My SCT tuner thread
 

Hey all...

This is an ongoing thread that will review my SCT tuner.
The reason I bought this tuner is to see if I could increase my gas mileage on my ram. I already knew about the power gains others have reported witht the tuner Hemifever sets up. But I challenged Sean to build me the ultimate "89 octane" can tune that would give me a boost for towing and a mileage boost while running 87 octane gas.

For the last 3 tanks of gas I have recorded miles driven/gas burned so I could get a mileage baseline. My truck is driven in mostly commute situations but under a variety of speeds ranging fom 30 to 65 mph. In a 10 mile one way trip I may stop as many as 9 times. Low end acceleration is important and my truck lacks this. I also need highway power to keep up with traffic patterns.
My truck is also ran on weekends as my toy. I attend functions for another very active local forum This involves highway and freeway speeds.

BTW, this is meant to be a simple real world test. No ultimate horsepower dyno runs, no trips to the strip. What I want to find is...do tuners really help mileage. or is "the potential for mileage gains" many manuactuers state just a buzz phrase.

So lets start. I've recorded the last 3 tanks of gas I purchased from my local QT. Plain jane 87 octane with a hint of ethanol. There is non ethanol gas availible, but simple math based on mileage claims others state shows there is no cost benefit to running it. In other words you save 2 cents per gallon burned but spend .20 to do so.

So after 3 tanks, my average mpg is 10.45, or 10.5. No onboard computer reading, juts plain old division.

This morning I installed the 89 octane tune from my SCT. Nothing could have been simpler! I decided to get the "wild hairs" off my butt and take it for a spin on a test circle which closely imitates my work route.
Now, this tune didn't turn my truck into a tire smoking superbeast. But I immediatly noticed 3 important things.
1> Less effort needed to accelerate from a dead stop. Doesn't squeal tires, but doesn't fall on its face either. Goodbye torque limiting!
2> Truck doesn't hunt for lockup. Goes into OD at 40 mph. Slight rpm increase (mileage loss?) but if the advance and fuel were leaned up by the tune mileage potential increase.
3> No pinging.

I will continue to report on the mileage, and yes, I will try the 93 tune for giggles...but not for a while.

Gonna be a great thread. I just got a Superchips 3815 for my truck. Running the 87 octane tune as well, immediately noticed the same differences you did. It was alot easier climbing hills as well. I'll be watching this one, keep us updated!

I'd thought about getting the Superchips as well, simply because it allows you to reset the BCM for different tire sizes. But I wanted the ultimate in downloadability and performance, and Superchips is basicly a piggyback tuner while the SCT removes the entire factory tune and replaces it.

Good stuff Al

Well I filled up today...mileage is only up to 10.7 mpg.

And I'm worried about my transmission. The new shifts seem to heat things up quite a bit. Much more than I'm used to seeing.
I'm going to adjust my TV cable this weekend and see if that helps. Otherwise I may have to remove the tune.
I know there's a tranny issue. It shifts late into 2nd and 3rd (at low speeds) and not into OD now until I lift the pedal. I had this issue before but the SCT exacerbates it...the truck wants to be driven harder. The shifting issue is a mileage and tranny killer for sure.
So I can't blame the SCT...and as far as power goes, the difference from stock, especially on the highway against the ever present Oklahoma wind is amazing.

Okay...adjusted the TV cable...and it was WAY off! Tranny shifts much better now, and I expect mileage to go up and based on a long test drive the heat to stay down.

Will post on this thread when I fill up again.

Havent had any problems with mine on shifting, seems to be doing much better. Economy tune helps a little with fuel and a little on power. Still havent put 91 octane in yet so I can test the perfromance tune. It will be soon though...

I've run through 2 more tanks of gas recording 10.1 mpg and with this last tank 10.7.

Will load the 93 tune after I run this tank out.

Performance tune did some amazing changes for mine, better mileage and more power!

How much of a mileage gain did you get?