first cold start!

 

It's been 3 weeks now with the latest VMP tune, it's been excellent and it's improved over the past 1000 miles immensely. I love the shifting - it's relaxed when going easy on the pedal but firms up nicely when you get on it, it has 2 personalities which I enjoy. In fact I prefer the dual personality shifting of VMP to 5star. The 5star shifting is amazing, it's quicker and sharper but it doesn't have quite the softness to it at light throttle as VMP. I may reduce the pressure in the 1-2 shift in the 5star to see if I can make it act like the VMP shifting.

As far as power goes I'd have to say they are similar. I'm going to run the 5star tomorrow which will give a better "back to back" comparison. I'd have to give the nod to VMP for fuel economy, probably 5% or so. I can keep a good eye on MPG (both instant and average) on my ultragauge so I can make some decent observations.

As I previously stated in an earlier post the original VMP tune was lurching in first gear which really upset me because it would do it when stock but not when 5star tuned.

Unfortunately things went to rattt-*****e today. I started the vehicle up after it being shut off for about an 1 hr so it was still hot. The vehicle lurched in 1st gear in a parking lot. It ran fine after that for about 20 minutes. I was cruising at about 50mph and the truck started to rev up, felt like it was in neutral because it didn't accelerate. Then it started to chug and and the revs started dipping to about 300-400 which made the truck shake a little bit. Then it finally shut off. I coasted onto the shoulder and although it would start it wouldn't stay running. No lights were lit up on the dash which was good I suppose. I checked engine codes with my ultragauge and nothing came back.

Thankfully after about 5 minutes she started up and stayed running. I revved it in neutral a few times to 3000-4000 RPM without any issues so I drove away and made it home no problem. I stomped on it a few times and it seemed to run really good despite some very light pinging. I'm running the same 91 shell I always run, from the same station and usually the same pump.

I've never had a problem with the truck like this before, stock or tuned. Definitely puzzling.

I'm taking a long trip and will be towing for all of it. I've switched back to the 91 5star tune tonight for peace of mind. Too bad because the VMP tune was doing so well and I had not yet towed with it yet and figured a 2000 mile trip with my boat hooked on would be a great test for it.

Very disappointed tonight, I'd fallen in love with the VMP tune. Even if it didn't feel quite as sporty it did get better MPG and I loved the dual personality shifting and probably would have ran it into the fall with a big grin on my face.

I realize these issues could be 1) unrelated to the tune 2) a one time event 3) as far as the the pinging , that can be corrected. That said, I can't take any chances when towing in this extreme heat/humidity with the family on board and getting potentially stranded on the highway.

I'll keep y'all updated.

 

Nothing like bumping your own thread 10yrs later lol. Still tuned after 12 yrs. 5Star 91 Tow/Perf tune has been fabulous. Never an issue. Just wanted to give a shout out to the 5star guys since I don't know anyone that's been tuned on their original truck for this long. Been close to trading in for a new one a few times but always get back into the old girl and enjoy it as much as I did day one. Take care

 

Mines been on SC one from Troyers in 2010, he told me then was my best option, SC canned tune. Still works nice too.

Troyer's long ago closed up shop though. I think Mike fell ill, sadly maybe passed?

 

Based on a quick data search, most online sites show him still alive. I remember about 10 years ago he did have some health related issues and I do believe they closed up shop due to it. Dam shame to, the man was a wizard with the F150 platforms.
To bad to, I'd have loved to have him tune my new 22 F150.

As to the VMP vs 5 star thread, VMP tuned my 750hp ethanol powered whipplecharged mustang. They have a wonderful tuner named Michelle that is also wizard like with tuning. (at least in the Mustang she is) A very well known named tuner who worked for VMP back when I had them do the tune was unable to work out an idle dropping issue after 5 revamps and she fixed it in a single revision.
5 Star tuned my 2017 F150 and my daughters 2019 Mustang. Both were spectacular tunes. I'm sitting around waiting on them to support the 22 year model F150 and I wil lhave 5 star do that one as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either, though last I looked VMP had started some kind of credits program you had to buy and it seemed a bit gimmick like. VMP is also far more expensive than they were just a few years back.

 

My 07 F-150 has been running a Troyer tune since 08.

Troyer sold me a package of 3 tunes. 87 octane tune for mileage. 87 octane towing. 91 octane performance.

I quickly discovered that the tune for fuel economy really didn't do much for real world fuel economy. It only made the throttle response decrease. Noticeable when you are attempting to pass another vehicle, and your truck sort of just doesn't respond to your foot on the accelerator pedal. Troyer wrote a different tune for 87 octane performance. After trying the different options, and the price of fuel rising, I settled on using the 87 octane performance tune.


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