Gearhead Tune Review

Guy said:

Matt is right. Without before and after runs... you don’t really know what It means.

They never claimed to make the fastest tune but they make one of the slickest and most OEM styled tunes you’re going to find.

In my original review... I still think it’s valid to say that the Gearhead tune is right for a lot of folks who just simply want it to work... don’t want to worry about being stranded on a trail.... don’t want to worry about what fuel is available.... don’t want to worry if someone fuels up the wrong gas....

And also want to keep the truck user friendly and easy to drive...

Even though it was slower on my truck... it’s still one of the finest tunes I’ve ever tested and driven in terms of polish and end user experience.

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When you mean slower, you mean from another tune that you had?

Gearhead is slower than other tunes. Step up from stock. And perfect transmission response. They now have a separate tune if pulling heavy for a duration, but still have the auto adjust on the gas. By my way of thinking longevity should not be a problem

dewalt said:

Gearhead is slower than other tunes. Step up from stock. And perfect transmission response. They now have a separate tune if pulling heavy for a duration, but still have the auto adjust on the gas. By my way of thinking longevity should not be a problem

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I get that you’ve had a bunch of different tunes on your truck, I’ve yet to pull trigger but am leaning toward gearhead- I’ve had a number of tuned/modded vehicles over the years however & when it comes to automatic tranny vehicles I wouldn’t even bother looking @ a tune that didn’t incorporate tranny adjustment. Period.

So when you say gearhead is “slower” - you mean slower than ultra aggressive MPT 93prx tune- MPT being the only other tune worth running IMO since they include tranny tuning?

I ask because, in my prior experience, tunes that didn’t touch the tranny may dyno higher- May kick you in the seat harder, but aren’t typically FASTER from a 0-100 or 1/4 mile standpoint because the tranny hasn’t been adjusted to harness the extra power accordingly.

And with a TEN speed- I really think it’s crazy anyone would pay $$$ for a tune knowing there’s nothing being addressed from a tranny level- I’d be skeptical of the real performance gains in terms of significant drops in 1/4 mile times + multiple gear drops on roll racing like from 30,40,50 mph etc. + be more concerned of damage to the driveline/warranty voiding when you’re jacking the power up but nobody felt like notifying Mr. Transmission- left hand ain’t talking to the right & all that Jazz.

Simply doesn’t seem right/make sense to me.

So since you’re a raptor/Ecoboost tune aficionado- what say you on the lack of tranny tuning on so many of these vendors?

I have MPT tune. Drove it for a week. Good tune, but tried the gearhead and stuck with it. I wanted drivability and duration. Gearhead moves the truck easy , mileage is good, and transmission is perfect. Nothing wrong with MPT, I just like the gearhead tune.

Badgertits said:

...MPT being the only other tune worth running IMO since they include tranny tuning...

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JDM also does tranny tuning, as I believe 5 star does.

Kahuna said:

JDM also does tranny tuning, as I believe 5 star does.

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Last I checked 5 star did not and neither does Cobb or livernois or whipple

Badgertits said:

Last I checked 5 star did not and neither does Cobb or livernois or whipple

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Any tuning company who uses Cobb AP or MyCalibrator cannot currently tune the tranny so yeah, Cobb, Liv, Goosed etc. can't.

SCT and N-Gauge based tunes can, so JDM, MPT, and 5 Star are all capable of tranny tuning.

You can read on this page 5 Star talking about torque converter and shift strategies.
https://5startuning.com/got-2017-raptor-3-5l-ecoboost/

I think Whipple flashes the PCM and you can't convert back which is a huge no no in my mind but YMMV.

rsbug said:

I wish I had done the dyno before the add-ons, I was told the stock raptor (2017-2018 at least) was around 365hp. maybe someone here can report actual stock values

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You're good, you got just about 80 HP gain at the wheels.

Did you upgrade the intercooler?
That would give you a little more gain.
Hi-Flow cats and down pipes without Turbo size increase, not sure if there's any gain there.
But from comparing other dyno charts it seems your peak HP is about 500 rpms sooner than others.
That tells me there spooling up quicker.

Here's a chart with stock wheel HP



The F150 Raptor with 35" tires gets 326 RWHP stock
The F150 Limited with 32" tires gets 360 RWHP stock