I have a 2001 supercrew 4x4 w/ a 5.4 L.

What would be the best option for a chip or tuner that would help my MPG (and performance )

Also, I know most chips work best with premium gas. I've heard there are not much gains with the 87 octane programs. Is this true?

I've already got a cat-back exhaust, and a k&n filter. Is a chip the next best step for performance?

 

From the mods I have I have to say for the performance increase for the money the computer chip was probably the best mod. You'll notice it right off. The shifts are 100x better and it made a HUGE difference in the power I had in 2nd gear. Go with the chip next!

Also, the reason you don't see as much of a performance gain (power wise) with 87 octane is that they cannot advance your timing as much as they can if you are running premium.

 

but is the difference with a chip running 87 octane still noticable? Will I still see at least a couple MPG increase?

 

Hi JC,

Yes, generally speaking, the power gains from tuning for 87 octane will be significantly less than when we tune for premium gas - due to the octane level of the fuel, with 87 octane we can't use as much timing as we can with premium gas, so we gain less power and there is less potential for MPG improvement. The potential for mpg gains from performance tuning comes really as a by-product of the increased spark advance used on part-throttle - so the more octane we tune for, the better the mpg gain, all else being equal.

There are any number of people who have reported 2.0 & even higher mpg gains from our performance tuning for these trucks - but not 2.0 more MPG on 87 octane in an almost 3-ton truck. Those larger mpg gains are potentially had by our tuning for premium gas, generally speaking, and primarily when the driver keeps their foot out of the firewall, so to speak.

The hot tip is to use one of our multi-tune products, so you can have tuning for *any* level of octane - then you can use whatever fuel you want, based on what kind of power gain you need.

If you want more *performance*, then the tuning is the best way to go, and specifically, I would use our 9100 Micro Tuner for the best possible power & performance gains, and your best chance of seeing some mpg improvement as a by-product of the tuning.

If what you are after is MPG primarily, then there are other things that are going to tend to give more of an mpg gain - like installing our dual 16" electric fan kit & a set of our underdrive pulleys (sorry to play shameless salesman here, this is just FYI for MPG-specific types of mods). Those 2 mods will get you upwards of 30 more HP, while also giving you anywhere from a low of about 1.2 to as much as 3.5 more mpg, thanks to the vastly reduced parasitic drag on the motor from the accessories.

Drop by our web site at www.TroyerPerformance.com - click on "Shop" once the home page loads, then you can check out all the various sections - tuning, pulleys, fan kits, etc., we have highly detailed descriptions there that will give you some good info. Also, feel free to give us a call to go over all of this properly, so we can advise you on what to do that will best suit your particular needs, how you use the vehicle, driving conditions, etc, to get the best performance, and what mods will give you the best possible MPG gains, etc.

Good luck!

 

I'm one that can attest to seeing those MPG w/ those two mods. I went from around 13.5 MPG average in the city to almost 15.5 mpg. Now the only problem is keeping your foot off the floor w/ all the extra power e-fans and underdrive pulleys open up.

 

I switched from the 87 performance program to the 93 performance (non-towing) program. My MPG's went from about 12.5-13 MPG's (87 program) to 14.25-14.5 MPG's (93 performance). I'm hoping that it gets a little better now that I recently added a Spintech exhaust.

 

David & Toolman,

Thanks for your posts!

Toolman, one quick point I wanted to make with regard to your Spintech exhaust system - when we tested that system a couple years ago, it was a dual 2.5" setup, and it came in #2 in terms of making the highest peak HP gains - second only to Magnaflow's systems, so it made good HP. It also has a great sound for those who like an "aggressive" exhaust. There is one issue it shares with almost every other cat-back exhaust system for these vehicles, which is that it loses torque on part-throttle below about 2600-2800 rpm or so. That usually causes mpg not to increase, and in many cases actually drop a little bit. So you *might* see a small mpg gain from it, but you may even see a small loss in mpg. Just FYI................

Thanks for sharing your data - your figures of roughly a 1.5 mpg improvement between the 87 octane tune and the premium gas tune fall right into line with the averages we see.