Econ Tune

[GeauxTigers]

Does anyone have an economy or mpg tune? I've got a 87 perf tune and a 87 tow tune... I want to go ahead and round out my truck with some solid mpg's. I running 35s with stock gears...I wanted to see if anyone had an econ tune on a setup similar to that? What kind of mpg's you were getting, and what to expect overall ?

Thanks for ya time !

[Longshot270]

An economy tune would probably resemble your performance tune with lowered shifting and maybe some other minor stuff. What kind of mileage are you getting?

[88Racing]

You may want to try and regear first.
The tires(35's") you are running don't help matters much. Lots of mass to get moving, to keep moving, and to get stopped.

[Jackpine]

Bill said something about this a while back. He stated there would be very little difference in the two tunes if your driving was mostly highway. I suspect you could achieve the effect of an economy tune by lowering your part throttle upshift and downshift and TC lock and unlock points.

Regardless, I doubt you'd get real "value" from an additional economy tune compared to your 87 performance tune.

I bet there's going to be renewed interest in this subject though, as gas prices inch up (like they're doing).

- Jack

[GeauxTigers]

Jack,

You're a little over my head on the upshift/downshift etc. Could you elaborate a little more on that. Also, I'm getting better mpg's 14-16.5 with my towing tune than with my performance tune 11-13/14. Don't get me wrong the performance tune is awesome for what its designed to do. Just wanted to see if there was something else I could do to squeeze out 18-20. Some of these guys with 35s are getting better than I do.... just seeing if its wishful thinking .

But Jack, let me know if there is something I could do get a little more out of my performance or towing tune as it is now in the way of mpgs.

Any other suggestions are acceptable as well including ... stop complaining

[Longshot270]

Originally Posted by GeauxTigers

Jack,

You're a little over my head on the upshift/downshift etc. Could you elaborate a little more on that. Also, I'm getting better mpg's 14-16.5 with my towing tune than with my performance tune 11-13/14. Don't get me wrong the performance tune is awesome for what its designed to do. Just wanted to see if there was something else I could do to squeeze out 18-20. Some of these guys with 35s are getting better than I do.... just seeing if its wishful thinking .

He is referring to using the custom options menu to lower what MPH markers make the truck shift when your not at WOT. You can lower all of those points causing the truck to shift in a lower RPM (saving gas). The torque converter is pretty much the same. I bet your getting better mileage with the towing tune because you didn't regear after putting on 35s. The truck is needing more torque to turn them.
Next time you are going drive go into the custom options and lower all of the shift points (you can leave the 1-3 gear converter points alone, just lower the 4th gear). And make sure you leave about 10 minutes reprogram. The changes in shift points take a while to program, just in case you cut it close on getting to work.
..Oh and when you do that, lower both your up shift and down shift points so they match up. I'm not quite sure what'll happen if you dont but lets not find out.

[Jackpine]

Longshot was correct with this. However, I'd lower ALL the part throttle shift points: 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. As I recall, you can reduce 1-2 by -2, 2-3 by -3 and 3-4 by -5. Do the same thing with the downshifts, so that the truck is not so quick to downshift when you give it just a little gas when cruising. This will not effect your WOT shifts at all, so when you want "performance", you'll still have it.

Now, I did the same thing with my part throttle Torque Converter part throttle unlock/lock points. There are eight of these, two for each gear. I lowered each of them by the "max".

As Longshot said, this will cause the programming session to take a bit of time, so give yourself that time, and, MAKE SURE THE BATTERY VOLTAGE IS HEALTHY and that everything is nice and warm.

I discuss these options a bit in the Q&A on custom options - please read through it before you start anything.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Yeah, just like jack said. I guess I didn't make myself clear enough. I meant to say lower all of the regular shift points but leave the 1-3 torque converter lock points alone since in regular driving you will rarely see it lock there. The main ones that will save on gas are regular gear shifts 3 and 4 and the 4th gear converter lockup point.
FYI: the 4th gear torque convter point can be lowered up to 10 mph. I think this makes it lock around 35-45 mph.

[88Racing]

Geaux Tigers,
There is a real big BS factor with some people when they figure their mpg's. So don't always take their mpg's as the gospel truth.
Digital read outs are a big part of the problem. Its the way the information is sampled that causes it.
A calculator, pencil and logbook tell a better history than a gauge read out does.
With what Jack and Longshot have suggested will also help.
We drive BRICKS not prius's.

[Jackpine]

Originally Posted by 88Racing

Geaux Tigers,
There is a real big BS factor with some people when they figure their mpg's. So don't always take their mpg's as the gospel truth.
Digital read outs are a big part of the problem. Its the way the information is sampled that causes it.
A calculator, pencil and logbook tell a better history than a gauge read out does.
With what Jack and Longshot have suggested will also help.
We drive BRICKS not prius's.

And, they're not drag racers either!

Could be worse! Could be like the Cape Canaveral shuttle transporter.

- Jack