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Originally Posted by Teal 95 KW
Basically, it's not a chip, it is a computer box with 6-7 different settings. The higher HP truck will get better fuel mileage based on variables such as the fact that you are not having to "work" the truck to get the same load moving and keep it moving.
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Horsepower *IS* work, if your engine is making more horsepower, you are working it harder. Just because you're pressing on the pedal less, doesn't mean that you are getting better fuel mileage. Look at hondas as a perfect example, you pretty much have the pedal to the floor all the time because they're gutless. Yet they get great fuel mileage..
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You can't use the thinking "you're dumping more fuel into it" because in order to get the maximum efficiency out of the set-up you have to step-up to their aftermarket turbo, and 8" exhaust.
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If it's a good turbo designed to help your engine be more efficient, recapturing the exhaust heat better, then yes I agree completely. But if it's just a chip that changes how much fuel you're putting in(the only thing you can change electronically, without opening up the engine), then no. Most engines come with a turbo too small, and dumping more fuel in it really isn't a good idea.
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Moving that kinda air in and out of the motor it is going to breathe easier and have to work less to do the same job.
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Yes, more air = more power. But more power = more work.
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Most guys with the set-ups aren't romping on their trucks all the time...have you never dropped 45k lbs behind a truck with a 400 hp cat, and had to use a lot of pedal to get it going? Then, drop that same load behind a 625 cat and you have to use very little pedal to get the same effect. My truck at the factory 475 setting wouldn't move loads as easily as it does now, nor did it do it as efficiently as it does it now.
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Again, how much you press the pedal has nothing to do with the fuel mileage. Besides the OEM could've just changed the "feel" of the pedal, and you'd swear you have more power. Mechanical engines feel like they have more power, but they don't. They're just crisper on the throttle. I prefer a softer feel, like my volvo. It's easier to shift. By your logic it should get less fuel mileage, yet I got 7.6 MPG last month.
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If you put the Pittsburgh Power Box on a 475 Cat, and set it at the maximum setting using the stock turbo and exhaust, you're going to get full power for about 45 seconds before the computer begins derating and you begin losing power.
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There's a good reason for that too. High EGT's are very hard on pistons, and aren't good for fuel mileage. You have to match the whole system.
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Just like you don't put just a big cam, or a set of big heads on a stock displacement 302, and get any improvements, you have to have everything matched together to get the most out of the upgrades.
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Yes, but we're talking about diesel engines.
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For instance, I've taken stock Mustangs, and done heads/cam/intake on them and had them in the 11-second zone, and they get just as good of fuel mileage on the highway than they did before the swap...you use a LOT less go pedal to get up to speed than you did in stock form, and don't have to turn the same kinda rpm to get the same effect as it did in stock form.
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Apples to oranges. 302's were never refined to the point that our diesels are. The stock heads are anemic. The stock intakes are anemic. The stock cams are anemic. The stock headers are anemic. The pistons have too much compression height, and not enough compression. I could go on and on.