Microtuner and Altitude
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Microtuner and Altitude
Wondering if anyone in colorado (or other Rocky Mountain Locations) uses a Microtuner with the gas engines. I recently installed the tuner on my 98 4.6 and it instantly started pinging like mad. It was still doing it after 2 tanks of premium fuel (texaco and amoco). I went back to stock and no more pinging. I was thinking maybe it's all the ethanol in our fuel this time of year or maybe the fact that we can only get 91 octane. Now I'm thinking that I might have wasted my money. I'm at 5200 feet (Denver). Any ideas or thoughts?
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From: Virginia
We have a fair number of customers at higher altitudes in general, & we have no such problems. 91 octane is enough octane (though 92-93 will give better performance and more power), but it does have to be a very good quality 91 octane, it can't be any off-brand or no-name fuel, and no Exxon, either. It has to be a top-quality 91 octane and if you're using "gasahol," which is what we call those fuels with that 10% ethanol content, then there's your basic problem. It has the 91 octane needed, but not enough *energy* content. The ethoanol portion has anywhere from 30%-50% less raw energy (BTU's per gallon) as compared to gasoline, and thus will not support the same conditions in the combustion chamber.
All you need to do is contact whoever you purchased your Micro Tuner from and they can arrange to have Superchips adjust it's tuning for you. We don't know who you are from your screen name, so if you got it from us here at Performance, then you would just give us a call & we can take care of that for you. If it was purchased somewhere else, just call whoever your vendor is & they can arrange to have this taken care of for you. You can also just call Superchips directly at the phone number listed in your Superchips documentation.
All you need to do is contact whoever you purchased your Micro Tuner from and they can arrange to have Superchips adjust it's tuning for you. We don't know who you are from your screen name, so if you got it from us here at Performance, then you would just give us a call & we can take care of that for you. If it was purchased somewhere else, just call whoever your vendor is & they can arrange to have this taken care of for you. You can also just call Superchips directly at the phone number listed in your Superchips documentation.
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From: WI
Mike I was going to ask this question later when I was ready to order mine but you are right on the subject. I also live in an area were I have to use reformulated gas and only get the good stuff in the fall durring bow hunting season.
My question is what HP gain are we looking at with the micro tuner? Would it be about the same gain because we are running reformulated now or how much of a drop are we looking at in gain?
My question is what HP gain are we looking at with the micro tuner? Would it be about the same gain because we are running reformulated now or how much of a drop are we looking at in gain?
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Mike, thanks for the response.
By that logic, then, I could also just not use the Microtuner from November through February, when Colorado requires that oxgenated fuels are used. I'd hate to "dumb down" my tuner just because of those four months. Do you think that makes sense? The tuner seems easy enough to install/uninstall...
By that logic, then, I could also just not use the Microtuner from November through February, when Colorado requires that oxgenated fuels are used. I'd hate to "dumb down" my tuner just because of those four months. Do you think that makes sense? The tuner seems easy enough to install/uninstall...
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From: Virginia
Hi Carmmond,
That's a good question.
It varies obviously, but let's say you've got a 91 octane "gasahol," meaning just about the lowest energy content minimum octane "premium" fuel you could put in the tank.............you may only pick up 12-15 hp. Then again, you might even have issues with detonation, if so, then there's no telling where your power lands as once the knock sensor system is activated, the PCM is pulling timing out up to it's ability to do so, and that will cause obvious loss of power.
Now, when we're talking about "reformulated" fuel, which is what you really asked about, that's a different story, it's not as bad as "gasahol," you just reduce the power gain a bit from the Superchips tuning. Power-wise, figure that you'll give up a coupla-few percent of the approximate 10% power gain from the Superchip from using the best available reformulated fuels as compared to what you'll gain on your best local non-reformulated fuels.
Bottom line? Having to use reformulated gasolines doesn't mean you have to give up using the Superchips tuning, you just gain a bit less power, and of course your fuel mileage will drop about 8%-10% as compared to the mileage you'll get on your fuels the rest of the year. That happens whether a vehicle is stock or modified of course, as you've probably already noticed if you track your fuel mileage year-round it always drops in winter, and this is due to the lower energy content of the reformulated fuels.
That's a good question.
It varies obviously, but let's say you've got a 91 octane "gasahol," meaning just about the lowest energy content minimum octane "premium" fuel you could put in the tank.............you may only pick up 12-15 hp. Then again, you might even have issues with detonation, if so, then there's no telling where your power lands as once the knock sensor system is activated, the PCM is pulling timing out up to it's ability to do so, and that will cause obvious loss of power.
Now, when we're talking about "reformulated" fuel, which is what you really asked about, that's a different story, it's not as bad as "gasahol," you just reduce the power gain a bit from the Superchips tuning. Power-wise, figure that you'll give up a coupla-few percent of the approximate 10% power gain from the Superchip from using the best available reformulated fuels as compared to what you'll gain on your best local non-reformulated fuels.
Bottom line? Having to use reformulated gasolines doesn't mean you have to give up using the Superchips tuning, you just gain a bit less power, and of course your fuel mileage will drop about 8%-10% as compared to the mileage you'll get on your fuels the rest of the year. That happens whether a vehicle is stock or modified of course, as you've probably already noticed if you track your fuel mileage year-round it always drops in winter, and this is due to the lower energy content of the reformulated fuels.
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From: Virginia
Hi aaronpaul,
Sure, I suppose you could do that. The only thing that matters is that the fuel quality is up to snuff when the tuning is installed, so whenever it is, then you can use the full tuning.
However, if you continue to have a detonation issue once you are certain you're back up to normal fuel quality, that is only present with the Superchsip tuning, you'll need to deal with it then.
Good luck!
Sure, I suppose you could do that. The only thing that matters is that the fuel quality is up to snuff when the tuning is installed, so whenever it is, then you can use the full tuning.
However, if you continue to have a detonation issue once you are certain you're back up to normal fuel quality, that is only present with the Superchsip tuning, you'll need to deal with it then.
Good luck!