"Economy" Programers

[1medic]

Anyone running "economy" programmers such as Edge mileage max, Superchips Mileage XS or Hypertech E-Con? If so what do you think? Notice any MPG improvement?

[Nubbs]

Originally Posted by 1medic

Anyone running "economy" programmers such as Edge mileage max, Superchips Mileage XS or Hypertech E-Con? If so what do you think? Notice any MPG improvement?

I tried a hypertech econ. On one setting I lost economy, the other setting was just a tad bit lower than stock. I'm back to stock now.

[OMCUSNR]

The best "programmer" for economy is in your head, and its not for sale. One needs to learn how to drive for economy, not look for it off the shelf.

Go to ecomodder.com. Read, study, learn. The best thing you can do is get a truck with a manual transmission, and learn how to drive it. Think three cars ahead. Use your right foot in the proper manner. The brakes are your enemy (my hollywood stunt driver cousin once told me that if your brakes don't last more than 100k miles, you don't know how to use your throttle). Speed kills, drive slower. Anticipate traffic & signals. DON'T IDLE. Keep moving. Keep the tires properly aired. Keep the truck in proper maint.

Fuel economy is a head game. I know many here have a truck for versatility (I do), but why did you buy THIS truck, if you are truly worried about economy (would another one have been better)? One of the best places to start with fuel economy is BEFORE YOU PURCHASE THE VEHICLE, not after. Now that you have it though, do all the simple free stuff before spending more money.

OMC

[Don65Stang]

Originally Posted by OMCUSNR

The best "programmer" for economy is in your head, and its not for sale. One needs to learn how to drive for economy, not look for it off the shelf.

OMC

I couldn't agree more with this statement. Learning to drive for efficiency is the cheapest mod one can do. There are many sites to learn how to "hypermile."

Having learned some basic techniques you will see an immediate mpg increase on any car ot truck you'd drive. The idea is to imagine an egg is on the break pedal...drive in such a way as to not break the egg. Accelerating is different because engines are more efficient when under a load so I don't baby it but I don't floor it either.

The best speed (according to my Scangage II) for optimal efficiency on my X is between 35 & 45 mph, obviously not on the interstate! I try to maintain that speed while in town if possible by timing the red lights and watching the traffic ahead. It's kind of funny to watch the same cars race up to the light, slam on their brakes, race to the next light...rinse, repeat. All the time I'm driving a steady 35 - 45 mph right beside them. I have to stop for a few lights on the 14 mile morning commute to work...scangage says 20 mpg at the end of the trip. Afternoon commute, same route with a few more full stops...16mpg. Both trips I use the egg technique & try to maintain a steady speed as much as possible.

It takes a LOT of energy (fuel) to bring 8900 lbs up to speed. It takes much much less to maintain a constant speed.

Interstate...I love to drive fast but if I want to maximize MPGs then I have to slow down, set the cruise control and fight the urge to speed. Listening to talk radio or a good CD seems to help distract me. Best MPH? Ever stuck your hand out the window at 75 mph? Now imagine holding up a garage door at 75 mph...that's pretty similar to what we ask the engine to do when we drive that fast and the engine takes a lot of fuel to do it. If no one is around I'll set cruise at 55...YIKES! but I'm getting 26mpg. Around traffic I'll go as slow as the other slow cars on the hwy. Typically I see 20 - 22 mpg and typically average 60-65mph. BTW, my X is 100% stock.

When my wife drives my X the scangage shows 14 mpg! She drives the X fairly often & drives it no different than she does her mustang (I swear she must think it's a race car) so that KILLS my mileage readings and the overall average. I recently drove 1100 miles pulling a 5x8 trailer with a full size motorcycle at 65mph (ave); my mpg (hand calculated) was 20.04mpg. Not bad eh?

I hope I made a case for learning some new driving techniques. On the flip side, I wonder what I could do with the truck "tuned" for efficiency and not emissions. Others seem to get 2 - 4 mpg increases. Maybe 30 mpg at 55 mph is possible. LOL

[alexjeep]

I have to say that the best thing that I have done is to buy the scan gauge 2. I bought it to work on my wifes car, but now it lives in my truck. I have been able to get another 1.5-2 mpg out of my truck. Setting the thing up properly took a bit of time, but now that it is calibrated, it works well.

[Don65Stang]

Originally Posted by alexjeep

I have to say that the best thing that I have done is to buy the scan gauge 2. I bought it to work on my wifes car, but now it lives in my truck. I have been able to get another 1.5-2 mpg out of my truck. Setting the thing up properly took a bit of time, but now that it is calibrated, it works well.

Two 's up.

[dacunn]

I bought a Quadzilla Max Mileage plug in module about 15k ago. I can honestly say I gained about 1.5mpg in town and about 2 on the highway driving exactly the same with the same routine as always. I also used to consistently get around 8.8 to 9.6 towing my 12k lb. toyhauler and since the module I've had a couple of runs where I got 11.

I bought it for $224 shipped to the door when Diesel was $4.99 here, and it's definitely paid for itself since then...

Another thing about this module...it claims zero HP/TQ gains, which is what I wanted, safe reliable mileage gain. Made no sense to me to run a 100HP tuner to gain 2 MPG only to spend the money saved on Headgaskets etc... on down the road...

just my $.02

Dave

[1medic]

Ok, ok, ok. I don't need advice on "driving techniques". I already get great mpg. I just want to hear from people who have experience with aftermarket economy programmers. If you have advice on driving techniques save if for someone else!!!!

[str0kin it]

lol i understand what you meant... anyways I'm not big with the economy tuners because i tried the hypertech and it was crap... my experience with all chips has generally been, "the higher the hp gain from a chip + the easier you drive= the best mpg gains"... my SCT is a good gain, and supposedly if you use the higher hp tunes and drive normal you can get 4+

[Darnell@hypertech]

Originally Posted by Nubbs

I tried a hypertech econ. On one setting I lost economy, the other setting was just a tad bit lower than stock. I'm back to stock now.

There are a lot of things that factor in what kind of fuel economy gain you will get from the Max Energy Econ, such as what region you live in, how you use your truck, your driving style ect. Since we know everyone isn't going to be happy with their gain we have a 30 day money back guarantee. That being said we get emails all the time from people who have bought our tuning and can't stop talking about the fuel mileage they picked up.

[str0kin it]

Hey sorry i didnt mean to flame your product, i was just saying that my experience with my hypertech wasnt a great one... but i have heard a few people rant about them also...

[rforsythe]

+1 on better driving habits. Get in the habit of using cruise control where you can, since maintaining a constant throttle is part of saving fuel. Don't stomp the hell out of it off the line, give things a chance to spool up. I know you don't want "driving tips", but I'm putting this in here for anyone else who might.

That said, I got real improvement using a Triple Dog in the "Economy/Tow" mode. Pulling a 14K-lb 43-foot gooseneck race hauler to Utah and back (~600 miles over the I-80 hills) doing about 5 over the limit, I went from 11.5 to 12.5mpg. Driving to Pueblo and back without a trailer, again 5-over almost the whole way (meaning speeds up to 80mph) I went from 17 to 21mpg. Mixed driving also went up a bit, though traffic conditions vary that so much for me it's hard to get an accurate bead on it. I also run fuel additive (usually Stanadyne, but I'll put Power Service in there if I run out on the road); got a little help from the Stanadyne, but use that more for the smoother running and lubrication benefits.