Looking to purchase a tune for my Ex. I want to know what you all have or have had and what tunes you liked the best. I know higher octane tunes get more power but for right now I’m running 87 and looking at 5 star. Whatcha got!?
Tunes, tunes, and more tunes
- Thread starter J Ski
- Start date
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How did this impact your mpg?
Don't really know. I wasn't concerned with gas mileage when I bought my Expedition. I drive a few miles around town multiple times a day and the gauge reads between 14-15mpg. I went on a road trip from Dallas to Lawton, OK a few weeks back and running 80mph pretty much the whole way it said I was getting around 19mpg.
87octane tune just sounds like an Oxymoron to me
87octane tune just sounds like an Oxymoron to me
Yeah well when youve got two kids under the age of 4 and your annual income for the household is under $100,000 you save $$$ where you can. The graphs Ive seen for the 87 tune look way better than stock IMO
Yeah but the graphs for 93 look EVEN better. Not sure how much gas is where your at but where I'm at 93 is about $.30 more a gallon. With a 34 gallon tank that's an extra $10.20 at fill up. When my truck is at E and in the red a fill up is usually around 28 gallons. So in reality a fill up with 93 is only around $8.40 more. I can go close too 2 weeks on one tank of gas with the type of driving I do. $8.40 x 2 fill ups a month x 12 months = $201.60. It cost me $201.60 (give or take a few bucks) to run 93 full time and have a better running truck with a better tune. For me, my wife and 3 kids (ages 7, 5 & 1) we spend that every week at the grocery store. You're telling me an extra $200-250 a year is somehow gonna put you in the poor house.
I'm not telling you how to spend your money bro. Like me I can tell youre an enthusiast. Your driving around in a top of the line truck that's lifted, got big wheels, an intake etc on it and you're telling me its not worth an extra $200 a year to have it running badass!!!
Either way good luck bro. I'm sure it will run better with whatever tune you choose
I'm not telling you how to spend your money bro. Like me I can tell youre an enthusiast. Your driving around in a top of the line truck that's lifted, got big wheels, an intake etc on it and you're telling me its not worth an extra $200 a year to have it running badass!!!
Either way good luck bro. I'm sure it will run better with whatever tune you choose
Muddy Bean
Full Access Members
I was going to type up this exact math. I used it have twin supercharged bonnevilles that required 93 and it really didn’t amount to much extra $$$ annually. When I’m out of warranty I’ll be getting a 93 octane tune without a doubt. That being said, there are occasions when we are traveling through rural areas and 93 isn’t available. If you have a 93 tune, what happens if you have to use 87? A lot of preignition pinging?
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Is there not programmer option to have multiple tunes loaded so you can load what you need when you need?
I have not looked into tuning options for the Expedition yet. No need to fuel that fire. But most all the other vehicles I have seen or worked with that were tuned either had a switch or could quickly be flashed based upon need.
I have not looked into tuning options for the Expedition yet. No need to fuel that fire. But most all the other vehicles I have seen or worked with that were tuned either had a switch or could quickly be flashed based upon need.
You’re not dealing with a specific race tune where you are dynoing it to get every last bit of power out of it.
Any tuner is going to be a bit conservative with these canned/email order tunes. Don’t drive it like you stole it and nothing to worry about if you just filled up with 93 even if you had a quarter tank or more. Or even going the other way.
AllBoostNoEco
Full Access Members
A 93 tune is fine on lower octane gas. The knock retard is still present in the engine, so even if you run it hard, it will still pull timing out to counteract the knock. When I drove into Florida during the mass hurricane evacuations last year, sometimes all I could find was 87 and I never heard any pinging on my 93 tune. It doesn’t really operate much differently than the way the stock engine identifies the presence of 87 versus 93, it runs up the timing until it detects a ping, then backs it back down. The primary difference will be the max amount of boost versus timing present in the tables. Most 93 tunes add 4-5 PSI of boost versus stock, so timing will tend to be lower versus stock amounts of boost, and off-boost the engine may feel more sluggish than it would on a stock or 87 tune.
I’m on 5* 93 Performance tune number 5, as they’ve revised it in accordance with my wishes several times, all for free. The initial tune was fine, but I had them raise the shift points, decrease throttle % to get a downshift, increase shift firmness and speed, and raise the threshold before the TCS and RSC intervenes. It’s nearly the “Race” tune I had in my 13 F-150, just without the 7,200 rpm shifts.
I have an 87 Eco and a 93 performance/tow as well, but I’ve never used the 87 tune at all, and minus my changes, couldn’t really tell a difference with the tow tune versus the regular tune. I’ve also never tested it without a trailer, and my trailer is 3,500 pounds empty.
I’m on 5* 93 Performance tune number 5, as they’ve revised it in accordance with my wishes several times, all for free. The initial tune was fine, but I had them raise the shift points, decrease throttle % to get a downshift, increase shift firmness and speed, and raise the threshold before the TCS and RSC intervenes. It’s nearly the “Race” tune I had in my 13 F-150, just without the 7,200 rpm shifts.
I have an 87 Eco and a 93 performance/tow as well, but I’ve never used the 87 tune at all, and minus my changes, couldn’t really tell a difference with the tow tune versus the regular tune. I’ve also never tested it without a trailer, and my trailer is 3,500 pounds empty.
I was thinking of doing the 87 perf/tow and just adding in 93 performance for ***** and giggles and see if I can convince myself to start running 93
AllBoostNoEco
Full Access Members
It’s been a minute, but as I recall, it’s 14 PSI untuned. I can’t find my datalogs, but I believe I was peaking at 18.22 PSI with my tune. I need to run it again to see how the shift pressures and speed looks.
The unmodified tune barely affects the shifts in the Expedition. 5* said that owners generally prefer keeping a stock feel versus F-150 owners.
My shifts now could only politely described as “hard”. I’ve been trying to get 5* to pull back the torque management, because that’s the most disappointing part of the shifting. My F-150 would merrily spin it’s 35” M/Ts going into second and chirp third if it was cold out. It was also a Coyote that shifted at 7K rpm. The EB shifts have been disappointing, which is something I’ve been working on steadily.
If you don’t tow, from what my tech at 5* told me, you’ll be more disappointed with the 87 tow tune than you would with the standard performance tune. They focus on keeping engine and trans temp in check and minimizing potential for pinging under heavy load, so they reduce the boost and ignition timing versus the non-tow tune. They also increase the wastegate opening % at lower rpm, in order to prevent the engine from running continuously under boost when towing. I forgot to change to my tow tune once with my 20x8.5 enclosed car hauler, and basically drove the entire 1000-mike round trip doing 70-mph and at 4-6 psi in steady-state cruising on flat ground. Was super-responsive to throttle input though.
About 12.5psi max boost on my stock F150 3.5L.
Muddy Bean
Full Access Members
Great info allboost. So how do we get your 93 tune with your personal mods (shift points etc) included? Just give them your name and say we want his custom tune? I like everything you’ve mentioned so far. Why start all over?
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It’s on the website that gives you drop down menus to choose what upgrades you have. Then you have to catalog everything after you upload first tune then tell them how you want it changed
AllBoostNoEco
Full Access Members
@J Ski pretty much nailed it.
I call them when I want to make changes. I suppose you could call, give them my name, and ask for the same tune. I wouldn’t recommend it though. My tune is VERY aggressive. I used the “Race” tune from my old F-150 as the basis for the trans tuning in this one. And have only gone more aggressive since then to compensate for the high-RPM power difference and torque management being a thorn in my side.
At 15% throttle it’s not shifting until 3K, and by 50% throttle it’s at 5800. Considering the redline is 6200, there’s not a lot of difference between half- and full-throttle in daily driving. My wife finds it too much in comparison to her stock Platinum. She finds it twitchy and tough to drive smoothly.
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