Better Gas Mileage

I was curious about that. If the URD MAF Calibrator is supposed to help lean out your injection, then what would it do with this included? Does the URD MAF Calibrator help fuel economy (MPG) or does it only help power (RWHP)?

Adam,

Do you have a URD MAF Calibrator yet? (I can't afford one till my house sells)

 

From my understanding it helps fuel economy and hp gains. If you think about it, our engines run rich, which mean more fuel is injected than is needed. If you lean it out just a little bit (not enough to cause damage of course) then you would be using less fuel in each cylinder for each combustion. seems like that would be cutting down your overall fuel consumption. I dunno, there may be a reason why i'm wrong but it seems logically sound to me.

I would imagine you first put on the Vapor doohicky, then get the MAF to calibrate the correct fuel mixture so no fuel is wasted. anybody know if this theory is correct

 

Don't know, but what you're saying makes perfect sense to me.

 

Well i try not to flaunt it but i do have an IQ of around 75. So you could say i'm pretty much a genius and probably smarter than anyone on this site. But like i said, i try not to flaunt it

 

Great News:

Adam, maverick491, will be getting with the Ben next week to test the ECO-2 on his truck. Adam will be performing the some of the same tests on his truck as I will on mine so that we can see what the difference is between the 2.7L + ECO-1 and the 4.0L + ECO-2.

This will give us a great comparison and additional information on the ECO-System. Adam and I will combine a final report when we are done testing and put it up on a separate thread. Since Adam does some towing as well, we will be able to get some "under load" economy numbers and "felt" power estimates on the 4.0L (which most of you have). We will post all available statistics and modifications to our trucks at the time of testing in the final report.

If any of you have any questions that you would like answered from either Adam or I please let us know.

 

Mark, I do not as of yet have the MAF calibrator as I am still on the fence about the MAF calibrator. The need to tinker and make things better tells me to get one yesterday. But while more power is always nice, I have not yet felt the "need" for more power, and what I am more looking for are ways to increase my fuel mileage while still maintaining the power I already have. Similarly, if I do get the MAF calibrator it will be the last thing I get, as I suspect that I will A. need some help to tune it properly, B. will likely curse a great deal while tuning it properly, and C. once it is tuned properly I will likely not want to screw with it again, so I need to have all my other mods done first.

To answer your first question, like ndcouch says below, the science dictates that if you lean out the engine correctly, (read not enough to do damage), you will be using les fuel, and therefor your fuel mileage will increase. However, while the science is never wrong, I suspect that we are talking about milli-seconds of injector pulse timing, so the fuel mileage increase would likely be negligable, as the main purpose of the MAF calibrator is to give you more RWHP and not to ease the pinch at the pump. Again this is just my interperitation of the science, and is not a proven fact.

Mark, perhaps after we finish testing the ECO-1 and ECO-2 we can get gadget to let us conduct a double engine test on the MAF calibrator as it relates to fuel economy? I can see it now... 007tacoma and maverick491 "the official testers of Tacoma World."

ndcouch, your theory is logically sound and the science does support you, I am just not sure how much fuel mileage benefit you would get from the MAF calibrator as it's primary function is for power. Your second statement is however, 100% correct as you do everything else you want to do to your truck first then get the MAF calibrator (or re-tune it if you have one already) so that the calibrator can take advantage of all your other mods as you create the new fuel map.

I am honored to be participating in this test of what I believe to be a promissing product, and I thank 007 for beating me to the punch and getting the ball rolling on this. As some of you may or may not know, my Tacoma is not my daily driver, but I will park my other car and use the Tacoma as my everyday vehicle for the duration of the test, and as Mark said I hope to be able to provide both solo and towing numbers for everyones review (I say hope because the trailer is at the dealer having some warranty work done right now, and I do not have an ETA on it's return yet).

Again any questions feel free to ask, and myself or Mark (likely both of us) will answer to the best of our ability.

 

Well, I haven't topped off my tank yet, but I can tell you by my mileage that I am not getting any better fuel economy. The reason - HARD DRIVING. I have been pushing my truck very hard over the weekend with getting stuff for the remodel of the house and taking a trip up to Fredricksburg.

Top speed has been around 85 MPH and cruising has been around 80 MPH with some very hilly terrain.

Normally, my speed is around 70-75 MPH as that is where the compromise of MPG and Speed is best for me.

I will tell you this much. I am not having to downshift as much. The truck does have some more "UMPH" (technical term being: torque) off the line and cruising. Now that I am back in work again, I hope that I can tame my right foot.

 

Get your foot off the floor board 007!!! how are we suppose to know if this thing works if you're driving like a pissed off teenager (ricky bobby reference ) all the time!?!? Now settle down and be more "scientific"

 

THAT WAS THE MOVIE I WANTED TO RENT! - now I remember!

I am going to try to run the tank down to the light and fill up on Friday. I have to make a run to Houston to get some furniture soon, so we may see some towing numbers as well.

If I get over 22 MPG out of this tank, I will be suprised.

 

Well, I was correct - just shy of 22 MPG. I went 448.9 miles on 2.0 gallons + 18.972 gallons.

448.9 miles / 20.972 Gallons = 21.404 MPG

I was getting dangerously close to empty last night, so I put 2 gallons in. I couldn't top it off because I didn't get paid till today (remember the "I of no money" part ).

Looking at my driving log, I was driving my truck really hard ("like a pissed of teenager" -ndcouch ):

*Top speed was 88 MPH passing a semi going up-hill (dang two lane roads).
*30% (135.4 miles) was spent in very hilly country.
*34% (152.7 miles) was spent in heavy city traffic (the commute home).
*The Air Conditioning was on 100% of the time.
*My average speed for the entire tank was 76 MPH.
*No towing.
*No hauling.

This tank doesn't speak well for the fuel economy, but this is only the first tank. I will tell you that I am not downshifting nearly as much. This VPE has definitely helped out with the overal torque my little 2.7L is putting out.

I have to drive to Houston tomorrow morning to get some boxes, stuff, and furniture. I won't be towing a trailer (it is supposed to rain), but I will be hauling some things while trying to keep up with my wife in her V6 Rav4. Both vehicles should be pretty well loaded up. I will let you guys know how that goes.


Hey, Adam, what is the latest on your end?

 

I traded e-mails with Ben fron ecosystems earlier in the week, and provided him with my mailing address, so at this point I am waiting either for a confirmation e-mail from him or am just waiting for the box to arrive at my door. I have two highway runs planned for this weekend with just the truck, no trailer, so even if the VPE does not arrive untill next week, I'll have a really good set of post secondary filter removal mileage numbers.

I'll update when I know more.

 

Thanks for the update 007. i have to admit i'm impressed with the records your keeping... much more thorough than anything i would keep. you may be driving like a pissed off teenager but at least your a teenager with a notebook and a pen and some math skills

 

Well, initially I was just going to do the whole MPG thing, and that was it. Then I got to thinking about when my mileage is good, and when it isn't so good. Mileage only tells you some of the story, and driving style, terrain, traffic, AC usage, etc. will tell you the rest. I want this to be a thorough report.

 

I am glad to see all the calculations. However one point I failed to see was how long to payback? At what point will I actually be saving money versus the outlay of funds? According to my calculations: This thing gains ~2 mpg, which is what I gleaned from the San Antonio and Vegas news reports on ECO's website (unless you drive like a pissed off teenager )at cost of $189 + 39 = $220 with fuel costing ~$2.75 a gallon. I currently get ~16 mpg (mostly city, and some teenager stuff ) at a cost of ~$0.17 per mile. With the increase of 2 mpg it drops to ~$0.15 per mile. The payback is 11,000 miles. (Didn't you hate word questions in school?) Which is approxiamately one year for me and longer if it isn't your daily driver.

I'm waiting patiently to see the real world results, if someone would quit qualifying and just start driving

 

Interesting??!! So, thinking this through. If gas is realistically $3.32 a gallon and I get between 19-22 miles per gallon (I'm not pissed off ), my Eco-thing-a-ma-bob should return 3-4mpg better thus resulting in a figure I can't calculate because I hate word problems.....of......say ~ $0.12 and 9,000 miles????!!!! I'm so and I just made that answer up!

Wow, whens the group buy going to start??

 

...but qualifying is so much more fun.

This is only the first tank. I will go through at least one tank this weekend, if not two. I would not expect any greater return than the 10-15% that they advertise.

The payback really can't be calculated off of just this tank. I get 24-25 MPG on average without the VPE. I will have to see over the next few tanks what I get.

Besides, fuel economy is not the only benefit. It is my understanding that the original intention of this device was to lower emissions (although, I haven't tested this yet). The power increase on my 2.7L is the real bonus for me. Unfortunately, I don't know what the increases are going to be on the 4.0L or 3.4L. I can't wait to see what Adam gets out of his.

This isn't my final report. I just figured I would keep everyone up to date. Adam and I are going to combine our findings into one report in a few weeks - just be patient.

 

That's entertaining! I know how you feel. I have to sit down with my wife or a friend to go over my calculations to make sure I get them right. It is not because I stink at math, but because I am lazy and math doesn't hold my interest.

I will post my logs though, so everyone can double^3 check my math.

The group buy will come after the final report.

 

Cant wait to see wha the 4.0 gets as far as improved torque. Seeing as it already has much higher numbers.

 

Well, this weekend didn't quite go as planned, but I have some highway numbers - both loaded, and unloaded.

First tank was not loaded on the way to Houston in some pretty nasty weather - fog.

276.1 miles / 11.2 gallons = 24.64 MPG (too much running AC at idle.)
*This trip was just me and two dogs.
*My cruising speed was 76 MPH.
*Top speed was 81 MPH.
*The A/C was on 100% of the time.
*There was minimal traffic.
*Most of the drive was highway through minimal hills.
*The weather was horrible for visibility.

The second tank was loaded back to San Antonio.

208 miles / 9.1 gallons = 22.85 MPG (pretty good - considering the load and increased speeds.)
*Me, two dogs, a queen size bed (+mattresses), a futon (+mattress), 3 shelves, ladder, dog cage, chair, and bin full of miscellaneous stuff.
*My cruising speed was 78 MPH.
*Top speed was 85 MPH.
*The A/C was on 100% of the time.
*There was moderate traffic.
*Most of the drive was highway through minimal hills. 50ish miles of in-town driving.
*The weather was clear.

When I say that it didn't go as planned - we did quite a bit of running the AC at idle on the first tank, since the dogs were in the truck. Also, we were pretty rushed because we were trying to beat the rain (that never came ).

Since we have a contract on the house in Houston - we will be driving to Houston every weekend to get stuff from the house, so we should have more numbers soon!

 

I should add that my wife got 28 MPG out of her 3.5L V6 4WD Rav4 while it was loaded with hundreds of pounds of kitchen stuff and electronics!!! I am jealous.