Hello I have a 04 FX4 5.4 with an as 2.5 leveling kit 35 pro comp xterrain tires a crappy drop in k&n filter and a custom exhaust and im only getting 13.3 mpg. So if i get the edge will it improve my mgp?? also i would like to run 87 octane But will run higher if will help I also want more power at times too but mostly im looking for better mpg
any help or input is appreacited thanks

also before i put on the 35s i was getting 17 to 18 mpg with the stock tires

 

The only thing that will help you is regearing. 35's is what's causing lower gas mileage. Any tuner "can" help with mileage, but when you go 35's and taller, gears is where you need to look.

 

Im running the stock 3:73s right now rpms have not changed with the biggers i feel alot of people run 35s without changing gears and get better mgp what would be a better gear ratio i do alot of highway drive with work about 60 miles 5 days a week

 

The Edge will help with mpg on the 87 or 91 tune. The 35s is what is going to kill you. When I had the Edge I noticed during the winter time the 91 tune got me the same mileage as the 87 tune but in the summer the 91 got a lot better mileage.

 

If you truck is mainly for getting back and forth to work leave your gears alone.

 

If I were you, I would look into a CAI and a custom tune. That will also make a big difference without the cost of adding new gears.

 

Thanks guys im gonna go with the edge and see how it goes thanks again

 

The edge will not help fuel economy 1 drop. Neither will CAI's. Nor will these miracle "cure in a can" products that reduce friction etc. IF you want to reduce friction, just slow down. That alone gives the greatest fuel economy increase of anything.

Tuners don't change the pcm's target a/f ratio. So they can't do anything to help fuel economy. I guess, if you REALLY get picky, the hard shifts could have a MINUTE affect on fuel mileage over the duration of the shift..... But... A $300 tuner will buy you 107 gallons of gasoline here. In my truck that's good for 1,605 miles of free driving @15mpg..... There's no way your truck shifts enough to pay for that, it might not even shift that much its whole life!... Put it this way... let's say it gives you a .5mpg increase in fuel economy across the board. It would take you ~48,000 miles (@15mpg) of driving before the $300 thing even paid for itself.

If increasing fuel economy was as simple as tuning your truck, the EPA would MANDATE that all the ford dealers recall all the trucks and retune them. It's that simple. And if a company tells you that they have a way to signifigantly increase fuel economy, (without breaking the truck, or increasing emmissions) then they need to stop trying to sell it to you, and sell it to FORD!

 

nicely said chester

 

Thats funny I take 2 18hr road trips a year among other trips and on a stock tune I average 15 mpg. After I added the Edge I averaged 17 mpg on two trips. Then I sold the Edge and while I was waiting for my Custom tunes I took another trip and averaged 15 mpg. I also noticed an increase around town. The only difference was the Edge.

 

Buying a programmer or any other performance mod strictly for a gas mileage increase is pointless. $300+ dollars is a lot of gas, it's going to take a LONG time to recoup that money, none the less start making a difference. As others have said, I'd look into getting a set of gears installed. If you're going to stick with a 35" tall tire than go with 4.56s.

 

Well more power is going to be nice and better shifting is a plus the gas thing is just an added bonus if it even helps 05supercrew i dont belive is lieing and maybe i will be in the same boat as him. my last car was a mustang and sometimes i like to drive my truck hard on and off the road the mpg isnt the only reason just it would be nice well see how it works and ill update the edge should be here in 2 days thanks for all the input

 

also off topic but how can i get a pic in my sig i cant seem to get it small enough is there a link i can go to for help thanks

 

Okay, I know I am going to get the “Big Stick” award for this one.

Chester, not to sound like I'm irritated or anything, but are you saying that everyone who has claimed a 1-2 MPG increase in fuel economy is either a liar or delusional? I think there are a large number of people who would laugh in your face. Granted, I wouldn't buy a programmer/chip STRICTLY on the notion that I will get SIGNIFICANT increases in fuel economy, but the fact is that it does help. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

Now before anyone starts questioning my credentials (or my motives), let me begin by telling you this…

I have been computer tuning almost strictly Ford vehicles (throw in a couple GM vehicles just for good measure) for over 12 years. Practically every 7.3L diesel calibration on the market was based on tuning developed by me while working at Superchips. Also, many of the early Mustang and F-Series tunes we developed by Craig Ancel, Jay Payson, or myself while working at Superchips. I have done tuning for Vortech, Paxton, Powerdyne, Magnacharger, and Steeda. The Evolution was designed in part by me and all the calibrations (good or bad) for the Evolution were done by me. Over the last 12 years I have almost 5000 hours of dyno time doing both production and custom tuning.

Before I got into computer tuning, I was an ASE Certified Master Tech for almost 15 years with additional certifications in Advanced Eng. Performance (L1 & L2), Alternate Fuels (F1), and Heavy Trucks (T1, T2, T3 & T4). I have personally built over 50 engines over the last 25 years and have dyno tuned countless others, both carb/distributor versions and fuel-injected/DI versions. Without trying to sound boa****l, there are very few people in this industry with my experience.

Chester, I don't know where you get your information from, but tuners CAN and sometimes DO change target AFR. That, however, is beside the point. The simple fact is that there are other factors besides AFR that contribute to overall fuel economy as well as overall performance, the biggest one being ignition timing. Plus, the new batch of engines gives us another cool tuning tweak... cam timing modification.

Simply put, anything that increases efficiency of an engine will subsequently increase fuel economy as well as performance. Small changes in timing can have a dramatic effect on the combustion process by causing slight increases in cylinder pressure during a combustion event. Increased cylinder pressure means that there is more energy being applied to the top of the piston during to downward stroke. Of course, too much timing can cause detonation which leads to increased emissions and possibly even engine damage. But that is another matter…

We have shown time and again that modest timing adjustments will improve the efficiency of the combustion process on most production engines. These gains vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Ford has always been easy to tune and achieve respectable gains because of the simple fact that they are tuned for less than optimal fuel quality, with some reports that they are tuned for the equivalent of 81-83 octane fuel. This means that timing is slightly retarded to avoid detonation, even though many folks run no less than 89 octane fuel. This is WASTED ENERGY.

Also, nearly every manufacturer tunes LEANER than stoichiometric AFR in an effort to reduce certain emissions. While in theory this works, the fact is that the engine ultimately runs less efficiently and therefore requires more throttle (and ultimately more fuel) to generate a specific amount of power.

Finally, small changes in cam timing can help improve the volumetric efficiency of an engine, ultimately making the combustion event more efficient. Racers have been tuning cams as long as there have been cams, and a degree one way or the other can make a HUGE difference. You could make an engine a strong, low RPM puller or a high RPM screamer just by changing the cam timing.

Tuning for optimum efficiency is obviously the key here and the manufacturers logistically can’t do it. When you consider the wide range of fuel quality, driving conditions, load variances, and driving styles the vehicles have to cope with, not to mention manufacturing tolerances (don’t by a Monday/Friday car, isn’t that what your dad told you?), engine management strategies, and even tuning styles of the calibration team for a manufacturer or vehicle line, it’s just not possible to push the limits of efficiency for a mass market.

... To be continued

 

... continued

Now, it’s funny you mentioned “If increasing fuel economy was as simple as tuning your truck, the EPA would MANDATE that all the ford dealers recall all the trucks and retune them. It's that simple.” Someone please tell me where the EPA has any jurisdiction to mandate that a manufacturer has to make the “best possible” tune for any given vehicle. As long as emissions are in check, there isn’t anything they are going to do. The consumer may have to pay a “Gas Guzzler” tax, but that’s about the size of it.

I guess the point is that there is a lot of room for improvement on many vehicles. Performance based vehicles such as a Mustang or a Vette are surely not going to show any significant gains in performance or fuel economy because they are tuned to very edge of performance and efficiency. A truck, on the other hand, is not going to be pushed nearly as hard so it is not going to be tuned anywhere near as aggressively.

I do have to agree that in most cases the best way to save fuel is to slow down. There are exceptions to this, as some engines really need to be cooking to be well in the torque curve and I have seen some vehicles get better fuel economy at 75 MPH than at 60 MPH just because of where the torque curve is in the RPM range.

Quick math...

15 MPG @ 2.99/gal = 20¢/mile
16 MPH @ 2.99/gal = 18.6875¢/mile
A difference of 1.3125¢/mile

$300.00 / $0.013125 = 22857 miles to recoup your investment at a consistent 1 MPG. Yeah, so it takes a year, maybe two.

Finally, yes it would take a long time for a programmer to pay for itself in fuel savings. In some cases it may never pay for itself. If you bought a programmer thinking, “WOW! I’m gonna make 25 extra HP and save a ton in fuel!” then you are sadly mistaken. It takes fuel to make power. When you figure out how to make power without fuel, let me know and I’ll split it with you. However, if your driving styles don’t change (and they always do the first few weeks) most people generally see an improvement in fuel economy. I have been in this business too long and have seen it firsthand (as well as heard it secondhand) to be told that tuning can’t improve fuel economy.

Or maybe I’m just a delusional liar. Who’s to say...?

Bill