As fuel prices rise, TorqueCars often asks how a car can be tuned for maximum economy. On-board computers can be tuned for maximum fuel efficiency with a dedicated Superchips tuner. One of the functions that a tuner can perform is to improve the fuel efficiency of your car or truck. When buying a new car, check the fuel consumption estimated by the cars.
It has been found that you can save up to 2% in fuel efficiency just by using the right quality in your vehicle. Research shows that driving practices can affect fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent. Depending on the age of the vehicle, dirty air filters can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 10%. It is always recommended to keep air filters clean for optimum fuel efficiency.
Probably the simplest modification, replacing a clogged air filter with one of the high performance cold air kits, can dramatically reduce your vehicle’s fuel consumption. Hot air intake air supply from behind the radiator, or better yet, just below the exhaust manifold branches will go a long way to improving city fuel economy at medium to light throttle settings. An improved exhaust design or a less restrictive intake allows the engine to breathe easier, improving volumetric efficiency, which contributes to economy.
Reducing engine parasitic resistance reduces fuel consumption, allowing the engine to run with less effort. Underdrive pulleys can increase fuel consumption by reducing the load on the engine. Paying close attention to the area around the intake valves, especially the introduction of 3 or 5 step angles, can improve economy by maximizing airflow into the engine and better mixing of fuel and air as it enters the cylinder. Using engine oil of the manufacturer’s recommended engine oil grade in an engine can improve fuel economy by 1%-2%.
The fuel economy benefit of tuning is to lower the air-fuel ratio slightly so that less fuel is injected into the system. In a conventional engine that uses fuel injectors in the intake ports, if we continue to decrease the air/fuel ratio, we will come to a point where the engine will begin to malfunction. It can be assumed that using a leaner air-fuel mixture will result in lower fuel consumption, but there are several factors preventing this.
It is also possible that in this case high manifold pressure does not necessarily mean an increase in fuel consumption. In this case, both the pressure in the intake manifold and the relative fuel consumption respond equally to changes in the ignition timing. Optimal timing is in the low to mid 40 degree range, with a much sharper increase in fuel consumption due to too little time compared to too much time.
Transmission can be done easily because the computer controls the air-fuel mixture and ignition timing of the car, which can be manipulated to increase power or increase gas mileage. Because the ECU controls fuel delivery and ignition (in addition to variable valve timing for K-series engines), you can fine-tune these engine parameters to maximize fuel economy and power. The vehicle’s main computer, the engine control unit (ECU), stores a complex configuration designed to balance the required engine power with fuel efficiency requirements. Among other variables, the vehicle’s main computer regulates the ratio of fuel to air supplied to the cylinder, the combustion time of the fuel, and the amount of thrust of the turbocharger.
This is the case with most modern common rail diesel engines, whose power depends on the amount of fuel injected, and this is one of the reasons why a diesel engine has higher efficiency than a gasoline engine. When you make a car more powerful, you lose fuel consumption because you are burning more fuel and sucking more air into the engine, so the opposite is also true: less power means more economy, but you need to maintain a more efficient engine. The more weight the car gains, the more the engine has to work, which means more fuel is burned.
The overall goal should be to improve the efficiency of the engine, while in performance tuning they usually increase the engine’s ability to burn fuel and also make it more efficient. However, sometimes the goal of optimizing performance is solely to burn more fuel and this will negate the desired fuel economy, stick with mods that increase efficiency instead. If you can tune your car, the result can save you money and get the best performance out of your car.
A car that needs tuning won’t have great gas mileage. While high-performance car owners usually skip the manufacturer’s gas mileage specs and go straight to the power and torque figures, living off low gas mileage can really eat into your bank account. However, there are many factors that affect fuel economy, including vehicle size, shape, rolling resistance, engine efficiency, engine size, gasoline composition, driving style, driving style, and even season, so ECU tuning is not a panacea. Speaking of fuel consumption.
Tuning a running car or repairing a car that hasn’t passed an emission test can increase fuel economy by an average of 4%, depending on the type and quality of the repair. By optimizing your vehicle’s fuel injection, ignition and shifting performance, Superchips Flashpaq can deliver fuel economy savings of up to 20% for diesel pickups and up to 10% for gasoline-powered cars and trucks.
The increased fuel pressure achieved by Superchips’ high-performance electronics improves fuel combustion efficiency, thereby improving fuel economy (once again) by getting more bang for your buck. It gets improved by increasing the fuel pressure, which creates a finer mist. With Flashpaq or TrailDash the Superchip has a special mileage setting that offers increased fuel delivery time to optimize fuel economy while driving.
Adding an injector/fuel cleaner and using high quality fuel will help prevent silting, but on older vehicles it is worth considering installing new injectors. A front choke will now improve fuel economy, but a front choke can have more of an impact on reducing aerodynamic lift at the front than at the rear, and so there is a risk of aerodynamic oversteer at high speed.
Further info is available by clicking here, if you would like to learn more about how to reach fuel economy by tuning your car through the experts and good quality car services.
