"Tuner" for a V-10

Look up 5-star tuning out of South Carolina. Was my first mod on the 2010 V10 that I bought (used). Changes the shift pattern up a bit. The Consensus on IRV2 seems to be this is the one to have/ best bang for the buck.

If it were me, I would see how I like it as-is from the factory before thinking about whether to get a chip or not. The past couple of years have the newer six-speed transmission, which gives a noticeable improvement in driving qualities over the previous five (and earlier four) speed transmissions, which had identical and rather widely spaced gear ratios for the upper three gears.

5 star tuning does have a quite good reputation, though I have no personal experience one way or the other with them.

X2 if it runs just fine? why fool with it? I,m one that thinks ford pays big bucks to make them run right . after market toy,s I just can,t do.question if it breaks down on the road? who,s gonna know what was done to it.

midnightsadie wrote:
.... if it breaks down on the road? who,s gonna know what was done to it?

if it breaks down on the road wouldn’t the driver/owner know what was done?

Buying new, no experience but want to changes things? Oh my.

What I noticed is that when 5 Star began offering it's tuners, the HP and torque of Ford's V-10 was less than Workhorse's 8.1 and 5 Star's device let you get a lot more power from the V-10 and make it comparable to the GM engine. As the years went by, the V-10 has continued to be rated higher and higher. I'm not sure how much more you will now get with one of 5 Star's kits as it looks like Ford has been already doing the work for you.

I find I have more than enough power. I do drive in the Rocky Mountains.

The 5 star tuner's primary plus was resetting the shift points of the tranny which was known for downshifting from 5th to 1st or 2nd without trying to use 3rd or 4th. It would take the relative quiet cruise into a screaming V-10 without notice or reason.
I put the tuner to work and am really happy with the results addl HP "may" come with it but I never noticed it.
Don't know how the Ford people programmed the 6 speed but surely they must have fixed their shift pgm by now,

not if he didn,t do the work.

rk911 wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
.... if it breaks down on the road? who,s gonna know what was done to it?

if it breaks down on the road wouldn’t the driver/owner know what was done?

If it breaks down under factory warranty and you are expecting the warranty repairs to be paid for by Ford, THEY will know what was done to your vehicle if you don't remove/exchange the retuned chip and run it for long enough to reset the default tune. If Ford feels that someone modified or "retuned" their initial factory tuning and by THEIR own determination, it caused the failure, guess who will be paying for (what could have been) warranty repairs?


A.) Ford Motor Company
B.) The tuner
C.) You

Answer: C

That said, is it worth it to save a few minutes getting up that next hill? Only you can decide.

Chum lee