Been working with 5 star for 2 years now. Have a 93 perf on revision 7.11, 93 perf tow on revision 7.4 and e30 on revision 2. I run e30 daily on my 16 EL with 35s and my god is this thing quick. 5 star has always pulled through for me and I will be a customer for life with them
I’m complete opposite of Loki, I do not like ZFG. To me, they are all about just making your truck haul ass and they don’t really utilize the same safety parameters 5 star tuning does. They are in a ******* match to see what company can get the fastest EB and to me I could care less about that. I want a tune that is both powerful and safe. They also are ok with letting a completely stock 3.5 run on e85, those parts that make up the fuel system on stock 10 speed aren’t made to handle straight e85.
Livernois is expensive and not sure if they will let you datalog
just my $.02
Jake, I truly respect your opinion...but A LOT of what you said above is unfounded.
I have had Tuned vehicles for over 25 years now. I actually use to do a lot of my own tuning on my 2006 Powerstroke. This is not my first Rodeo. I like to shop around. I tried 4 tuners on my 2016 Edge, before I landed on ZFG. Even tried as a stated above a few on my 2020 Expedition, before coming back to ZFG. Just cause.
The safety parameters argument is only something an actual 5Star customer would say... There are MANY daily driven 5 Star tuned vehicles that weren't tracked or even running extreme tunes that have had major failure, even those with 5Star's "Warranty". I know of 1 ZFG tuned F150 that has had major failure, and they were intentionally pushing the limits on the stock internals because the guy was going to do a built motor. ZFG is all about safety. I have seen HPT(HP Tuner) files from many other tuners and MANY of them lower the knock thresholds and many other things to get the power they are getting. ZFG develops safe power. They always start with a base tune, log, and then adjust your tune for your vehicle. The base tune is VERY conservative, and equivalent in results to many other tuners. It is the logging for your specific vehicle that makes ZFG different, and allows the gains. Every motor responds differently, as does the Trans.
What does the Trans have to do with E85? It has nothing to do with it. If you are talking power levels, E50 gets more power on the stock pump. People are running full E85 with aftermarket pumps(Even more power than E50) on 100% stock 10Spds. If the shifts are tuned correctly, it can EASILY handle it. My tune on my 2020 is E85 on a stock Pump, but it is a turned back E85 tune, and demands less, because as you already know the Stock pump can't flow enough to meet the demand if the E85 tune is a full bore tune. This gets me more power than 93, less than E50, but no mixing.
Now if we are talking about the Fuel System as far as seals and rubber...The same fuel lines are used in full flexfuel(E85, or Gas) vehicles. No modern vehicle manufacturer uses hoses and fittings that will fail with ANY percentage of Ethanol. Whether that is E10 or E100. That has been true for almost 20 years for most manufacturers. We could go into the changes in the rubber compounds and the rings, and the chemistry of it, but I really don't have the energy...do a search I have done it before. By the way my degree is chemistry. This isn't a lawn mower with an open air fuel tank, and it isn't a 1970's muscle car. E85 will do ZERO damage to this fuel system.
