Diesel Tuners
I received an email and video from Trailer Life about Bully Dog GT tuners for diesel engines. It all sounds good but I have been warned that the warranty would be voided if I use a tuner. Now I wond...
Forum Discussion
I have yet to read of a tuner that provided measurable gains in fuel economy. They will increase the horsepower and in so doing add to the stress on the engine and on the transmission. There was a recent article in a diesel magazine that claimed a 0.5% improvement but the test was so short that it was not valid.
Even with the wildest claims for improved fuel economy (and none of the tuners are guaranteed on this) I figured the break even point with a $700 tuner would be at 100,000 miles.
There is a way to greatly improve fuel economy that is guaranteed to work for any vehicle. It is to slow down. Air drag increases with the square of your speed.
It is silly when you think about it that some guy in a shop somewhere can develop a program that will do what hundreds of diesel engine engineers at Ford, Ram, GM, Freightliner, Peterbilt, Volvo, Izusu, etc. have not been able to provide their customers. There are millions of dollars spent by the engine manufacturers to improve fuel economy by even 1% and these people are the experts.
Tuners remind me that PT Barnum was right.
Even with the wildest claims for improved fuel economy (and none of the tuners are guaranteed on this) I figured the break even point with a $700 tuner would be at 100,000 miles.
There is a way to greatly improve fuel economy that is guaranteed to work for any vehicle. It is to slow down. Air drag increases with the square of your speed.
It is silly when you think about it that some guy in a shop somewhere can develop a program that will do what hundreds of diesel engine engineers at Ford, Ram, GM, Freightliner, Peterbilt, Volvo, Izusu, etc. have not been able to provide their customers. There are millions of dollars spent by the engine manufacturers to improve fuel economy by even 1% and these people are the experts.
Tuners remind me that PT Barnum was right.
