I sent you a email request but wanted to ask a few questions here. I am looking for a tuner for my 2012 F-150 FX4 It has the 5.0L and 3:73 gears. As for engine mods .. just a K&N drop in and a catch can. Down the road maybe exhaust. My biggest fear is loosing warranty ... but I have heard your tuners do not leave prints on the PCM .. can you confirm this? Also I am wanting better throttle response and MPG's is possible. I do not tow nor do I drag race .. lol . Just want to improve the feel of the truck with some power and performance while getting manageable if not better MPG's. If you have any numbers on your tunes or have a route I should go please let me know. I am tired of reading all the EB numbers I would like to see 5.0 numbers Thanks
Typically when you "tune" a truck rather than "chip" it you can always at any point and time set the trucks PCM back to factory settings. All a tune does and change parameters of your engine and shift points etc. which thus eases your mind about your warranty. Now you are going to need a CAI in order to get a tune because you need a certain amount of cubic inch air flow reaching into your engine. They will give better throttle response because these tunes are changing how much fuel is being injected and so forth. You typically see better gas mileage because the guys that writes these tunes are experts and know their stuff. They have it down to a science. A factory PCM is meant to give you a smooth ride feeling while being to have power when you need it. When you get a tuner it will change to where you want the most performance out of your truck so everything is set to be perfectly in sync. This is why you see "Performance Tunes" and "Tow Tunes" that change the shift points on your transmission. So to answer your main questions, yes you should better throttle response, better gas mileage ( but not dramatic) and yes you can return the PCM to factory settings thus leaving no footprints. Sent from my iSmarty 4
When you say CAI ... I have read the stock box and pipe are just as good if not better than a $400 dollar set up. I replaced the filter with a K&N ... and I think that is all I will be doing. As far as the tune .. I have had SCT custom tunes on Dodge trucks and was very pleased. I was very disappointed in SC tuners. But again they are just canned tunes. I look forward to hearing and working with 5 Star on this.
5 star is definitely who you want to talk to. He tunes a ton of trucks and knows what to do. Not a lot of 5.0s here yet... hopefully you'll have some good results to post. sent from my igloo
You are right for the most part on the CAI but the matter of the fact is, a tune requires a certain amount of airflow. A high flow filter or drop in as you say still will not provide sufficient airflow to your engine that the a tune will require. Your stock intake housing has dampeners which interrupts the airflow where as a CAI is a straight pipe to the throttle body. If you don't have the right amount of air flow your truck will run rich. Sent from my iSmarty 4
But 5 star is where you want your stuff from without doubt. They have done my dads raptor and it's sick.
Not to get off topic but ...is there a tube/pipe out there that replaces the stock tube. I dont want to give up my stock air box for a open filter and I dont want to buy a new. If I must replace something I would rather just replace the intake tube.
I don't believe there is however there could be a mod or something. They make fully enclosed CAIs Sent from my iSmarty 4
i would go down to an exhaust shop, have them make you a custom intake pipe and then you'll just have to cut a slot for your MAF sensor to fit (make sure it is positioned the same length down the new pipe as it was on the factory). You'll also have to put a few lines on plugs due to them feeding off the oem intake pipe. whether your box is opened or closed makes no difference except on the temperature of the air entering your engine (cold air is more compressed and therefore can get more into the same area as you could hot air).
Well that idea is about to be shot .. Talking to Mike at 5 Star about a SCT with custom tunes, and the Boss 302 kit along with a AFE CAI. Might as well just go all out right? Just have to decide what muffler to go with all that stuff. I dont want to replace the entire system so I will just upgrade to a better flowing muffler. This truck is going to go fast and hard.
