Just got my FP tune and Butt dyno is not impressed

[Sktam]

That, alone, is worth the upgrade! Tuning is a weird topic. If you aren't driving 'balls to the wall' all the time, then you might not realize what is going on. Less power dips in acceleration, broader torque curve, and drivability are all things improved with a tune. I don't have the FP tune (or any tune) but the FP is on my list. I need to keep the factory warranty.

Yup, warranty is key for me.

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[Colo_Ranger]

if we did the math on the MPG gains VS the cost of the tune, it's still a very long return on investment before you would see money back into the pocket. add in the extra cost for 91, and it slows the return even more.

No one could say they bought a tune simply for mileage improvement unless they are environmentally conscious and the costs arent an issue.

It's more about distance between fill-ups for me. Maximizing the time I can stay offroad/cover distance. I know it's not significant, but I've read that you can up the tire size and not lose as much fuel economy. Depends on what you're looking for out of the ROI.

It may take a long time to 'recover' financially, but time and quality of life make a bigger difference to me. Though, I'm not rich enough (read: not rich at all) to not care about cost at all. That's also why I haven't already done it.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Also! MPG is better.

At least until you start dipping into the turbo more that is.

 

[Sktam]

Didn’t someone say the red trucks were faster too? Maybe it was already tuned from the factory ????

 

[Sktam]

red truck with a TG damper is the best of all scenarios.
more HP, more torque, more mpg and more smiles.

Well, I guess I completed All the mods. Time to move on to the bronco

 

[Bludrok]

red truck with a TG damper is the best of all scenarios.
more HP, more torque, more mpg and more smiles.

True, my red ranger with damper has high 13's 1/4 mile times.

The Biggest gains have been damper and Decals. I dont think my 5 star tune, 91 gas, downpipe, 3" frontpipe, catback, mishimoto intake/intercooler with charge pipes, or blow off valve gave me any gains at all.

 

[CJBax]

I get what the OP is talking about. Based on the advertised performance numbers I gather that the FP tune and canned (off-the-shelf) tunes that come with tuners like my SCT BDX are very similar in gains. Shift strategies are a little better than stock with canned tune as well. When I was having issues with 5star tune (before I switched to Unleashed) I ran the canned tune for a good many miles. While I could certainly tell the difference, especially on hills, how it shifted, it was not a huge difference, not even close to a custom tune. Going WOT from a stop I could feel the difference from stock, but it wasn't a wow factor at all, just better than stock. Now a custom tune, totally different. Any of the custom tunes I have run easily produce a big wow factor when WOT from a stop. Actually, with my initial 5star tune I was paranoid that it was too much and I was going to blow the engine ?.

Frankly, 36mo/36k is a really short powertrain warranty and is really the time frame where statistically not much is likely to happen, even on a (quality) custom tune. So my thought is to just go with a custom tune with a great reputation with tuning our rangers and enjoy the truck in all it's potential.

If you load up any one of the three main custom tunes mentioned often here on the forums and you still don't notice an immediate wow factor, then you are never going get a wow factor out of this truck, no matter what you do to it.

Even of you want to tow, the Unleashed tow tune I ran for a while is still leagues ahead of stock tune, even the 87 tow tune is really great for daily driving, seriously.

Anyway, just my thoughts. If the FP tune only keeps the warranty for 36k miles... yeah I'll go with a custom tune all the way. Much greater enjoyment driving the truck and I feel confident that it won't cause any problems before the ODO hits 36k. After that, we'll have to see. Some folks have had issues, but if it's past 36k... the FP tune wouldn't help you there anyway.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

It's more about distance between fill-ups for me. Maximizing the time I can stay offroad/cover distance. I know it's not significant, but I've read that you can up the tire size and not lose as much fuel economy. Depends on what you're looking for out of the ROI.

It may take a long time to 'recover' financially, but time and quality of life make a bigger difference to me. Though, I'm not rich enough (read: not rich at all) to not care about cost at all. That's also why I haven't already done it.

IME mileage drops by ~1.5x the additional diameter.

Adding 6% to the diameter will drop your mpg by about 8-10%.

 

[Sktam]

I get what the OP is talking about. Based on the advertised performance numbers I gather that the FP tune and canned (off-the-shelf) tunes that come with tuners like my SCT BDX are very similar in gains. Shift strategies are a little better than stock with canned tune as well. When I was having issues with 5star tune (before I switched to Unleashed) I ran the canned tune for a good many miles. While I could certainly tell the difference, especially on hills, how it shifted, it was not a huge difference, not even close to a custom tune. Going WOT from a stop I could feel the difference from stock, but it wasn't a wow factor at all, just better than stock. Now a custom tune, totally different. Any of the custom tunes I have run easily produce a big wow factor when WOT from a stop. Actually, with my initial 5star tune I was paranoid that it was too much and I was going to blow the engine ?.

Frankly, 36mo/36k is a really short powertrain warranty and is really the time frame where statistically not much is likely to happen, even on a (quality) custom tune. So my thought is to just go with a custom tune with a great reputation with tuning our rangers and enjoy the truck in all it's potential.

If you load up any one of the three main custom tunes mentioned often here on the forums and you still don't notice an immediate wow factor, then you are never going get a wow factor out of this truck, no matter what you do to it.

Even of you want to tow, the Unleashed tow tune I ran for a while is still leagues ahead of stock tune, even the 87 tow tune is really great for daily driving, seriously.

Anyway, just my thoughts. If the FP tune only keeps the warranty for 36k miles... yeah I'll go with a custom tune all the way. Much greater enjoyment driving the truck and I feel confident that it won't cause any problems before the ODO hits 36k. After that, we'll have to see. Some folks have had issues, but if it's past 36k... the FP tune wouldn't help you there anyway.

Damn, it was like you went into my brain and had my thoughts for lunch.

 

[stratos201xp]

How many miles will it take to really start taking in effect? Or should I feel a difference right away? I do Hear the intake trying to suck more air in. So the tune did install correctly without any issues.

I used 5 star tuning. Everytime I add a mod I call them and they send me a revised tune. I run 93 octane with royal purple max boost. It ups octane to 96 to 97 octane and the truck runs incredibly smooth and powerful. My mods are spd downpipe, mbrp 3” full exhaust with turndown, afe charge pipes, mishimoto intercooler, turbosmart bov, and airaid cai. Butt Dyno is astounding.

 

[Joeiconic]

Frankly, 36mo/36k is a really short powertrain warranty and is really the time frame where statistically not much is likely to happen, even on a (quality) custom tune. So my thought is to just go with a custom tune with a great reputation with tuning our rangers and enjoy the truck in all it's potential.

Powertrain warranty on the Ranger is 5/60. Bumper to bumper is 3/36.

The Ford tune itself only has a 3/36 warranty, so I’m not sure if getting the tune reduces the powertrain warranty from 5/60 to 3/36 or not.

 

[D Fresh]

I used 5 star tuning. Everytime I add a mod I call them and they send me a revised tune. I run 93 octane with royal purple max boost. It ups octane to 96 to 97 octane and the truck runs incredibly smooth and powerful. My mods are spd downpipe, mbrp 3” full exhaust with turndown, afe charge pipes, mishimoto intercooler, turbosmart bov, and airaid cai. Butt Dyno is astounding.

Do you send them datalogs for them to revise off of?

Or do you tell them what you've added and they just throw a WAG at from their experience?

If it's the latter I'd beware.

Some here seem to be conflating a true custom tune by dyno/road/or datalog tuning, and an OTS tune from a 3rd party tuner.

Best I can tell the only person out of the big 3 Ranger tuners who looks at datalogs is Torrie from Unleashed.

 

[D Fresh]

Powertrain warranty on the Ranger is 5/60. Bumper to bumper is 3/36.

The Ford tune itself only has a 3/36 warranty, so I’m not sure if getting the tune reduces the powertrain warranty from 5/60 to 3/36 or not.

From what I understand it doesn't reduce your overall poertrain warranty. But problems found to be caused by the tune are only warrantied for 3/36 from purchase of the truck.

It's my understanding that if I put it on my 10k mile truck the tune would be warrantied for the next 26k miles but if say my tranny went ot at 50k and it wasn't the tune's fault I'd be covered.

Hardly seems worth it to me.

 

[CJBax]

Do you send them datalogs for them to revise off of?

Or do you tell them what you've added and they just throw a WAG at from their experience?

If it's the latter I'd beware.

Some here seem to be conflating a true custom tune by dyno/road/or datalog tuning, and an OTS tune from a 3rd party tuner.

Best I can tell the only person out of the big 3 Ranger tuners who looks at datalogs is Torrie from Unleashed.

Personal experience, also stuff mentioned in another thread of mine: had some issues with tunes on my ranger, 5star took an eternity to reply to me and when they did it was a link to download a mystery tune with no explanation of what was done to it and they never asked for nor received any data logs from me. Unleashed got back to me very quickly with instructions to collect logs for them to analyze. So yeah, I agree based on my experience and from what I've read from others, Unleashed is the only one that I know for sure will do proper remote custom tune.

 

[D Fresh]

Personal experience, also stuff mentioned in another thread of mine: had some issues with tunes on my ranger, 5star took an eternity to reply to me and when they did it was a link to download a mystery tune with no explanation of what was done to it and they never asked for nor received any data logs from me. Unleashed got back to me very quickly with instructions to collect logs for them to analyze. So yeah, I agree based on my experience and from what I've read from others, Unleashed is the only one that I know for sure will do proper remote custom tune.

I've got no personal experience with any of them as my Ranger is currently on the stock tune.

I am, however, looking to tune my Ranger eventually and desire a custom tune either by datalog/remote tuning, or local here on a dyno. My research from others' experiences matches up with your experience.

When I get tuned it'll either be locally via HPTuners software or I'll go with Unleashed.

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