My youngest son Mike graduated basic training, with honors, last Friday. He’s aspiring to become a PJ.

 

Hey John,

Congrats - good to hear another Mike is making great accomplishments!

 

how do I calculate MPG? sounds korny but I never knew how to figure it out or what to do.

 

Try this cklap78

Calculating Miles Per Gallon

 

John, you must be the "relevant-link master."

 

Thank you for those kind words Mike; in my book, you’re the "tune maestro"

 

No problem, John - Oh, BTW - got your email regarding your results with the AF1, & will be getting your new tunes done this next week. Thanks for the data, & glad to hear you're enjoying the new Air Force One!

 

Thanks Mike

I’m definitely looking forward to those new tunes

 

18.75 with a Perf Tune???? I get better that with with no Perf Tune. I've averaged nearly 15.5mpg over 21,000 miles with occasional towing (5000 lbs) and hauling (1000 lbs). 19.5 mpg on long trips with no towing or anything in the bed. 13.5 mpg city driving.

 

Just a little perspective on this, DD.............

As I'm sure you already know, anyone that knows about these vehicles knows you can't make across-the-board comparisons due to factors such as the vastly different vehicle configurations available, just for one - there is well over 3000 lbs of weight difference between the various F-150 configurations, as well as different engines, transmissions, gear ratios, tire sizes, vehicle ride heights, etc. To say nothing of all the other obvious factors, such as local fuel quality, how the vehicle is maintained, it's wheel alignment, tire pressure, how fast it's driven, the terrain it's operated over, etc. There are *many* factors that impact MPG that make it impossible to make any type of across-the-board mpg OR performance comparison in F-150's with any validity.

One truck may get "only" 13.5 MPG in the city in stock trim - like yours does - while another may get 15 mpg in those same conditions. Does that mean your truck's 13.5 city mpg is "bad"? Not at all - for your truck's configuration, your local fuel quality, the load on the vehicle, how you drive it, and the fact that it's running on a stock tune, that 13.5 city mpg is probably pretty darned good!

As was pointed out in that post, the vehicle owner clearly identified a solid INCREASE in MPG with our tuning - he consistently gets 1.0-1.5 MPG better fuel economy with our performance tuning. Quite a gain for such a vehicle from our performance tuning alone, and as a result, his vehicle is now getting almost 19 MPG where it was getting 1-1.5 mpg less before. That is an *excellent* result - anyone would be happy to get an 8%+ increase in mpg!

There are so many factors that affect MPG, not the least of which is what each individual vehicle gets in stock trim - all F-150's aren't the same, they don't all perform the same, or all get the same MPG, etc. Fuels are not the same, people drive them differently, drive them at different speeds when cruising on the highway, etc. Speed alone, even when driving on flat terrain, makes a HUGE impact on MPG due to the large aero profile of these vehicles - you'll never get the same MPG at 75 mph that you do at 65 mph, etc.

There's far more to it than just saying that getting a 1-1.5 mpg increase to 18.75 MPG with a performance tune is somehow not a great result - any time an F-150 owner can get a solid 1.0-1.5 mpg increase from our *performance* tuning, they've done very well indeed.

Just a little perspective...............

 

I don't disupute your point Superchips Distributor. I had a superschip in my Mercury Mystic (2.0L) and saw marginal MPG gains, but nothing worth the cost of the chip. I didn't suggest that his MPG gain was a lie and it's great to see that a tuner helped. I simply said my truck, a nearly 6,000 lb SCREW F150 4X4 got the same with no tune. The tone of my tread was misread.

After veiwing this forum for some time now, I doubt my truck would see noticealble MPG gains with any tuner without other modifications to improve air flow (exhaust, CAI, etc.), this after considering the variation is others MPG and HP gains under numerous stated driving conditions.

I consistantly acheive near 20MPG on longer trips with nice weather conditions (no towing or hauling). I ask you then, can a tuner help me get 21, 22, or even 23MPG? I haven't seen this type of result posted this forum with any brand/style tuner.

 

Your MPG (15.0 -20.0) is probably the best I have seen on any of these trucks. Yours is a Supercrew 4x4? What engine and gearing is in it if I may ask? What brand of fuel are you using?

 

The *point* of getting a tuner is increased performance; go faster, shift harder, etc, etc. Improved fuel efficiency is merely a byproduct and nothing more. The feather-foot is the only way to save on gas, with or without a tuner, realistically speaking.

 

I couldn't get 20mpg with a 100mph tailwind

 

Hi DD,

I didn't think you were specifically trying to "dispute" - although your post seemed to call that excellent result into question with the wording & tone. What the original post you quoted was about, was clearly pointing out a solid & consistent gain in MPG from our performance tuning. But thanks for pointing that out, that's very kind of you.

More importantly though (and this is common with owners who haven't spent much time here), my response was to make the point that we cannot make across-the-board MPG comparisons (or performance comparisons) with just any or all F-150's - at least, not with any validity. They have to be a matching configuration for it to be valid, due to all the other factors I pointed out (and more) in my original response.

Hence my response - so no problem, my friend - we're "cool."

To answer your question directly - there really is no telling with absolute certainty, and no iron-clad guarantees, as to whether we can get you better MPG or not in your vehicle - the reality is, you just don't know until you do it. YES, we certainly *should* be able to help you improve your MPG - and YES, the vast majority of people who use our performance tuning (once the novelty of a new go-fast part wears off) *do* report MPG gains, just as that original post you quoted did.

But nobody can make an absolute guarantee, and our performance tuning isn't about MPG in the first place - it's about *performance* first. The MPG gains so many here report from our performance tuning are actually what I call a *by-product* of our tuning changes for better performance - though there are some things we do that tend to help MPG for many owners. Some of the MPG improvement (or *potential* for improvement) in our performance tuning comes from the increased spark on part-throttle, which lowers the load on the engine and thus reduces BFSC (brake specific fuel consumption), and some of it comes from improved automatic transmission function on automatic models - and then there are other aspects.

We can also do an MPG-specific tune, too - but I hate doing those kinds of tunes (meaning where MPG is *the* goal), as the driveability and performance is never going to be as good in an all-out MPG tune as it is in our "performance" tunes. So I don't like doing them, though will if the customer says that is what they want!

Though most owners do report MPG gains, and every single vehicle of ours, as well as every vehicle where we have done the before & after MPG testing with our tuning, have always shown an MPG gain from our performance tuning - MPG gains from *performance* tuning are still to be regarded as "icing on the cake" IMHO - rather than any kind of valid criteria to "judge," justify or evaluate performance tuning by.

On another note - If your primary goal is better MPG, then I'd suggest doing mods that have the best potential for MPG gains - like our electric fan kit & underdrive pulley set. Those mods will not only add solid horsepower & torque gains at the rear wheels at any throttle position or engine rpm, but also reduce fuel consumption at the same time. Both the power gains and the MPG improvement in those parts come from the exact same thing - the reduction of parasitic losses. Just FYI -

Thanks for your post,