Thor Forums

[Pete'sMH]

I did the 5 Star tune on my F53 with the 5 speed transmission right before we left on a 6500 mile trip out west. I like it a lot. Mostly for the altered shift points. But it’s not magic. There is still a tendency to drop down to third gear when fourth is perfectly able to pull the hill. There’s not much alternative on a 6% grade that’s two miles long. You’re going to be going up in third gear at about 50 mph and 4000rpm. You can do it at 60 if you want but you’ll be making a lot of noise at close to 5,000 rpm and generally I don’t. In the mountains I prefer to use tow mode and/or not use cruise control. I find that I can use fourth gear effectively by letting the speed drop a little more that CC would and I’m happier. Notwithstanding, I’m very pleased with the tune. Not sure it would be quite so beneficial on a 6 speed model but maybe. So far on my trip I’m only managing about 7 mpg but it’s been a LOT of mountains and some impressive headwinds going west through the Dakotas and Montana. I’m keeping careful records and will do all the analysis on the whole trip when we get home.