VMP vs 5startuning for real!!
 

Well my curiosity got the best of me :)
As many have read on here I ordered/installed 3 custom tunes from 5star back in January and have been extremely satisfied with them. Customer service has been fantastic, the tunes themselves (87 and 91 perf/tow and 91 econ) have all been top notch. The transmission tuning, power increase, driveability are amazing. I'm currently running 91 octane perf/tow and it absolutely rocks.

With all that said there has been a lot of chatter about VMP and Troyer and how they are the "best" mail order custom tuners. Now I still don't have any experience with Troyer but I did break down and ordered one 91 octane performance towing tune from VMP this morning at 11:24am. At 11:58am, a mere 36 minutes later, I received my tune from Justin at VMP!

As of 3pm I'd only logged about 10 miles on the VMP tune and was quite happy with it. It is far better than stock! The transmission tuning is (as stated before regarding 5star) is worth the price of admission alone.

So how does it compare? I'll have to log some miles and let the adaptive learning do it's thing. Initial thoughts however are positive but at this time the tune is not quite as "sharp" or "snappy" as the 5star tunes. VMP tune is definitely making more HP and TQ than stock but it feels slightly less than the comparable 5star 91 octane. I wouldn't say that it feels sluggish compared to 5star but maybe down just a few HP/TQ. The transmission is not quite as snappy either but this may improve over time, and if not I'll be able to firm it up myself or have Justin do it for me in a revised tune. The only quirk I had was after reversing out of a parking spot and putting the tranny back into "D" and then started to accelerate very slowly. The truck lurched and bucked like it did when it was stock. I'm hoping this is a one time event.

Maybe I just got lucky with 5star and Mike was able to "nail" it the first time around and maybe Justin and I will need to make a few revisions.

Don't interpret this post as negative, the VMP tune is really good! I will add to this post as time passes and the miles pile up so that a "more fair" comparison can be made.

As far as price and customer service goes they are a basically a wash. Both 5star and VMP were able to send me tunes very quickly.

Cheef :rocker:

:beers:

I have a Troyer tune and a VMP tune for my F150. VMP is very good driveability day to day but does feel less powerful then the Troyer tune. However the Troyer tune is horrible and surges. I wouldnt recommend troyer to anyone.

Justin did my tune in 2 weeks during the hoildays and he emails me very quickly when I have questions or concerns.

over the last few days iv got 87 performance tunes from innovative diesel, 5 star and vmp. running the innovative for last few days, so far so good big improvement gonna run it a few more days before i swithc to 5 star and compare than ill run the vmp. still thinking about getting in line for troyer just to see what all the hype is about. theres got to be a good reason for a 15 week waite time.

FX4rm - been following yer posts, very interested in your comparison. Just to clarify your info sez you got a 2004 F150. Is that a new 04 or the heritage? Assuming a 5.4? What are the other stats on yer truck?

Mine is 09/5.4/3.55 LSD. So our comparison notes, although informative, may not be apples to apples either.


I'd still like to try a troyer tune but $130 for one is a little steep, VMP's was $60 which I felt was reasonable.
Good luck!

Need to figure out how to update my info. i actually traded in the 2004 fx4 and got a 2008 larait 5.4. truck is leveled with 275 60 20 nitto terra grapplers.

Put a few more miles on today and this tune has already improved! Definitely shifted with a tad more snap and the motor had gobs of torque down low (1500rpm). So I guess the adaptive is working. I'll be putting on 20-30 miles per day for the next 5 days so the adaptive learning should do it's thing and the tune will likely keep improving for the next week or so. Unfortunately I have not been able to stand on the gas yet and really wind it up (too much traffic).

Thankfully I did not experience any lurching and bucking today while doing slow speed parking lot maneuvers.

Very happy camper!

i went from 5star tune to superchips cortex 1950 canned tune.

i'm not sure if it is because there isnt much tuning available for the ford expedition 2011 year model.
i put 2800 miles on the 5 star, was never too happy with it, going to the superchips was very noticeable in the way everything shifted. will see more in another thousand miles or so.

I'm wondering if these "custom" tunes cooperate with certain vehicles on a case by case basis. I put some decent miles on today, maybe 20 miles of city and another 20 of highway. The VMP tune lurched twice on me in first gear, the same as many have complained about with their stock tunes (most refer to it as surging). Once out of first gear the VMP tune is decent. It seems around 2000 rpm in second gear there is an obvious flat spot before the power kicks in again. I never had that issue with the 5star tune. Not sure if it's a torque converter or air/fuel issue, etc etc.

I am wondering if I need to call VMP and have them send me another tune or if I'm going to have to datalog for Justin. I'll give it a few more days before I hassle Justin. I expected this 91 tune to be at least on par with the 91 5star tune.

Rayofsi - I have not tried any of the available canned tunes out there so I can't offer any notes to compare with you.

I'm hoping MGD can chime in here with some advice or words of wisdom.

Cheef

I would do the datalog. That way he can see exactly what is going on for your specific vehicle and further refine the tune.

Hey buddy. Don't know if I can help, but you've got mail :)

i have the same issue with my vmp tune that i just loaded 2 days ago. also it feels like i shift into 2nd gear really hard and early compared to other tunes.

FX4rm - just to clarify your VMP tune shifts hard into 2nd?

My slow speed shifting is quite good (other than lurching once in a while), and quite a bit softer than the 5star tune. I've had 5star play with the shift pressures for me but I do like it pretty firm/snappy and the latest revision is just right. I towed with my 5star 91 the day before I put in the VMP and it was amazing.

I was able to stand on the gas last night in a rural area and the VMP scoots pretty good and the WOT shifting is good as well.

I had the 5star tune In today for a 200 mile turkey hunting trip. Things I noticed that I will need marks help with. I have major pinging( not sure that's spelled right) also a little bit of power loss before 4th gear. At cruising speed of 65 my stock exhaust is really really loud inside the trucks. Anyone else have this stuff? What to do? Again new to the hole tuning thing so kinda not sure in terms just describing what's happening.
The VMP tune is going into 2nd gear what feels like pretty early. No pinging with it though

I can't hurt my truck by changing out tunes all the time right? Been switching everytime I make a trip that's a good chance to feel different tunes for extended times

Switching does not hurt anything

Thanks. Still need to figure out the tweaks in this thing. MGDfan was prolly right should have put the grand out and went to troyer for dyno.

If I didn't live so far away I probably would have just gone right to the dyno. Not that I'm unsatisfied, quite the contrary, time/money spent on the dyno would definitely yield even more performance/driveability/economy.

Couldn't take it anymore and put the 5star 91 tune back in yesterday, big difference and a big smile on my face. Part of me is sad the VMP wasn't better from the start but at least I can say I tried it. Have not decided if it's going to be worth mine and Justin's time sorting his tune out. I have a feeling it will take a few tries and some time consuming note taking and datalogging. In reality it would probably be loss for him financially to sort me out if it takes more than an hour or two since his tune only cost $60.

Still trying to figure it out in my own brain :-)

Maybe I should get on Troyer's wait list?

i am in a situation where im still trying to figure out corrections needed for my tunes. iv been i contact with mike trying to work some stuff out and he has had me change some of the self adjustment stuff. The tune still just isnt right. gonna run it a while longer and see what happens before i bother mike again. when i talked to him and he told me the adjustments to make. some of it was way over my head. i guess i just dont understand the tuning process and what does what.

In a nut shell the power and acceleration is good in lower gears but lacks in the later gears. kind of a dead spot after 3rd gear before 4th. Throttle response isnt what i thought it would be. possibly im just expecting to much from a tune in a gas truck. Or i should not have been a cheap ass and got the 93 octane tune and just spend the extra money on fuel.

Real sorry to hear that. It could be something minor/simple, but, you do need to take the next step. It's included... I sure would've given him a chance...

Good luck.
MGD

Thanks MGD. I am still debating. I feel like I might be wasting his time however. I am sure he's a busy guy trying to make a living. I'll give him a call next week when I have a couple of days off, just too busy until then. I was towing yesterday so I wanted the 5star back in since I'd towed with it before and was very pleased.

Fx4rm - As pleased as I was with the 87 tune from 5star the 91 blew it away. If shell sold 93 up here I would have tuned for that. Shell 91 around here is ethanol free which is what I run in my lawn mower, boat, truck and car. I am sure the 93 would have even more snap than 91 that you could feel in yer butt:rocker:

Your upper gear "flatness" - does it feel like it just runs out of steam or does it feel like it pauses for a while before the shift(s) ? Does the transmission feel sorted or does it get confused like the stock tune? I think the higher octane tunes, with the added timing/fuel/spark, would help the motor rip to it's shift point...could be wrong as I'm not a guru on this stuff.

I think MGD and a few of the other experienced guys could give some solid advice if you gave some detailed info on your issues.

:beers:

I sent Justin at vmp a lengthy message, here is what the postmaster sent back:

postmaster@smileglobal.com

9:07 PM (0 minutes ago)

to me
Hi. This is the qmail-send program at smileglobal.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<justin@vmptuning.com>:
user is over quota


Anyone else experience this? Maybe Justin is on holidays?

It's working now as I just sent him an email. Try it again.

I don't have a tune from Justin, but like MGD states, definitely give him a chance to work on your tune, from what I've read he'll get it working for you the way you like

Definitely give the 93 tune a try, you may never go back. I did switch back to 87 when fuel prices were (and still are) getting ridiculous, but fuel mileage made me stay with the 93 tune, well that and the power difference between the two

I bought my tuner from VMP and love it. I have an 08 V6 by the way with a 5spd...and i too get the surging mostly when starting out or if i am in 1st and hit a bump so my foot isnt steady, in 1st but 1-it did it on the stock tune and 2- when the engine is cold. if i let it warm up for about 2-3 minutes it is usually fine unless its winter then i have to let it warm up more. I noticed a very nice improvement especially being in higher elevation(6800Ft). I can stay with most 5.3L chevys and beat many stock 5.4 fords. I have had my tune for over a year and a half now and havent been back to lower elevation yet so i am really curious how it will do in my old stomping grounds in PA(1500ft). Also so far i have only run the 87 perf tune but also have an 87 econ and 93 performance tune. and i run 87 octane instead of 85 which is for high elevation. i notice a pretty decent difference from 85 to 87.

I sent an email off to Justin on May 19th but have not heard back. I have forwarded my email again today. I'm a bit surprised how this is unfolding. I'm hoping he is on vacation.

Anyone else heard from him in the past week? Nasty you said you got an email off to him, did he get back?

http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index..._id=contact_us

sometimes he takes awhile to respond. He took about a week to respond to an email of mine and i eventually was saying that i hoped he wasnt ignoring me. Keep trying and he will get back to you.

Justin got back to me yesterday and said he would take a look at the tune. I sent him a detailed message regarding the issues I had been experiencing.

I looked at this post from Tarajerame:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/4189723-post8.html

Data logging doesn't look that complicated....or is it?

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

:banana:

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.