5-Star vs Livernois Motorsports vs Unleashed Tuning

[bobsblackbeauty]

I recently purchased the 5 star tune. Have not installed yet, but almost went with SSI. There is some negative stuff about SSI out there, but my experience has been fantastic on my 3.5 TT Explorer Sport. I put 60 K miles with their 87 tune and the power increase was absolutely incredible. Ran perfect for 60K miles with zero issues. I hauled tractors with weight in the 7K area interstate and then I would put in premium just in case the add'l load was an issue. I went with my brother several times and he just could not believe the power accelerating. Some times the tires on the awd would spin briefly trying to take off at a light with my trailer loaded!
So, my son put their tune on his SHO which is basically the same powertrain. His 87 made more power than Livernois' 93!

So, why didn't I go with them for the Ranger? I got concerned on several forums as to responses from reasonable people about issues. But, if this 5 star is not to my liking I may go to them afterall.

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[Mark P]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

 

[Doc]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

Unleashed 93 octane tune..Shifts perfectly , Rear wheel Dyno ..
Regards,
Doc

 

[RangerMarc]

I almost bought the Livernois tune the other day but I wanted to research a bit further and consider the other tunes one more time. I decided on the Unleashed Tune and purchased it today. Decision was based in part on reading all the positive post from Doc and from the level of customer service offered by Leslie and Unleashed, he did respond to my initial email within 30 min. today and it's Sunday. I'll update once installed...

 

[5startuning]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

Sorry you have heard that about 5 Star Tuning. We are always happy to work with any and all customers and have pursued/continue to pursue many issues/questions addressed on this forum. We are always happy to help address concerns/issues/revise existing tunes, etc should any issues arise with any customer.

We can be reached at our shop phone number, email and here as well(phone will be fastest). So please be sure to reach out to us if you are having any type of issue..hope everyone is enjoying their Rangers!

 

[Mark P]

Sorry you have heard that about 5 Star Tuning. We are always happy to work with any and all customers and have pursued/continue to pursue many issues/questions addressed on this forum. We are always happy to help address concerns/issues/revise existing tunes, etc should any issues arise with any customer.

We can be reached at our shop phone number, email and here as well(phone will be fastest). So please be sure to reach out to us if you are having any type of issue..hope everyone is enjoying their Rangers!

These are not my experiences as I’m still untuned, this is from what I hear and And have felt But I’m terribly conflicted on what to do as far as a tune. I asked for opinions here because I’m trying to figure out what to do. In retrospect having reread what I said it seems harsh, but it is after all what was told to me I just should have had more concern with how I wrote it, and I apologize for that. I don’t have your tune and maybe the car that I was in was an older revision of tour tune.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

Not sure what kind of issues the people that you talked to had with 5 Star, but at least for me I do not have any complaints. All the interactions I have had with 5 Star from the initial tune purchase to adding on the additional tuning files have been great. As I previously stated the transmission under the 93 Performance tune was rough at first but it has smoothed out considerably after I put a couple hundred miles on it. So much so that when just doing normal city driving it's really no different than stock. The shifts are butter smooth and no hint of that almost CVT like behavior of the stock setup. And the truck will absolutely come alive when you romp on it or drop it into S mode and have very firm shift points. Throttle response is significantly better as well. When stock there is an almost bothersome lag time when pressing the gas and the engine responding. The 5 Star tune all but eliminates that lag.

The only thing I could say could be a complaint is it does tend to hold in 1st/2nd a tad too long before shifting. But this is only if I pop the gas a little to much at low speed in a parking lot or something. I contribute this to the transmission holding the current gear in readiness to continue accelerating more aggressively.

 

[landiscarrier]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

I have the Unleashed tune and Gearheads Tune. They are both outstanding in my opinion. Smooth and improved shifting and plenty of power! I currently have GH downloaded as it seems to be a tad quicker.
Unleashed tuned both of my Focus ST’s i had previously and again, their tunes are outstanding and reliable.

 

[bobsblackbeauty]

I installed the 5 star tuning tunes the other day. Here is my very short lived (800 miles) analysis.

1- the 93 octane performance tune will chirp/spin the tires in 1,2,3
2- shift was excellent for 93
3- loaded 87 tune (still had 93 in tank). My guess is 70% of the performance gain of the 93.
4- Shift was excellent.
5- Gas mileage on the 87 performance tune was almost as good as stock but when you nail it, the power it makes takes gas, so you experience worse mileage.

Like my SSI tuned Explorer, the 87 is so much more power than stock it's not worth using the 93 tune and its octane requirement for passing, etc, power. The power did not decrease when I put 87 back in the tank.

We all know the Ranger is better in power than their peers. But, using the 87 tune has to make another 40hp/60tq. It's very noticeable.

That said, I may still get one from SSI now that I've got the tuner. 2 tunes cost like 125$. I mention this because the Explorer 87 tune was incredible and I put about 60K on the tune without any issues.

 

[Vino]

From what I hear...

5 star is trash and a horribly unrefined tune with a goal only of HP horrid drivability and sub par customer service - please chime in if you’ve had a diff experience.

heard great things about livernoiseand got to drive one but I’ve only ever been in a Ford performance tuned car and livernoise.

Don’t know anyone in person who’s used unleashed but I’ve heard a mixed bag. Good power meh shifting but good customer service.

I was running the unleashed performance tune from Torrie and went into limp mode while towing my bass boat. Ihave it too much throttle and (without going full into mechanic mode) I just stopped and restarted my truck. It fixed the limp mode.

I ended up needing my whole rear diff replaced overtime. Not sure if it was from towing while in performance (which I’m sure that’s what they’ll say caused it) but I was also flooring the pedal more than normal. Why get a tune and not use it to the full advantage? Needless to say, I uninstalled the tune and my warranty covered the expenses.

In the future, I will not do any tuning from now on until there is a dyno tuner available. I would like to get the real time tuning over an off the shelf tune. I knew the risks and now I paid for it (being without my truck for 2+ weeks).

Coming from a tuned sport car I knew the risks and I jumped the gun too fast. Dyno tune is the way to go. ANYONE KNOW A DYNO TUNER THAT WOULD DO OUR TRUCKS?! WILLING TO DRIVE!

 

[Mark P]

I was running the unleashed performance tune from Torrie and went into limp mode while towing my bass boat. Ihave it too much throttle and (without going full into mechanic mode) I just stopped and restarted my truck. It fixed the limp mode.

I ended up needing my whole rear diff replaced overtime. Not sure if it was from towing while in performance (which I’m sure that’s what they’ll say caused it) but I was also flooring the pedal more than normal. Why get a tune and not use it to the full advantage? Needless to say, I uninstalled the tune and my warranty covered the expenses.

In the future, I will not do any tuning from now on until there is a dyno tuner available. I would like to get the real time tuning over an off the shelf tune. I knew the risks and now I paid for it (being without my truck for 2+ weeks).

Coming from a tuned sport car I knew the risks and I jumped the gun too fast. Dyno tune is the way to go. ANYONE KNOW A DYNO TUNER THAT WOULD DO OUR TRUCKS?! WILLING TO DRIVE!

I also come from the race car side of things and actually have access to an amazing tuner and a dyno.

lemme ask to see if maybe they’d be down to do this. Right now my tunerhas his base tunes and then you run logs and he does the final fine tuning for you. No need to even use a dyno. Street diag works for him.

 

[Doc]

I was running the unleashed performance tune from Torrie and went into limp mode while towing my bass boat. Ihave it too much throttle and (without going full into mechanic mode) I just stopped and restarted my truck. It fixed the limp mode.

I ended up needing my whole rear diff replaced overtime. Not sure if it was from towing while in performance (which I’m sure that’s what they’ll say caused it) but I was also flooring the pedal more than normal. Why get a tune and not use it to the full advantage? Needless to say, I uninstalled the tune and my warranty covered the expenses.

In the future, I will not do any tuning from now on until there is a dyno tuner available. I would like to get the real time tuning over an off the shelf tune. I knew the risks and now I paid for it (being without my truck for 2+ weeks).

Coming from a tuned sport car I knew the risks and I jumped the gun too fast. Dyno tune is the way to go. ANYONE KNOW A DYNO TUNER THAT WOULD DO OUR TRUCKS?! WILLING TO DRIVE!

Palm Beach Dyno in Fla ..
Regards

 

[JaysOnTheEDGE]

Running the unleashed tunes I've got 3 since he was running a 3 for 2 special when i got them. 87 Performance, 93 Tow and 93 Performance. I really just run the 93 Performance. and so far I've avg 19.9 MPG with it over 4700 miles. can't complain with 20 MPG on a stock 4x4 roughly 80 city/20 highway, and more power on tap to boot. I'm taking it up to GA next week so i'll see how my highway mileage is.

Went with him since he's local to FL and exceptional customer service and a previous customer.

 

[austinb324]

I was running the unleashed performance tune from Torrie and went into limp mode while towing my bass boat. Ihave it too much throttle and (without going full into mechanic mode) I just stopped and restarted my truck. It fixed the limp mode.

I ended up needing my whole rear diff replaced overtime. Not sure if it was from towing while in performance (which I’m sure that’s what they’ll say caused it) but I was also flooring the pedal more than normal. Why get a tune and not use it to the full advantage? Needless to say, I uninstalled the tune and my warranty covered the expenses.

In the future, I will not do any tuning from now on until there is a dyno tuner available. I would like to get the real time tuning over an off the shelf tune. I knew the risks and now I paid for it (being without my truck for 2+ weeks).

Coming from a tuned sport car I knew the risks and I jumped the gun too fast. Dyno tune is the way to go. ANYONE KNOW A DYNO TUNER THAT WOULD DO OUR TRUCKS?! WILLING TO DRIVE!

Given your location, I would give Pro Dyno in FT Mill SC a call.
https://www.pro-dyno.net/

 

[RangerRaptor]

I’m running 5 Star 91 performance (that’s our highest octane). I’ve had it on for 2,000+ miles and it’s a huge improvement over stock. I recently added the suite of aFe products under the hood, plus a Borla twin tipped exhaust. 5 Star updated my tunes for the new hardware. I also run a Pedal Commander. Everything is very smooth and acceleration builds rapidly. It took me awhile to get used to running the Ranger in Sport gear; it was not trained yet and it stayed pretty long in lower gears. It is smoothing out, but I prefer normal gear with the tune - responsive, but smooth.

I also ran 5 Star on my Raptor for 7 years. Loved it the whole time. But the Ranger likes the tune even more than the Raptor. Much bigger gains. 5 Star was great to do business with each time.

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