Performance upgrade options for V10

[Fish_mojo]

I have a 2006 Kodiak 22' B+ with the 6.8L V10. It really feels like a dog climbing mountain passes, continually downshifting and jumping RPM's to keep up. 6% grades really affect it.

Are there any reasonable power upgrades that can be considered? Banks, tuning options? Anything? Looking for a balance of power vs fuel economy. Don't want to make changes that will drop fuel mileage.

[klutchdust]

coolmom42 wrote:
Turn off your cruise control and shift down manually. Put it in whatever gear it needs--possibly 3rd on a 6% grade-- and leave it there to climb the grade. Nothing will trash your transmission faster than the constant shifting up and down.

I've never driven a vehicle that wouldn't shift down on a 6% grade, regardless of engine size and/or load.

^^::)

[coolmom42]

Turn off your cruise control and shift down manually. Put it in whatever gear it needs--possibly 3rd on a 6% grade-- and leave it there to climb the grade. Nothing will trash your transmission faster than the constant shifting up and down.

I've never driven a vehicle that wouldn't shift down on a 6% grade, regardless of engine size and/or load.

[klutchdust]

I have found that when approaching a grade I turn off cruise control and I control the speed myself. I have NO use for chips, tuners or the like as I have friends that have such things and they have issues.

Let that engine rev, scream or whatever, no chip, in my opinion will make it better PLUS forget about concerns for fuel consumption. My 09 V-10 gets between 5.5 and 10.0 Mpg during various scenarios.

Using a chip will tighten that gap quickly. Also, do a chip and throw your warranty, if you have one, in the trash. A good scanner will pick it up.

[tpi]

5 star is what I was thinking of.

But you can control RPM if you're not driving to a set speed. Select gear and speed to keep RPM lower. Mid to high 3000s is a good target. If you want to go faster then let it rev. It won't hurt it.

[n7bsn]

Yup, you could spend lots of money, and the V10 will still rev. It's designed to

I've owned two V10s, the 2-valve like yours and the 3-valve that goes in the current F-series.

On a steep long grade, like the 15-miles on BC-5 that runs from 4 to 12%, either V10 would run around 4500 rpm.

[Grumpy374]

Go to 5 Star Tune web site. They have developed a tune which re-programs the tranny and a slight boost in hp. The tranny re-program is really what it is all about. After the re-tune it shifts much more "civilized". No more screaming downshifts from od to third. It will downshift to forth and then, if necessary downshift to third.
Have it on my 2012 V-10 and would not be without it.
Rest of the stuff, like Banks, will boost your hp, but it's very expensive.
And, no matter what anyone tells you, when you do aftermarket hp increases, you will use more fuel. Horsepower isn't free, and there's no "magic" solution to get more hp without fuel usage.
Grumpy

[tpi]

I'd say an adjustment of expectations wouldn't hurt (22' V10 a dog).

But there is a chip, and I think someone will be by to post links-which takes engine out of closed loop operation at full throttle. It goes open loop with 13.1 mixture or so with more ignition timing-giving more power and torque. Of course going from 14.7 to 13 to 1 air fuel ratios do nothing great for fuel economy when you're in that scenario. Due to higher torque it may also downshift less.

[Jopops]

The 6.8L V10 is meant to rev. It behaves more like a Honda than a typical burbling V8.

Let it do its thing. On a little 22' that engine is overkill; let it spin.