Is there and Econonmy tune available?

[fordkindaguy]

I have the 93perf tune right now and am getting around 16mpg average. i was wondering if there is an 87 economy or 93 economy tune available? , if there is what is a rough guess of mileage improvement? thanks!

[Jackpine]

Originally Posted by fordkindaguy

I have the 93perf tune right now and am getting around 16mpg average. i was wondering if there is an 87 economy or 93 economy tune available? , if there is what is a rough guess of mileage improvement? thanks!

Bill can certainly write tunes for you that try to improve your mileage. My rough guess is though, you'd be lucky to see as much as 0.5 MPG improvement over your "performance" tune. I asked for and have an 87 economy tune. And you can certainly get a 93 economy tune. They don't cost much, and if the price of gas goes up again, even a 0.5 MPG increase will pay for itself rather quickly.

Talk to Bill about this. He'll let you know if he thinks it's worth it.

- Jack

[fordkindaguy]

hmm, i'm gonna try to run a full tank taking it east to see what i'm really getting. its hard to not jump on it

[Power Hungry]

The main difference with an "Economy" style tune (whether gas or diesel) generally centers around reducing the shift points a few RPM/MPH. The only complaint we've really had on this type of setup is that the vehicle seems to lug a little at light throttle. Also, this type of setup only works when there is a fair bit of stop & go type driving. For highway driving there isn't any noticeable benefit. For highway driving, the performance program IS the economy program.

Hope this helps.

[Longshot270]

I know I got some good mileage by lowering all of my shift points on the canned tunes. I think I also lowered the idle a little bit. That brought my city up from 10-13 up to the 13-16 range. Im not so sure about my cutom tune though, now I'm getting about 13 city. I think my mileage went back down because the shift points are higher rather than lower than stock.

[fordkindaguy]

Hey i've been taking it easy without changing anything, still on the 93 perf and am up to 17mpg now i just set it to shift into 3rd and 4th earlier. i cant lower my idle speed though i can only raise it, what up with that bill? and if i can lower it how far should i go to still be safe. i have stock tires

[Power Hungry]

The 97-03 firmware only supports raising the Idle speed, not lowering it. Unfortunately, the 97-03 firmware is a bit more complicated because of the communications structure between the programmer unit and the "smart" cable. It makes it difficult to make certain changes in the firmware which is why the 97-03 doesn't have all the fancy stuff that the 04-08 does. It's one of those things that we do want to get updated, but because of the time and complexity involved, I need a week of peace and quiet to effect those changes. Until then, it's all we've got.

Hope that makes sense.

[jerseymike47]

Hey Bill,

As for an economy tune for freeway driving, can a program be written that would cut fuel to 2 cylinders to improve fuel mileage on the road. Maybe something that would work in correlation with engine load. Thanks, Mike

[Longshot270]

Originally Posted by jerseymike47

Hey Bill,

As for an economy tune for freeway driving, can a program be written that would cut fuel to 2 cylinders to improve fuel mileage on the road. Maybe something that would work in correlation with engine load. Thanks, Mike

You mean like how some dodges can cut down to 4 cylinders? I've been wanting to ask that but keep forgetting.

That would be a very usefull tune if it's possible.

[cody994x4]

yea thats quite impressive to me how dodge is doing that.
my buddy recently got an '04 1500ram 4dr. the '04 hemi is rated at 345hp stock!!
he also says it gets better mileage than his previous ram that was a 1500 single cab v6.

im interested in the answer to this one....