5 Star Tuning

[Grumpaw]

Inquiring if any of you with 2001-2011 Rangers have used the tuner/reprograming system from 5 Star Tuning or something similar. Its a regular tuner that reprograms the ecu to any of 5 loaded performance tunes.
Have used it on a Mustang GT and current V-10 engine in our motor home.
It's available for all the engines from those years.
Anybody use one ?

 

[Blmpkn]

I looked around a bit and couldn't find any hard info on dyno results. I'd likely be interested in a tuner, but for 400 bucks id want to see a meaningful increase in power on an 87 tune. If they can manage to squeeze out another 10hp that would be huge, but not worth it to me if it would require 91/93. Fancy gas is too expensive for a daily driver.

 

[Grumpaw]

I e-mailed the company asking what results could be expected.
Will let you know when they answer.
Had very good results when I used it on my Mustang GT, and great results currently on our V-10 motor home.
Mustang I used the 89 octane tune, and motor home still uses 87 octane.

 

[sgtsandman]

I think @PetroleumJunkie412 is using them.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I have a SCT X4 with five star tunes on my 2011.....

Yes, they work. Sort of. Their performance tunes waste a ton of fuel for little return on the SOHC.

I'm not so sure what I think of it yet.... Some good, some bad. The real test will be when the blower is mounted

 

[Grumpaw]

I have one on my 2011.....

Yes, they work. I'm not so sure what I think of it yet.... Some good, some bad.

Let me know what you think of it after you've run it awhile.
Love it on our motorhome, and curious as to what it does for a 4 cyl Ranger.
Not expecting wopping increases but a bit more would be nice.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Will say that if I had to do it again, probably would go with a smaller shop vs 5 star.... The one thing they did do that did not work at all was try to tune for my intake (AFE). They had it running so lean I started to get detonation.

 

[sgtsandman]

His 2011 has the 4.0 SOHC.

 

[Grumpaw]

Will say that if I had to do it again, probably would go with a smaller shop vs 5 star.... The one thing they did do that did not work at all was try to tune for my intake (AFE). They had it running so lean I started to get detonation.

Yup, just re-red your build thread on it, and saw the very first post where you mentioned it and the tunes installed. But nothing about it afterward.
Just was looking for a bit more git up n go, even using the 87 or 89 performance tune. Lot of info about them on performance forums Mustangs, big pick ups, but nothing on the older Rangers.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Yup, just re-red your build thread on it, and saw the very first post where you mentioned it and the tunes installed. But nothing about it afterward.
Just was looking for a bit more git up n go, even using the 87 or 89 performance tune. Lot of info about them on performance forums Mustangs, big pick ups, but nothing on the older Rangers.

Haven't been all that active as of late.... The only time I notice the improvement is the 2000-3000rpm range. Definately has a little more get up and go on hills, but nothing drastic. Normally I run the 91 economy tune, and it seems to perform as well as the 87 performance one at 17-18mpg city, unknown highway.

Entire reason I got the thing was to be able to retune for mild boost (3-4psi) without dropping to 11-14mpg.

 

[Grumpaw]

For info, receives a response from 5 Star about what I could expect from there tune...
Gave them...
2009 Ranger with stock 2.3 4 cyl, auto trans. Basically "new" truck with only 26,000 miles.
There response, using 87, 89, and 91 performance tune was that I could expect from 15 to 25 HP increase and 25 to 40 increase in torque, depending on which tune was loaded.
Probably a bit optomistic, but, in retrospect, having used their systems before, I could expect a definate increase.
I know on our 12, 000 lbs motor home the Ford V-10 did gain, and it is most definately better running and much better response. The Mustang GT, using 89 octain tune really woke it up, and the 91 octain was insane for a stock motor.
There claim for the 4 cyl 2.3 Ranger engine might also lead one to believe that the 2.3 is capable of much more power/torque than in stock form, and is/was factory tuned more for economy than any kind or performance.
Definately in the planning for the next few months.

 

[stmitch]

Seems like canned, generic tunes. Most of the gain on a stock truck with an auto trans is likely in the transmission tuning. A better option is probably to go to SCT's website and look for local shops that could write a custom dyno tune for you based on what you really want.

SCT Dealers | Where To Buy SCT Tuners Near You

Find SCT Resellers & Tuner Dealers near you. Just enter your zipcode, and we'll point you in the right direction. Locate an SCT Dealer near you now!

www.sctflash.com

Their site has changed a bit, but you used to be able to sort their dealer list by shops with a dyno. If you search for dyno shops in your area, they'll pretty much all have some tuning capability.

 

[Grumpaw]

Seems like canned, generic tunes. Most of the gain on a stock truck with an auto trans is likely in the transmission tuning. A better option is probably to go to SCT's website and look for local shops that could write a custom dyno tune for you based on what you really want.

SCT Dealers | Where To Buy SCT Tuners Near You

Find SCT Resellers & Tuner Dealers near you. Just enter your zipcode, and we'll point you in the right direction. Locate an SCT Dealer near you now!

www.sctflash.com

Their site has changed a bit, but you used to be able to sort their dealer list by shops with a dyno. If you search for dyno shops in your area, they'll pretty much all have some tuning capability.

Yeah, pretty much.
But this is for just a stock 4 banger...don't need anything "custom", just a nice increase. It's a hobby/show/cruise truck.
And, the tuner comes with 5 preloaded set ups...if I go custom, I'd probably have to go back to the shop to change them.
With the 5 Star I can request new tunes and they'll send them to me and I can download directly to tuner.
Besides, nearest performance dyno near me is in Richmond, 100 miles away..
Yeah, with the Mustang, it was a 5 speed stick and increase was in engine.
Motor home is automatic, and it did provide a slight hp increase, but the biggest change was in the auto shift points. Change dramatecially changed the "driveability" of the rig.

 

[ZMan]

"Canned tunes" are the tunes that come on the device if you were to just buy it from amazon or something like that. 5-star tunes are actually custom tunes they've written for that platform, technically not to your specific vehicle. Realistically you should datalog after loading the tune, send it back to them, and they'll make adjustments and send you a new tune. Most tuners offer a certain number of re-writes free of charge.

 

[Uncle Gump]

All this tuna talk... I'm hungry.