5 Star Tuning... Group Buy!

[5 Star]

Originally Posted by BWag

Unbelievable shipping!! Ordered late on Wednesday night and received it Saturday morning. Too wet to get the rig out of my drive. As soon as the ground gets solid I will install and take it out on the road. Will post a review at that time.

Happy to ship so quick! I tend to get a little excited for anything I order so I ship same day any chance that I get!

Originally Posted by Disneyfix

Hey Chris, I have received mine, thanks. wont be taking the rig out for any real road work for a month or two. Is there any disadvantage or problem with just installing the tune and letting her sit?
Thanks.

No disadvantage of tuning and letting the rig sit. Once it is in there it will remain until you change it. =) Looking forward to your road test!

Originally Posted by gorwig

We have a 2014 Allegro 34TGA on the Ford 24,000 lb chassis, and we tow a Chevy Malibu. This motorhome is fairly new to me and the never ending downshifting was realy getting on my nerves. I installed the 5 Star custom tune in about 15 minutes. It was mostly a process of watching the SCT tuner do its thing. The display is very clear on letting you know what part of the process it is in. We had been visiting family in Charlotte, NC and set out north on I-77 to return home near Galax VA.

Changes were immediately noticeable although nothing was "slap you in the face" surprising.

1. Accelerating down the entrance ramp to I-77 I noticed the transmission shifts were very clear and I seemed to be up to speed with less engine effort.

2. The area just north of Charlotte is gently rolling with lots of overpasses. I set the cruise control at 63 and let it go. NO downshifts on the overpasses!

3. Farther north, around Statesville and north there get to be some pretty good hills. When the motorhome did downshift, it often hit 4th briefly and then dropped down to third ... around 3400 rpm to maintain my 63mph. I turned off cruise control to try it with foot on the pedal. With similar hills I was able to stay in fourth (around 2800 rpm or so) by letting the motorhome slow to about 61 mph. To be honest, I had never seen that gear before.

4. With foot on the pedal, I noticed something a bit odd. On straight and level driving I was having a tendency to go faster than my tried and true 63 mph. I would look down and I was going 67 mph or so ... faster than I should with my Malibu in tow. The GPS confirmed it ... going faster for some reason. I backed off a bit and had to focus some to keep my normal speed. I still don't know why I was doing that.

5. A bit farther north and we hit the VA state line with the climb up the Blue Ridge mountains. Here I was very pleasantly surprised. Up I went at 55 mph and 3200 rpm or so ... could not look real close due to traffic and curves. I passed a bunch of trucks in the truck lane and I still had a lot of throttle to spare. Engine and transmission temps stayed perfectly normal.

6. Downshifts are a bit more pronounced, but not an issue. I did notice that even without tow/haul activated, the transmission downshifted when coasting IF the motorhome was accelerating due to the downhill run ... no brakes applied. This happend both on and off cruise control.

7. I have not used tow/haul a lot, so I can't comment much on how or if it changed. I did notice downshifts all the way to first gear when coming to a stop sign. And of course pressure on the brakes still activates a downshift.

8. I drove a 2004 National Seabreeze with the Workhorse chassis and 8.1 GM engine for 8 years. I knew how it shifted, accelerated, and climbed mountains inside and out. I can now say that with this tune the Ford V10 behaves in a very similar manner. The rpms are a bit higher but that is to be expected with smaller pistons and more of them. Best of the tune ... the neverending shifting is cured. Also, moderate acceleration seems to require less effort from the engine, and all out mountain climbing is now probably better than I had it with the Workhorse and 8.1. Great job 5Star!

Gary

Gary,

Thank you for providing us and others your feedback from your trip! You taking the time to share with others all of the subtleties of the tune really make the 18+ hours days worth it. We do our best to make the towing/driveability changes necessary for these vehicles to upshift/downshift/hold gears, etc when they need to in a variety of situations in order to offer you the most enjoyable drive possible!

Originally Posted by oakcreekeric

I'm not on there ?

I will get this fixed!

[5 Star]

Updated List:

1. Terminex
2. Odin
3. rgmiller32
4. mrt_1111
5. jrbarber
6. edrayman
7. z3406
8. reitrof
9. DDDonkey
10. Peter27C
11. dsurette
12. sirpurrcival
13. Rick_NH
14. Myers4NU
15. RVdus
16. divingdoc
17. alonzov
18. milehghcty
19. bobf46
20. rivraton
21. gonefishin77
22. RattVader
23. reubenray
24. onecb
25. Disneyfix
26. Camper Ken
27. peprous
28. gorwig
29. DesertKicker
30. EBS64
31. Capn_Dave
32. Skillet
33. BoostMonkey
34. BG9149
35. fletch460
36. buddalo
37. JeffHope
38. barkley57
39. rblitz
40. Wingtrike
41. JohnBoyToo
42. BWag
43. sheetshaker
44. danhannah
45. Lvn Lrg
46. grumpy0374
47. oakcreekeric
48.
49.
50.

[chboone]

Okay, add me to the list. I have the full Banks Power Pak system with plug in chip, not Ottomind Programmer, told it was not available for my year, and Trans Command. Have to look up instructions for the Trans Command installation. There was a modification to the trans plug that will need to be reversed. While the Banks is good hope the 5 Star is better.

[5 Star]

Originally Posted by chboone

Okay, add me to the list. I have the full Banks Power Pak system with plug in chip, not Ottomind Programmer, told it was not available for my year, and Trans Command. Have to look up instructions for the Trans Command installation. There was a modification to the trans plug that will need to be reversed. While the Banks is good hope the 5 Star is better.

PM sent. Banks makes many good products, their primary focus though is the development and manufacturing of intakes, headers, exhausts, etc. We focus solely on the development of our tunes on stock and modified vehicles. Our focus allows us to narrow in on how the vehicle operates and to improve overall driveability.

[SandyBeaches]

Chris, Thank you for your prompt reply to my questions via email. Please add me to the list. And thank you again for offering this group-buy discount to iRV2 members!

Dianne
2012 Itasca Sunstar 26P
1990 VW Vanagon (tow)

[oakcreekeric]

Purchased mine last night... Hoping I get it by Friday... gotta 1000 mile trip planned to MN for Memorial Day weekend..

[SWDan]

Okay, I will give it a try, put me down for a unit. 2010 Newmar Canyon Star: will you PM me for payment and shipping info?

[5 Star]

Updated List:

1. Terminex
2. Odin
3. rgmiller32
4. mrt_1111
5. jrbarber
6. edrayman
7. z3406
8. reitrof
9. DDDonkey
10. Peter27C
11. dsurette
12. sirpurrcival
13. Rick_NH
14. Myers4NU
15. RVdus
16. divingdoc
17. alonzov
18. milehghcty
19. bobf46
20. rivraton
21. gonefishin77
22. RattVader
23. reubenray
24. onecb
25. Disneyfix
26. Camper Ken
27. peprous
28. gorwig
29. DesertKicker
30. EBS64
31. Capn_Dave
32. Skillet
33. BoostMonkey
34. BG9149
35. fletch460
36. buddalo
37. JeffHope
38. barkley57
39. rblitz
40. Wingtrike
41. JohnBoyToo
42. BWag
43. sheetshaker
44. danhannah
45. Lvn Lrg
46. grumpy0374
47. oakcreekeric
48. chboone
49. SandyBeaches
50. SWDan
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.

[beepaj]

OK! I'm in! Now what? How is the discount applied? Next step?

[5 Star]

Originally Posted by beepaj

OK! I'm in! Now what? How is the discount applied? Next step?

PM Sent with coupon code for online checkout/info. You can checkout via our website or call us at the shop anytime

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by 5star

Updated List:

1. Terminex
2. Odin
3. rgmiller32
4. mrt_1111
5. jrbarber
6. edrayman
7. z3406
8. reitrof
9. DDDonkey
10. Peter27C
11. dsurette
12. sirpurrcival
13. Rick_NH
14. Myers4NU
15. RVdus
16. divingdoc
17. alonzov
18. milehghcty
19. bobf46
20. rivraton
21. gonefishin77
22. RattVader
23. reubenray
24. onecb
25. Disneyfix
26. Camper Ken
27. peprous
28. gorwig
29. DesertKicker
30. EBS64
31. Capn_Dave
32. Skillet
33. BoostMonkey
34. BG9149
35. fletch460
36. buddalo
37. JeffHope
38. barkley57
39. rblitz
40. Wingtrike
41. JohnBoyToo
42. BWag
43. sheetshaker
44. danhannah
45. Lvn Lrg
46. grumpy0374
47. oakcreekeric
48. chboone
49. SandyBeaches
50. SWDan
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.

Wow! When this started I figured maybe 20-30 guys would sign up! This is exceeding my expectations!

[dsurette]

I got a chance to check out the 5 Star last Friday going to the Big Green Eggfest (or Pigfest, as my wife calls it). Drove on hwy 64 between Cleveland TN and Hiawassee, GA. 64 is a little too curvy and hilly for a good test, but it was an easy drive thanks to the CHF that I installed. But we left Wednesday from Chattanooga headed for Colorado and I am way beyond pleased with the 5 Star Tune. Like others with the Ford V10, if I got within half a mile of a slight rise in the road, it would downshift. That nuisance shifting is gone. Like magic. I actually had an opportunity to use cruise control and everything was going so well that I forgot that I had it on. I was reminded of that when I came to a steeper hill and it shifted to a much lower gear and the RPMs went north of 4K. I tapped the brake and everything went back to normal.
My Encounter drives like it should have when it came out of the factory. 5 Star Tune and CHF made it happen.

[johnnya]

Received mine 2 days ago, will be installing it tomorrow morning.

How much time is needed to go through the whole process? (First time, so backup the original tune to the x4 device first then downloading the new tune into the ecu)

[oakcreekeric]

Originally Posted by johnnya

Received mine 2 days ago, will be installing it tomorrow morning.

How much time is needed to go through the whole process? (First time, so backup the original tune to the x4 device first then downloading the new tune into the ecu)

I'm interested in this too...

Also.. Once the tune has been installed.. can it be uninstalled?