2023 UPDATE, How Does Everyone Feel About Their Tunes and Tuners?

Greetings everyone! I'm new to the 3.5 EB engine but not to the art of modifying things.
I just picked up a 2015 Expedition and after several hours of reading older threads, I'm still not sure which direction I want to go for a tune.
My main goal is to the improve the daily driving habits of this rig, pedal response and shifting. We may do some mild performance stuff down the road but we have several other vehicles for that sort of driving.
My catch is that I have a free to me, unmarried SCT Livewire tuner. I read good things on ZGF tunes but he doesn't work with that platform.
I've read up on 5Star and I see lots of good and lots of not good. I see that MPT is around but they've been hard to find information on.
The threads I read up on were a bit older and I figured I'd get a fresh perspective on how everyone feels about their tunes.

Thank you in advance!

My son had MPT tunes via SCT tuner on his F150 3.5 EB and they worked great. His tuned truck is what got me to buy my EB Expedition. Whenever I get my Expedition out of the body shop the next steps are big intercooler, air intake, and MPT/SCT tunes.

Thats great to hear. I've come to realize that this platform is the same as the earlier F150 EB platform so I spent some more time reviewing what they had to say. They spoke highly of MPT and Unleashed so that offered some comfort. I recalled hearing a lot of good things about Unleashed from my time on other platforms and I'm considering reaching out to them, too.

Torrie at Unleashed is GREAT! MPT is also a great option for the 15-17 Expedition. Obviously I am a fan of ZFG, but like you said, Adam only writes for HP Tuners hardware.

I think Unleashed and MPT are both excellent choices. Stay away from 5Star. They are too hit/miss for me. Like you said, reviews on both sides.

I'm using a 5.4, but my experience with 5 star for my vehicle was quite positive. Enough of an improvement I wish I would purchased much sooner. I was looking for improved towing performance.

LokiWolf said:

Torrie at Unleashed is GREAT! MPT is also a great option for the 15-17 Expedition. Obviously I am a fan of ZFG, but like you said, Adam only writes for HP Tuners hardware.

I think Unleashed and MPT are both excellent choices. Stay away from 5Star. They are too hit/miss for me. Like you said, reviews on both sides.

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Great to hear this from you! The bulk of my time reading over old threads involved your contributions to those threads. I was a few clicks away from going with MPT, but I got nervous because I could not find a lot of information about them here. While reading over the reviews on a F150 forum, I saw a consistent pattern of praise for Torrie and his quick response time. I saw this evidenced in threads going back to the beginning of the platform and re-iterated in much newer threads.

Sent an e-mail his way about the availability of tunes for my Expedition and he responded in 6 minutes via e-mail. I asked a few more questions and got prompt answers. Hard to believe in this day and age. He forwarded a link for custom tuning, and after I asked for recommendations on products, linked spark plugs and a thermostat.

Still updating the software on the livewire, it hasn't connected to wifi since 2015, but placed my order with Torrie and think I'll be quite happy.

twodollars said:

I'm using a 5.4, but my experience with 5 star for my vehicle was quite positive. Enough of an improvement I wish I would purchased much sooner. I was looking for improved towing performance.

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You hear this, and then the next comment is negative. I have a good friend I trust and he swears by them, and then in the Explorer ST platform, their E Tunes trashed several Transmissions. Again Hit and miss. Glad you are happy with them!

I've been shopping around, and asked this question here a few months ago. LokiWolf had some great suggestions - Thanks!

I've finally narrowed it down to choosing between 5 star tuning and their package with 3 tunes and the HP MTD+ tuner, or ZFG racing and their package with the "Auto Octane" tune and the HP MPVI3 tuner.

The ZFG racing tune with "Auto Octane" is compelling because if my wife "accidentally" fills up with 87 Octane I don't need to worry about rushing to swap a 5-star 93 octane tune out for a 5-star 87 octane tune. On the one hand, I don't know if running a "93 octane tune" with 87 octane gas would cause any engine damage - maybe it'll just run like crap? On the other hand, that ZFG racing package is $900 for a tuner and only one tune. Holy crap! The 5-star tune package is only $649 for a tuner and 3 tunes.

I don't know that I can use only my laziness to justify the added expense for the ZFG "Auto Octane" tune package. If there is a possibility of damaging the engine when the wrong fuel is used though, I can definitely justify that added cost. I've told my wife multiple times to only fill up with 93 Octane with this vehicle, but she's notoriously "thrifty" and I know it is only a matter of time before 87 octane is 'accidentally' put in the tank.

Different mentality’s in tuning. I assume the 5 Star was with an SCT device. The MPVI3 can be used on any supported HPT vehicle going forward, at the same time. Just buy credits and a tune. It is a FAR superior device to the XCal…I have used the same MPVI2 for many years now, and on 6 vehicles. Currently actively on 3.

Now I do believe ZFG’s process is superior. He requests logs after the base tune from all customers and looks at them to make sure the tune is optimal. Will find things like low oil pressure and other things. Can adjust for what he sees in the logs. Tweak things to your liking. It take time and a little patience, but you end up with an amazing product!

Thanks for the extra information. The 5-star tune that I am looking at actually uses a HP RTD Gen3 tuner device. After reading a lot of reviews and based on your previous suggestions to me, I am avoiding the SCT tuners. AFAICT, the HP RTD Gen3 has all the features of the HP MPVI tuners except for the stand alone logging. Which I assume is needed for the additional tweaking by ZFG that you mention?

But I don't know if the RTD Gen3 can be used with other vehicles. I can't find an answer to that question. I would actually prefer to buy a tuning device that I know can be used on any future Ford trucks or SUVs that I purchase.

I'm not really balking at the cost of the tuner itself though. It's the cost of the actual tunes from ZFG that are making me pause. Only one tune for the 2 credits - $450. Does that price include the extra tweaking that he does for you after reviewing your logs? Or is that an additional charge?

And that price doesn't give me any additional tunes to play with. I really like the idea of being able to compare the performance of a 93 Octane tune vs the Auto Octane tune. To do that with ZFG, I'd need to purchase 2 additional credits for $450.

All this said, I haven't really made up my mind yet. I'm still collecting data points. The attractiveness of the ZFG tune for me is the Auto Octane tune he offers. One and done. And I don't need to worry if I am out of town and the wife puts 87 Octane in the tank. The price difference between ZFG and 5-star is just huge though. $650 and three tunes vs $900 and one tune. I'm having a tough time justifying the additional cost.