My SCT tuner thread

[Okiespaniels]

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.