Changing your driving style will produce better improvements than a chip ever will. The fact is a chip rarely provides an increase in MPG by itself (without modified driving habits). This may not be the popular opinion, but its difficult to convince people its true when that is what they WANT to believe.... The same is true with intake/exhaust mods - they simply do not equal better MPG's!!! Even with the stock muffler, my X saw over 20mpg's on a regular basis and with good tunes EGT's were not even a problem!

But, the koolaid is strong - so be aware.

In fact, some tuners give you 100% throttle at 50% pedal!!! This dumb (imho) trick is almost certain to decrease MPG's. Tell your tuner you wanna use the WHOLE range of the pedal!

 

Yes, that used to really annoy me. I have my whole pedal back now

 

Yes that's the thing with the t s chip. That's y I only use the lower hp setting on long trips my next mode after my hpop is a tw reburn.

 

That's the chip story PERIOD

 

What I meant was my last tuner had the "half pedal = full throttle" That got on my nerves...
I got full range back with my current tuner. My pedal is no more touchy in my 100hp tune as it is in stock/chip removed...But you can sure feel the extra hp.

 

What kind of truck do you have though? A Lift, tires, and being a 4X4 is a big downer on MPG's. it could just be a superstition to me but i think that straight piping these trucks gives it worse gas mileage to. Do all yall out there actually calculate yer mileage or just go by that digital reading in the cab???

 

[quote=SkySkiJason;11231130]Changing your driving style will produce better improvements than a chip ever will. The fact is a chip rarely provides an increase in MPG by itself (without modified driving habits).

How would you explain yer driving habits? i've always thought i keep my foot out of it.. lol

 

My truck is a stock 2002 SuperCab 4x4 with the Air Intake Heater and muffler removed and I just added the 6 position chip from KT Performance...I hand calculate my fuel mileage...my average so far is with just driving and no towing - 16.55 MPG and that was probably around 70% highway miles...

I had two local gentlemen (in their 50s and 60s) tell me that they've gotten hand calculated 20 - 25 MPG with their 4x4 7.3s after adding a tune by either programming or chipping and 15 MPG towing...I am very skeptical and want to call BS on that ... but, I do hope for some improvement in fuel mileage...we'll see...

 

Well here's the results... on the 50hp setting (on the way up there) 14.7 and on the 100hp setting (on the way back) 14.0 both tanks had about 50 miles city driving. and btw the highway is from oklahoma up i44 to springfield so kinda mountainy.

Btw i call B.S any time i hear ppl getting 20 mpg or more with 7.3's

 

I hand calculated my fuel mileage from laramie Wyoming to the northeastern corner of Missouri running to Denver then across northern Kansas and Missouri so mostly flat from east of Denver to Missouri and i averaged 21 mph out of my 2000 f350 single wheel 4 door short bed 4x4 4 inch lift 35 s running two chip in 100 HP setting averaging 65 mph

 

How many miles do you have??? im starting to think that has alot to do with fuel milage

 

Ok, I thought I'd pass along an update concerning my fuel mileage...after reading about people squeezing in 4 or 5 extra gallons after shut off by pumping the fuel at a slow rate, I did this to fill my tank up to the neck....so, what this means is that by filling it just to shut off and then rounding off I was probably not getting an accurate measurement of my consumption.

The last 3 fillups has been to the neck...the fuel consumption for those were as follows:
1st = 18.468 mpg on hwy round trip of 186 miles.

2nd = 15.846 mpg on local roads and town to town of 100.2 miles.

3rd = 18.557 mpg on hwy round trip of 438.6 miles.

Speed was kept at 70 mph or less (using cruise control when possible) which is 2000 RPM or less. + KT Performance chip set at 80 Daily Driver. + Factory size all terrain tires at 75 psi front and 65 psi rear. + Some idling time of 10 to 30 minutes per tank - no more than 50 minutes total for all three tanks. + I added 1 oz of Power Service (white bottle) for every 3 gallons of fuel and also 1 oz of TCW3 rated two stroke oil for every 5 gallons of fuel during this time. This was using Exxon number 2 diesel fuel from the same station every fill up.

I suppose that if I were to run 65 mph I might could break 19 mpg on the hwy but I'd sure irritate a lot of folks having to go around me - heck, at 70 mph everyone passes me except company rigs with 68 mph limiters! I'm gonna try to cut down on the idling too.

Anyway, just wanted to let y'all know about me using the more accurate method of filling it up and the results so far...

 

thats some good info. thanks! i run 35" tires on mine and on a 3 tanks of nothing but highway driving i am averaging about 14.5mpg. i always thought that if you had bigger tires it would make your rpm's less running high speed which should get you better mileage right?? but idk

 

I think the rolling resistance of the larger tires is what kills the fuel mileage....

 

I get about 15mpg with my 4x4 dually running 33" tall tires and a GVW of 9-10k lbs. Since I don't pay for my fuel (WVO), my right foot is not connected to my wallet - so my driving habits are not very 'economical'. However, back when I was buying diesel - I could get over 18mpg (with stock tires) if I kept RPM's under 2000 and kept boost to a minimum. This is painful since 2000rpm's is about 60mph with 4.10 gears and was done in the FLAT southeast. I also typically do not stop except for fuel on a road trip. You get the worst MPG while accelerating, so by pulling out of the fuel stop and gently getting up to speed - then setting the cruise control for the next few 100mi - you can likely gain a couple mpg's!!

My ex-wife just drives like a grandma. She could easily have an egg on the accelerator pedal and likely never pushes it down more than 1/2" anyway. The X is heavier than most pick-ups, but I think the better aerodynamics and taller (3.70's) gears make up the difference.

Wind resistance is a huge factor here. Ya know that factory rake everyone likes to get rid of with a 'leveling kit' or lift kit? That is there partly to improve fuel economy! Think about how much 'resistance' ya feel when sticking your hand out the window at 60mph. How much wider are 35" tires than stock? If you made a sail that size, do you think you could hold it out the window at 60mph?? Same goes for 'bug shields', window visors, aftermarket bumpers, etc - anything that adds drag is hurting MPG.

Back in the day, our friend Dave Whitmer (TDS) was the MPG king! This guy spent as much time and money trying to get better MPG as alot of people spend trying to go fast. He had a slightly lowered 2wd 6spd with a GV overdrive, REALLY tall gears, smaller than stock tires, etc and DROVE every minute with MPG in mind. Eventually, he even built a camper shell with ideal shape for less drag. I think he could get 24mpg without a 'chip'. I always enjoyed his posts and got a kick out of the 'gearhead jocks' who constantly gave him a hard time about it.