With higher gas prices and no relief in sight it seems that everyone wants to add an intake, programmer and tornado in hopes that it'll increase thier MPG's. What you think? THIS IS A MULITPLE CHOICE POLL!
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Increase your MPG or save your money?
- Thread starter fco_gonzo
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I hope there is some sarcasm in this statment!
I was kinda using the tornado as a punch line but I went to thier website and they claim 1-2 MPG increase. :skep:
I'm saving my money and buying my wife some flowers. :dog:
I always wanted to use that smiley!
I'm saving my money and buying my wife some flowers. :dog:
I always wanted to use that smiley!
2007TahoeLTZ4x4
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so what programmers actually help? ive seen some discussions but no difinitive A works better than B etc
imo all of that stuff takes a lone time to make up the upfront price to the savings in gas mileage just like the tahoe hybrid course i guess it depends how much and where you drive
imo all of that stuff takes a lone time to make up the upfront price to the savings in gas mileage just like the tahoe hybrid course i guess it depends how much and where you drive
LAP TOP GAMER
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Nah leave it stock, GM spent millions of dollars to build the perfect SUV, why mess with it?
I've said that a millions times.
I'm of the opinion that there are tolerances when building each vehicle. GM's factory tune needs to be able to handle all of these vehicles, so the tune they use is not going to be optimal for any of them. I think this is where the custom tune shines, sadly there was no option for that :nonod:
And yet, look at your mods
I knew someone was going to say that:smilielol:
v10kingsnake
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People concerned with gas mileage shouldn't be driving these heavy pigs. Sure you're gonna get some better economy by freeing up the exhaust, intake, and tune but what is that costng you? How long you keeping the truck? Mine is a lease driven under 12k a year by the wife as a bus for the kids/ grocery getter. It goes back after 36 months. I am willing to bet that the increase from spend the 2k in mods isnt going to net more than a few extra miles per gallon. With those kinds of numbers It would be senseless to do the mods being it would take years to equal out the outlay in mods. Besides, when people can generally feel a few extra ponies they tend to push the go pedal down more. Thus negating any gains you would have seen into an even greater loss. Just my opinion.
Black Dog
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Anything but the Tornado. This is the one thing I am sure that if it was best for air to swirl into the combustion chamber it would be manufactured that way. I think it actually disturbs flow, An air molecule swirling in will travel a greater distance than one going straight through, and it will run into more obstacles, slowing it down. The shortest path is a straight line, and since it's not increasing plenum volume you want it to flow straight. You won't find a Tornado or a Turbonator on a race care or HD machine. Leave it alone and don't waste your money. CAI maybe, Tune definitely.
Black Dog
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Just wanted to make another comment, but wow, my post a month ago was the last one here, and yet it was on the front page... If this killer forum lacks anything I sure would like to see more post activity.
Anyway, I was just going to say, in addition to what was above, that I know people talk about a mod maybe not being worth it because it takes too long to pay for itself, but I also look at it this way- To an extent I will still pay for a modification knowing that it might be break even at best, because it still contributes to convenience (not to mention fun). That is to say, even if a tune did nothing for performance, but added economy, I like to know that I now stop for gas every 16th day instead of every 14, or whatever it is. This could mean 2 or 3 less gas stops per year, and that in itself is worth something.
Also, again I agree with Gambler about the generic tuning from the factory- I want my machine optimized. Not only that but I truly believe that the factory builds in a "power buffer" to decrease the incidences of failure. In other words, if a transmission could handle X horsepower they might build the engine with X minus 100 hp, so there is still room to add some power without causing failure. Sure it might wear out sooner, but not simply break. So if there's a 100 hp leeway, you might add 40, 50, 60... whatever, just not 80 or 90+. It makes sense to me. Sorry for the book, just trying to help out.
Anyway, I was just going to say, in addition to what was above, that I know people talk about a mod maybe not being worth it because it takes too long to pay for itself, but I also look at it this way- To an extent I will still pay for a modification knowing that it might be break even at best, because it still contributes to convenience (not to mention fun). That is to say, even if a tune did nothing for performance, but added economy, I like to know that I now stop for gas every 16th day instead of every 14, or whatever it is. This could mean 2 or 3 less gas stops per year, and that in itself is worth something.
Also, again I agree with Gambler about the generic tuning from the factory- I want my machine optimized. Not only that but I truly believe that the factory builds in a "power buffer" to decrease the incidences of failure. In other words, if a transmission could handle X horsepower they might build the engine with X minus 100 hp, so there is still room to add some power without causing failure. Sure it might wear out sooner, but not simply break. So if there's a 100 hp leeway, you might add 40, 50, 60... whatever, just not 80 or 90+. It makes sense to me. Sorry for the book, just trying to help out.
puckhead
Full Access Member
I hear ya on that Black Dog, thats why they only take a little bit of the torque managment away when doing a tune, dont wanna have anything snap. I think all I will do for my truck is intake and exhaust and hopefully a black bear tune sometime in the near future. maybe headers but I havent had any experiance with them.
boostaholic
Full Access Member
Intake won't do much for mileage but anything that makes the engine produce greater power will result in less throttle required for acceleration. Tune will change the mileage significantly, even if you buy a common off the shelf superchips flashpaq it will help immensely.
I think it depends on how long you are keeping it and miles driven. We have had ours 2 weeks and I have added a magnaflow and K&N. My wife commutes 60 miles each day but I farm so we need the SUV so she can come out to the fields. So I try to make some improvements and they work. I have figured after about 10 months we should have our money back from those two items.
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