Tuner and fuel economy

[InnovativeAV]

I have a 2003 F350 7.3 power stroke. I just had a local diesel shop do some work on it they actually put a new driver side manifold on put new uppipes on flushed the coolant from the system and put the new serpentine belt idler pulley and tensioner pulley. My trip is going to be about 1400 miles one way and then the next weekend we will be coming back 1400 miles. I have the TS6 tuner or six position tune in with the chip, i’m not exactly sure the model but I have the dial on the dash. I asked them what the best setting would be for fuel economy once you’re on the highway performance doesn’t really make a big deal going that far. He told me tuned with the highest horsepower on position *** would give the best fuel economy. Maybe he is right but in my world it just doesn’t make sense to me having more horsepower and he need more fuel to make more power to me going down to the Stocks setting would make more sense. So my question is is he right should I just run it on position *** for the best fuel economy?


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[threegenpowerstroke98]

I always got best fuel mileage with my hydra on the 100hp street tune. It's usually the timing pump and more aggressive shift pattern that net the fuel mileage bonus. Adding more fuel is actually a small part of making power. Keep in mind with more power, there's less load on the engine which allows the engine to run at a more efficient rpm which increases fuel mileage. Now obviously this isn't a linear relationship, otherwise pulling trucks would be doing a 100mpg, but running a decent power tune on a stock injector 7.3 will make a difference, assuming you can keep your foot out of it.

 

[InnovativeAV]

Curious. What are the downfalls of keeping the tuner turned up all the time? If any


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[threegenpowerstroke98]

How heavy is your right foot? Are you pulling heavy loads? A heavy foot and heavy loads in an all out race tune can burn up a trans. The big tunes take a lot of oil too so hpop can take a beating if it's always flat out. imo you won't see huge differences daily driving between a 100hp tune or a 140hp tune. After 3/4 throttle is where the big tune becomes fun.

 

[InnovativeAV]

Haha. Sometimes it’s fun to have a heavy right foot!!! On this trip I’m not pulling any heavy load just the truck and more than likely it will be set with cruise control the whole way down


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[threegenpowerstroke98]

Then I'd say you're fine in the big tune or the tune right before it.

 

[greenskeeper]

The hotter tuning will advance injection timing and shorten the injection window for a more complete burn, which at a steady state such as highway driving, will yield the highest mpg if you can keep your foot out of it.