The trucks that seem to get bad mileage are either running more or less boost than required to get the job done on the highway. I have asked those that are having issues to contact me about what is so different about their trucks. I can make adjustments either way.
OK, contact was made and Chris was told that there was no way the guys claiming 17-19 mpg around town were accurate and his mileage was normal. Now, I for one am very well versed in all categories of mathematics, so I'm very confident in my (hand) calculations regarding fuel economy. I know where and how I drive and I know that my truck gets between 17 and 19 mpg's around town and 20-22 mpg highway (unloaded and under 70mph). My truck is an 06' F-250 XL, extended cab long bed 4x4 with 55,000 miles. The tires are roughly 34's on 17" Gear Alloy wheels. I have a 58v FICM tuned by Bill at PHP (currently running the Atlas80), S&B CAI, MBRP 4" turbo back straight pipe, 6.4l banjo's, EGR delete, ARP's with Ford gaskets, SCT Livewire and I'm currently running a modified version of TSD's Super Panties tune. I also have tunes from IDP and QT that net me comparable mileage.
Chris's truck is an 06' Harley Davidson edition, crew cab short bed 4x4 with 100,000 miles. His wheel tire combo is 35's on 20" rims. He has basically the same mods as I do, without the 6.4l banjo's, his CAI is an AFE and his FICM is only 48v, but has Bill's old non-inductive heating tune. He is also running the SRL instead of the Super Panties tune. He nets roughly 12-13 mpg.
We have another member who owns an 06' F-250 King Ranch, crew cab short bed 4x4 with just over 100,000 miles. He runs stock wheels (20's) and tires. He also gets 17-19 back and worth to work and around town. He is also running the same S&B, a Diamond Eye 4" down pipe to 5" exhaust, 6.4l banjo's, 48v FICM tuned by Bill at PHP (currently running Bills old FICM tune without inductive heating) and an X3 with TSD's Super Panties tune.
And yet another member has an 04' F-250 Lariat, crew cab long bed 4x4. Not sure on this trucks mileage. It has stock wheels (17's) and tires, EGR delete, ARP's on stock gaskets, 4" exhaust, the same S&B CAI and is also running TSD's Super Panties. Her truck is right there with us on fuel mileage.
I know Gearhead has smooth and powerful tunes. I know there are a ton of guys out there that think very highly of your tunes and I will admit that Chris's truck did 3 more RWHP than me at the GPDA dyno day at PHP (even though I bet his torque number by 20ft-lbs). I also know (as previously stated) that Gearhead is known for very little smoke which is exactly what the diesel world needs. I will however say that Chris's truck smoked much, much more on the SRL than my truck did on the Super Panties tune, which is yet another reason why I think his tune is corrupted somehow.
I am in no way knocking Gearhead. I'm just saying that from my experience with trucks running the SRL tunes, they don't get the mileage that trucks running other tunes do. I've heard from a few guys who claim lower than expected mpg's while the SRL was loaded. I also know modifications and driving style greatly affect fuel economy, but in this case the trucks in question are modded very similarly and driven alike. I don't appreciate when someone basically calls me and several others liars because of our fuel economy claims. We know what we get and have no reason to be dishonest. I mean is someone else gonna start paying our fuel bill if we claim bigger mpg numbers? No, they are not.
What it all boils down to is that I have consistent fuel econ from my big IDP, QT and TSD tunes, but I havn't run the SRL to compare on my truck. I actually thought about purchasing the SRL to compare it against my other tunes. That would be the only real way to test and know how the Gearhead tunes stack up against the other tunes as far as power and fuel econ.
Again, I don't want this to turn into a big pissing match. I have given my opinion and stated the facts that I have. I think Gearhead is a great company and has a sh*tload of very happy customers. They are successful and I hope Matt continues to create tunes with less and less smoke so the EPA will leave our sport alone. It seems Matt and I just don't see eye to eye on the fuel econ aspect and thats OK.
Let me know when you might have time to swing by and we'll set something up.
