I live in the valley too, and there are a lot of Italians here, so that's why I asked haha. I have not heard of the Italian tune-up, but I do know what an Italian tool box is lol.

Edit: Also, to now be too off-topic, I think stations are starting to switch to the winter gas mixes, so that could be part of it.

 

Mine runs like hell when I first start it up, but I think it's because of the tune. Runs like a beast while the engine is cold, just very jerky, idles rough, and hard to control.

I didn't change my fuel filter til 39k. No difference in the butt-dyno

 

Please do not mis read-this thread, I love my 2010 Mustang. It is the best car I have ever owned (out of 10!).

And yes, I am Italian, in fact I still own an Italian car!

For those who are wondering....an Italian Tune-up is a quck and easy way to get rid of carbon deposits on spark plugs (developed way before the current long mileage hot plugs). Back when plugs would foul every 2000 miles or so and gaps and "points" had to be constanty adjusted, taking your car out to some open road and hitting the top of end of the RPM range in the first three gears would blow out the carbon deposits and sort of clean your plugs without removing them.

Of course, most Italian cars are 1.5L fours and hitting high revs in third gear in most of these cars would bearly break the speed limit. In a Mustang, however, this "tune-up" is illeagal in 48 states! LOL

 

I never heard of it called an "Italian Tune-up" before, but used to do it....lol. I remember, back in the day, when you had to adjust distributor points and regap plugs often. When I was taking my daily driver to the drag strip I just had a second set of spark plugs I would put in, uncork the headers and let her rip....lol. They were fun times. I was in the Southern California drag racing scene back then. I was there on closing night for both Lyons and Orange County drag strips for those of you who remember them.