City milage
City milage
Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12
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From: Waukesha, WI USA
Well, I just ordered my Superchip tonight. In Milwaukee, WI, I have a 2000 4.6L 4x4 supercab XLT. With a Gibson Side Swept and a K&N filter replacement, I swing from about 14.5~16.5 mpg. Just turned 14K, so it will be interesting to see what the chip does.
Greg O
Greg O
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 6
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From: snohomish WA usa
Right on I thought I was getting bad milage since I put the chip in I haven't driven to many freeway miles with my job, but I guess I'm doing fine thanks
98 F150 XLT Ex cab short bed 4.6 with K&N replacment filter, superchip, Flowmaster Dual catback system
98 F150 XLT Ex cab short bed 4.6 with K&N replacment filter, superchip, Flowmaster Dual catback system
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Goose,
One thing you'll want to remember is that these F-150's have *huge* weight differences based on configuration, in addition to other factors that affect mileage quite a bit. Super cab, short cab, long bed, short bed, 2WD or 4WD, which axle ratio, manual or automatic transmission, etc., and all these factors affect your mileage.
So when you're looking to compare mileage results with other F-150 owners, you'll want to include your vehicle's exact configuration, and others who respond to you generally will too around here, and that info is very important for being able to accurately compare apples to apples, if that is what you want to be able to do. If you're just looking for "approximate" numbers, then it doesn't matter quite so much, but if you really want to direclty compare, then it does matter.
In other words, some 4.6 F-150's might be doing *very* well to get 15 mpg in the city, whereas that might be a low number for a 2WD 5-speed manual F-150.
And last, 13-15 mpg is a pretty wide range, that's a 2 mpg spread. Are you consistently calculating your mileage accurately down to the last tenth of a mpg, or are you doing rough estimations? Or, is this simply the range that you get depending on say, how you drive it in the city, or if you are carrying more people or a load perhaps, or if traffic conditions in your city driving vary, etc.
Just FYI, & good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
One thing you'll want to remember is that these F-150's have *huge* weight differences based on configuration, in addition to other factors that affect mileage quite a bit. Super cab, short cab, long bed, short bed, 2WD or 4WD, which axle ratio, manual or automatic transmission, etc., and all these factors affect your mileage.
So when you're looking to compare mileage results with other F-150 owners, you'll want to include your vehicle's exact configuration, and others who respond to you generally will too around here, and that info is very important for being able to accurately compare apples to apples, if that is what you want to be able to do. If you're just looking for "approximate" numbers, then it doesn't matter quite so much, but if you really want to direclty compare, then it does matter.
In other words, some 4.6 F-150's might be doing *very* well to get 15 mpg in the city, whereas that might be a low number for a 2WD 5-speed manual F-150.
And last, 13-15 mpg is a pretty wide range, that's a 2 mpg spread. Are you consistently calculating your mileage accurately down to the last tenth of a mpg, or are you doing rough estimations? Or, is this simply the range that you get depending on say, how you drive it in the city, or if you are carrying more people or a load perhaps, or if traffic conditions in your city driving vary, etc.
Just FYI, & good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Goose,
Good job, thanks for putting your signature line up with your vehicle info, that'll help others to make these mileage comparisons.
Good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Good job, thanks for putting your signature line up with your vehicle info, that'll help others to make these mileage comparisons.
Good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: Waukesha, WI USA
Well, I'm a bit worried after my first half tank. I've gotten about 75 miles. Now, I'll admit, I've been on it pretty hard a few times, but when the guage is now at half, I was a bit surprised!
Two possibilities, one is the gauge isn't reading right at all tank conditions, or two, I've really used a LOT of gas. I'm going to ease up and drive normally to see what I can salvage on this tank. I'll do one more tank, taking it easy to see where it goes and give a average per tank for a few.
Greg O.
Two possibilities, one is the gauge isn't reading right at all tank conditions, or two, I've really used a LOT of gas. I'm going to ease up and drive normally to see what I can salvage on this tank. I'll do one more tank, taking it easy to see where it goes and give a average per tank for a few.
Greg O.
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Senior Member
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 632
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From: DOT BOMB CITY!
I have been tracking mileage from around last June WITH and WITHOUT the Superchip. I will post my findings soon. However, I did NOT see any real gains in MPG. AND THE COST OF 92/93 OCTANE!! Woooo Weeeeee! .20 difference where I live....
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Rand
98 Ford Expedition 4X4 XLT
5.4, 3.73s, 17" wheels,
Homemade 3" "COLD" Air-Box
mod, SuperChip, Amsoil
everywhere but tranny, Perma-
Cool combo 6 pass trans/oil
cooler (FQR 5.4 @ 50K)
------------------
Rand
98 Ford Expedition 4X4 XLT
5.4, 3.73s, 17" wheels,
Homemade 3" "COLD" Air-Box
mod, SuperChip, Amsoil
everywhere but tranny, Perma-
Cool combo 6 pass trans/oil
cooler (FQR 5.4 @ 50K)
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Greg,
Don't expect any "night and day" difference in gas mileage with the Superchip, especially when you first put it in and are using more throttle than normal checking out it's performance.
After you get about 350-500 miles on it, you should see better mileage with it than without it under the same conditions, but it's not going to be a huge increase. Most people here average about 1.5-2.0 more mpg with the Superchip, unless they're doing mostly city driving, etc., in which case it will be lower. A few have reported larger gains, up to 3 and as much as 4 mpg, but that's very rare, it's more like 1.5-2.0 usually.
The other point is, as you have correctly surmised, you can't depend on the gas gauge to be linear in it's response, there never has been a linear-response fuel gauge indicator in any mass-produced vehicle I've ever seen. All you can do is to manually calculate gas mileage, and what we suggest is this: fill up at the same station preferably, and *always* stop at the first "click" or "shutoff" of the pump, never "top off". Then simply record the number of gallon used and your mileage, so you can do the math to determine just how many miles you've traveling since your last fil-up, and how many gallons it used, and thus the resultant mileage. This is the only way to do it accurately. Now I know that sounds very simplistic, and is probably redundant, but you might be surprised how many people calculate it by estimating how many miles they get per tank, which is not accurate enough for direct comparisons, you have to do the manual calculations, and fill up the same way each time. That way, you can fill up anytime, whether you are empty or at half-tank, it won't matter, all that matters is how many gallons it took to re-fill it and how many miles were driven since the last fill-up, and you've always got good accurate data, down to the last tenth or hundredth of an mpg if you like.
What I've noticed in most fuel gauges in FoMoCo vehicles is that the first quarter tank seems to last a long time, and then it drops very quickly. I have seen a few that would be just the opposite, and a few that were just a bit more "linear", but you can never figure mileage by the gauge closely enough to make a direct comparison, it just isn't accurate.
Just FYI, & good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Don't expect any "night and day" difference in gas mileage with the Superchip, especially when you first put it in and are using more throttle than normal checking out it's performance.
After you get about 350-500 miles on it, you should see better mileage with it than without it under the same conditions, but it's not going to be a huge increase. Most people here average about 1.5-2.0 more mpg with the Superchip, unless they're doing mostly city driving, etc., in which case it will be lower. A few have reported larger gains, up to 3 and as much as 4 mpg, but that's very rare, it's more like 1.5-2.0 usually.
The other point is, as you have correctly surmised, you can't depend on the gas gauge to be linear in it's response, there never has been a linear-response fuel gauge indicator in any mass-produced vehicle I've ever seen. All you can do is to manually calculate gas mileage, and what we suggest is this: fill up at the same station preferably, and *always* stop at the first "click" or "shutoff" of the pump, never "top off". Then simply record the number of gallon used and your mileage, so you can do the math to determine just how many miles you've traveling since your last fil-up, and how many gallons it used, and thus the resultant mileage. This is the only way to do it accurately. Now I know that sounds very simplistic, and is probably redundant, but you might be surprised how many people calculate it by estimating how many miles they get per tank, which is not accurate enough for direct comparisons, you have to do the manual calculations, and fill up the same way each time. That way, you can fill up anytime, whether you are empty or at half-tank, it won't matter, all that matters is how many gallons it took to re-fill it and how many miles were driven since the last fill-up, and you've always got good accurate data, down to the last tenth or hundredth of an mpg if you like.
What I've noticed in most fuel gauges in FoMoCo vehicles is that the first quarter tank seems to last a long time, and then it drops very quickly. I have seen a few that would be just the opposite, and a few that were just a bit more "linear", but you can never figure mileage by the gauge closely enough to make a direct comparison, it just isn't accurate.
Just FYI, & good luck!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Rand,
Back when you first started posting about this, you posted here and in email to me that you were getting very nice improvement in gas mileage, more than 1.5 mpg. Then some months later, you said you thought you weren't getting that increase anymore. We discussed this at length both here and in email, the lines of code in the Superchip program cannot change, of course; the only thing that could have changed in this regard is either your fuel formulation, which is certainly possible with the Fed's air quality monitoring program, which has been affecting fuel formulations over the past couple of years in some areas, or the load on the vehicle and how it is driven; most likely, fuel formulation is the usual culprit, though it is highly unusual to see *no* mileage increase whatsoever from using the Superchip.
This was many months ago, I saved the emails of course, and what we discussed at the time was the fact that if you wanted to actually confirm this, you would need to remove the Superchip, clear the computer's memory and go back to using 87 octane for a period of time, tracking mileage. Then put the Superchip back in, clear the computer's memory again so you get a fresh program load and start off from a clean slate, so you could directly compare your mileage results as you accumulate miles again with the Superchip. And what you would need to do to evaluate like this among different brands of gasolione as well, not hard, but time-consuming. We haven't heard anything from you in these months since, so if you have gone back and done all this to re-establish your baseline, etc., and you are not getting any increase in mileage, then it can only be a change in formulation which has substantially reduced the energy content, or changes in how the vehicle is driven and it's normal load. Again, I'd say it's probably fuel formulation, unless you started doing a lot of towing or something.
If you have that data, and especially which brands, etc., (if you did that kind of comparison as well) in your area produced exactly which results, that would be very interesting data to see. Your gas mileage is the best informal indicator of actual energy content in your fuel supply (BTU's per lb. or gallon of gas), as a higher energy content will generally yield higher mileage results, so if you've got results for different brands, that is good data to have for your area!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 12-06-2000).]
Back when you first started posting about this, you posted here and in email to me that you were getting very nice improvement in gas mileage, more than 1.5 mpg. Then some months later, you said you thought you weren't getting that increase anymore. We discussed this at length both here and in email, the lines of code in the Superchip program cannot change, of course; the only thing that could have changed in this regard is either your fuel formulation, which is certainly possible with the Fed's air quality monitoring program, which has been affecting fuel formulations over the past couple of years in some areas, or the load on the vehicle and how it is driven; most likely, fuel formulation is the usual culprit, though it is highly unusual to see *no* mileage increase whatsoever from using the Superchip.
This was many months ago, I saved the emails of course, and what we discussed at the time was the fact that if you wanted to actually confirm this, you would need to remove the Superchip, clear the computer's memory and go back to using 87 octane for a period of time, tracking mileage. Then put the Superchip back in, clear the computer's memory again so you get a fresh program load and start off from a clean slate, so you could directly compare your mileage results as you accumulate miles again with the Superchip. And what you would need to do to evaluate like this among different brands of gasolione as well, not hard, but time-consuming. We haven't heard anything from you in these months since, so if you have gone back and done all this to re-establish your baseline, etc., and you are not getting any increase in mileage, then it can only be a change in formulation which has substantially reduced the energy content, or changes in how the vehicle is driven and it's normal load. Again, I'd say it's probably fuel formulation, unless you started doing a lot of towing or something.
If you have that data, and especially which brands, etc., (if you did that kind of comparison as well) in your area produced exactly which results, that would be very interesting data to see. Your gas mileage is the best informal indicator of actual energy content in your fuel supply (BTU's per lb. or gallon of gas), as a higher energy content will generally yield higher mileage results, so if you've got results for different brands, that is good data to have for your area!
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 12-06-2000).]
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
From: DOT BOMB CITY!
I have that EXACT scenario and data! I will post w/o the chip, the fuel brand name, the mileage, and the gallons used....
Maybe I can do this soon, its quite a bit of data!
Maybe I'm wrong... We'll see!
Maybe I can do this soon, its quite a bit of data!
Maybe I'm wrong... We'll see!
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Rand,
Yes, that would be a "mountain" of data so to speak, I would imagine, and a lot of work to compile!
Merry Christmas,
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer
Yes, that would be a "mountain" of data so to speak, I would imagine, and a lot of work to compile!
Merry Christmas,
------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer