Gas Mileage

Khaos05 · March 3, 2007

Title says it - what mods will improve gas mileage? Air intake? Exhaust? Chip/Tune? If so, how much did it improve on average?

cambo · March 4, 2007

Any handheld programmers can give you many options of performance.

I would pick to use the high mpg tune when traveling or just for everyday driving. And if you wanted to show off a little you could switch to the high performance tune and well, show off.

Air intakes just push more air into the engine, so you add horses, but they say you can add mpg, which to me sounds counter-intuitive. Because the more horses you add, usually the worse the mpg is.

Exhaust is the same as air intakes. You need to loosen up the restrictions on the exhaust coming out of the engine. The bigger the tubing the better, but if you go to big, then the back pressure will be too weak to have a healthy engine.

However, combining the correct exhaust with the correct air intake with the correct programming you can raise your mpg or lower it. Its all up to you really.

Norseman · March 5, 2007

Gas Mileage, What mods will improve?

Egg between your foot and gas peddle works the best.

gunnerboy29 · March 22, 2007

If you install a cold air intake, more air is getting into your motor which in turn makes more power so less of a lead foot you'll have getting up to speed which means better gas mileage.

dietz4ibanez · March 22, 2007

Anything that helps with more air! If you get a cold air replace you stock airflow sensor with a mass air flow sensor!

Xc Special · March 22, 2007

Egg between your foot and gas peddle works the best.

not only is that funny, but its likely the best advice,

vernons9358 · September 3, 2007

i've tried all the direct replacement filters,

K&N,trueflow,and the new amsoil filter. and i've concluded the stock paper filter w/good driving habits equal the best gas mileage!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my 4.8 ext-cab averages 18mpg on daily commutes mostly city and a few highway miles... with the stock filter..

Nytemare · September 3, 2007

Egg between your foot and gas peddle works the best.

not only is that funny, but its likely the best advice,

True that. My advice was going to be de-lead your foot.

But a PCM tune for economy will help too. Wait4me is probably your best bet, its only 160 bucks. If you go any more expensive it will take a long time and a lot of tanks of fuel to have it pay for its self.

At best you will see a 3mpg increase. So thats a 60 mile per tank increase. Thats about 15-20 bucks a tank...so even at that, you are looking at a minimum of 8 tanks of fuel before it starts paying off.

I have given up on trying to save fuel, 20 bucks just doesn't mean that much to me. I drive the truck because I want to, not cause its good on fuel or any other reason. I wanted a truck, so now I have to put up with the consequences of that decision.

99Silver6.0 · September 3, 2007

A tune that changes commanded AFR. From the factory these trucks come crazy rich!!!

Schmids5.3l · September 3, 2007

A Vortec blower should do the trick.

TxTruckMan · September 7, 2007

I have to disagree with a filter "pushing" more air into the engine. Only a turbo or supercharger will push more air in. Filters can let more air in, but the engine is doing all the sucking. And I think a less restrictive filter is only going to help you at higher rpms where your engine is sucking more, which isn't where you like to be if you're concerned about mileage. So you'll only be more efficient while at higher rpms.

And more air only really helps with power if you have more fuel to go along with it. So air alone won't help unless you're currently restricted. That's what most of these tunes do, especially the custome ones. They adjust the air/fuel ratios to optomize performance based on your mods. But most center around peak hp which is generally at higher rpms, not around 2000 rpms where 95% of driving occurs.

My opinion on mileage is that the manufacturer is doing everything they can to get better mileage out of these vehicles. If any of these easy bolt-on mods really helped that much, I think the factory would be jumping all over them. But, of course, they have to consider other things like reliability and functional performance. If you're looking for the best mileage, keep it stock, reduce the vehicle's weight as much as possible, and drive slow like an old person.

But it's a truck. And one of the sacrifices of having a truck is poor mileage. Unless you want a Ridgeline, then you get poor performance with good mileage. Good luck.

mcbockalds · September 9, 2007

I think the egg under the right foot helped me and the fact that I was breaking in my new truck (07 1500 Classic RC LB 4.8L 3.23) I also kept the tailgate down.

Picked up my new truck in Sugarcreek, OH this past tues. morning and drove it home through Michigan to Duluth MN, total trip was 930 miles. I took two lane country highways for first 300 miles and kept my speed at or under 55 mph. Next 300 miles was interstate, but my max speed was only 63 mph. Next 300 miles mostly two lane country with max speed of 60 mph. I got 23.48 mpg.

Of course I got passed a lot too! But I did my share of passing too - early in the trip in Ohio I passed every Amish buggy I came upon.

John

AdioSS · September 9, 2007

I think the egg under the right foot helped me and the fact that I was breaking in my new truck (07 1500 Classic RC LB 4.8L 3.23) I also kept the tailgate down.
Picked up my new truck in Sugarcreek, OH this past tues. morning and drove it home through Michigan to Duluth MN, total trip was 930 miles. I took two lane country highways for first 300 miles and kept my speed at or under 55 mph. Next 300 miles was interstate, but my max speed was only 63 mph. Next 300 miles mostly two lane country with max speed of 60 mph. I got 23.48 mpg.

Of course I got passed a lot too! But I did my share of passing too - early in the trip in Ohio I passed every Amish buggy I came upon.

John

That goes against EVERYTHING that I have learned over the years.

First off, you'll do better with the tailgate UP than down or off. A bed cover works the best.

Monday evening I put a couple gallons of gas in my truck near my inlaws' house and drove home on the interstate. I averaged 23.4MPG also. Tuesday I picked up some furniture (over 300# worth that was in a box sticking up over the cab) and took it to my sister's apartment, then picked up more furniture and brought it home. Total mileage on the trip odometer is over 500 miles. Sure, it's mostly highway and I do have highway friendly gearing, but the average MPG is still over 22mpg. I drove like a granny most of that time, but the trip didn't really take much longer than normal and I got the best mileage that I've ever gotten on a trip like that. My truck has about 15,500 miles on the 5.3 now, so it isn't broke-in yet. I guess it helped that I drop it into neutral when going downhill or coasting to a stop.

However, when I bought the truck, I was doing burnouts on the way home. Break it in like you are going to drive it. The only reason that people ever ran the engine slow for break in was to seat the rings and let old style flat tappet lifters mate to the camshaft better. Today every GM vehicle is run on a dyno at WOT before it even leaves the plant.

I put a cheap "hi performance" muffler on my truck very soon after I got it. It has paid for itself in better mileage since then. I will soon be putting a K&N intake on, and I do expect better mileage. When you open up the intake and exhaust the engine does not have to work as hard to make the power needed to maintain speed.

Lowering the truck should help mileage, handling and the looks of your truck. Synthetic fluids in the engine, axle(s), and gearbox (if you have a manual transmission) free up power and help mileage. Maintaining your tires with proper air pressure helps with mileage and that is free!

I don't have any personal experience with a tune on my truck yet, but any decent tuner should be able to do a tune that helps mileage at lower throttle position/RPM and also increases power at high throttle/RPM.