"5 star tuner" on a V-10?
Does anyone have any personal experiences with something called "5 star tuner" on a V-10 that they could share, or any other computer tweaks worth knowing about?
Forum Discussion
The bulk of the various V10 after market add-ons seem to be trying to get the V10 to "pull harder" at low(er) RPMs ... kindof contrary to it's design.
At 305 HP, the later two-valve V10s in the Ford cutaway van chassis have plenty of horsepower. You're supposed to use it's high RPM capability to tap this horsepower - that's it's design. The old V8 folks (used to be me, too) seem to think that if the engine has to rev above around 4000 RPM (especially in a truck), something must be "wrong" and therefore must be correctable.
We run our motorhome's V10 all the time, when the HP is required, at 4000-5000 RPM to pull long sustained grades, at speed, at high altitudes. It does just fine and keeps right up with good old rumbling V8's and diesels. We got used to it and now trust it completely to hold together and do it's thing as designed.
As a bonus, the V10 sure does idle right down there whisper quiet and smooth as silk for occasional battery charging, quick coach cooling, or quick coach heating. We can't tell it's idling from inside the RV. There is very little exhaust smell when it's doing this, too.
The friends we RV with have a Ford 460 in their Class C and they do not idle it much - it idles with a rumbling sound, introduces some chassis vibration, makes strange belt pulley sounds, and seems like it's really sucking gas. Our friends do keep their 460 in top tune, too, all the time. Maybe not typical, but somewhat like all past V8 trucks I've owned.
The V10 is a non-typical truck gas engine and takes getting used to.
At 305 HP, the later two-valve V10s in the Ford cutaway van chassis have plenty of horsepower. You're supposed to use it's high RPM capability to tap this horsepower - that's it's design. The old V8 folks (used to be me, too) seem to think that if the engine has to rev above around 4000 RPM (especially in a truck), something must be "wrong" and therefore must be correctable.
We run our motorhome's V10 all the time, when the HP is required, at 4000-5000 RPM to pull long sustained grades, at speed, at high altitudes. It does just fine and keeps right up with good old rumbling V8's and diesels. We got used to it and now trust it completely to hold together and do it's thing as designed.
As a bonus, the V10 sure does idle right down there whisper quiet and smooth as silk for occasional battery charging, quick coach cooling, or quick coach heating. We can't tell it's idling from inside the RV. There is very little exhaust smell when it's doing this, too.
The friends we RV with have a Ford 460 in their Class C and they do not idle it much - it idles with a rumbling sound, introduces some chassis vibration, makes strange belt pulley sounds, and seems like it's really sucking gas. Our friends do keep their 460 in top tune, too, all the time. Maybe not typical, but somewhat like all past V8 trucks I've owned.
The V10 is a non-typical truck gas engine and takes getting used to.
