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Superchips built its reputation on providing significant horsepower and torque increases for light truck engines, helping off-roaders scramble their 4x4s up trails or add needed oomph to tow vehicles. Horsepower, torque - both desirable things in the category of "if a little is good, more is better." That benefit still applies, but is now colored by the cost of gasoline.
When the cost of fuel first surged over $3 a gallon, we might have cut back on Starbuck's mega mochas or organized our driving errands to compensate. When gas ratcheted up to $4 a gallon, we might have considered carpooling or even cutting back on 4x4 weekends.
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Then as prices spiked over $5 (especially in those remote communities in the foothills of enticing backcountry, where we've seen as much $6 for regular), our worlds started to change. Those kinds of prices are enough to catch your breath, if not scare the living daylights out of those of us without an oil company in our stock portfolio.
In response to the escalating price of fuel, Superchips took its gonzo attitude toward performance parameters and applied them to fuel economy. What could be more logical? If you can recalibrate an engine's parameters for performance gains, you can do the same on the fuel economy side. What makes all this even better is that there are some performance gains in the process.
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The product, released in early August, is the Mileage XS. "Our engineers calibrated the Mileage XS taking fuel as the primary objective," explains Superchips Division President, Tom Bennett. "Where we used to push performance, we pushed the economy parameters."
Based on real world testing derived from mileage schedules and protocols designed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Bennett is, "confident in saying 15 percent more miles per gallon is a fair promise." In dollars and cents, those 15 points would drop a monthly $300 gas bill to $255, leaving enough for a an extra off-roading weekend.
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The fuel economy gains can be compared to those, "Ways to Increase Gas Mileage" tips that have cropped up everywhere. There's no single silver bullet that results in that 15-percent improvement, but rather incremental calibration in a few areas that add up to a noticeable difference. The two main parameters are low-end torque and transmission shift points.
According to Bennett, when you improve low-end torque the result is smoother acceleration and the vehicle gets into the efficient RPM range more quickly. If you're attuned to your truck, you know that efficient range by ear. You can hear the engine purr when it hits that sweet spot. But don't worry about giving up any semblance of performance. "With that low end torque improvement you get improved throttle response," Bennett adds. "The vehicle's acceleration will feel friskier and quicker."
The transmission shift point calibrations allow for up-shifts at lower rpms and, conversely, the vehicle will hold a higher gear longer based on throttle angles and other cues. If you're already familiar with driving a manual transmission, this is an easy one to figure out. When it's you controlling the gears, you can opt to shift quickly to hit overdrive efficiently and smoothly. You can also finesse your truck up a highway grade without lugging the engine. The Mileage XS's calibrations do the same things
For trucks equipped with variable cylinder arrangements (GM calls it Displacement on Demand, or DOD), the Mileage XS keeps the vehicle running on reduced cylinders longer. "It all works in combination," Bennett points out. "With minimum restriction and a clean breathing engine, the total result is improved gas mileage."
The testing procedure to arrive at that 15 percent claim takes place on Florida's toll roads with both a test and a control vehicle, both driven by trained drivers. The first step is to verify the MPG baseline number. The test vehicle is recalibrated, then sent back onto the highway shadowed by the control. One of the reasons for using the control vehicle is to ensure that any changes in mileage are an authentic reflection of the calibration, as opposed to environmental changes or driving patterns.
In other words, "If the test vehicle shows improvements and the control vehicle registers baseline mileage, we know the improved mileage is valid," says Bennett.
For those hoping gas prices might fall someday (dream on), and don't want to commit to a lifetime of improved fuel economy, the Mileage XS allows the driver to return to stock settings. Eventually, you'll even be able to access performance and towing capabilities by downloading the parameters, for a small fee, off Superchips' website.
For those off-roaders still looking for "whythehecknot" pure performance, Superchips' Flashpaq and Cortex programmers show gains of up to an additional 150 hp and 225 lb/ft of torque for diesel applications, and 45 hp and 59 lb/ft for gas. Within these overall increases are tuning levels for performance, towing and economy, as well as speedometer/odometer and shift point adjustments for oversized wheel/tire packages. The Cortex also allows for the use of 87 octane fuel in vehicles requiring 91 octane, which can mean a cost savings of 10 cents, or more, a gallon.
We were told at an early age that we couldn't have our cake and eat it too-an adage that never made much sense even back then. Thankfully, in terms of performance and economy, the engineers at Superchips never took that saying seriously.
SOURCE
Superchips
www.superchips.com
