Stage 1 fuel economy

[sponghead]

I currently have a standard 2wd saph. I use it regularly and have to drive about 400 miles a week. I had it set up last year and currently get around 28 mpg, taking it steady on long runs. I have heard that a stage 1 chip, well set up will give better economy as mapping on standard cars is not the best. I have also heard the cossie yb is much happier around 300 bhp and that ford struggled to get it running smoothly at the 204bhp it left the factory with which would explain low mpg on standard cars. Also, if i do change to a stage 1 chip how easy is it to return to standard should I want to? Thanks For any help in advance.

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[pete mcrash]

M.P.G depends alot on how u drive....but if ur getting 28mpg atm then a stage 1 chip and a set up by a pro will make ur car come alive and return a couple more mpg (circa 270-280bhp)........as for putting it back to std....just take the chip out/std in and wind the boost off......but u wont go back to std.........

[evo-vlc]

Hello, I have my 4x4 superchips for the stage1, at 19PSI, for daily use under the pressure of gas what it says are ford and consumption to 10.5 liters per 100km (not translated into gallons). In your almost have to mount the injector and mount the 4x4 blue chip Economy You will leave you to do a mapping to measure.

[sponghead]

Thanks Pete Mcrash, I have managed to avoid getting it chipped for 11 years now but as I am doing more miles than ever I need it to be as economical as possible. I refuse to sell it and drive an oil burner.

Evo-vlc, thanks for your reply, that works out at about 26.5 mpg but as Pete Mcrash says it depends how you drive and to be fair I drive it quite steadily most of the time much to the annoyance of the Nova boys who think I will take them on, it frustates the hell out of them.

Cheers Craig

[tabetha]

If you are serious about getting economy, I would get it mapped, but 28 is ace from a cossie anyway, but as you're taking it easy and I assume on long runs ?, this could be improved a lot.
The last long trip I did was Norfolk to Scarborough, around 390-400 return trip, I did this on ONE tank(just), don't know about taking it easy, it was for me but was just under 4 hours each way of 195 miles so about 57 AVERAGE, and I went A15 way Lincoln city centre etc, so must have been a bit over 60 to get this average, mpg was 40.8 think it was defo 40 something.
Mapping will extract every last drop of mpg, whereas a chip will be somewhere near, bearing in mind differences between each engine, chip supliers want to produce a safe chip that can be used in every engine, so naturally can't be 100% best, but a great improvement of std.
I had stage 1 GGR chip which was awsome, and also got about 28 from memory, but wasn't trying for mpg, so most likely low 30's if I tried.
I now run aftermarket ecu, fully mapped, mpg and emissions are ace, 0.97% at idle on greys with T34, no way would I give a std ecu a second look, chipped mapped or not.
tabetha

[Saaamon]

Originally Posted by sponghead

Thanks Pete Mcrash, I have managed to avoid getting it chipped for 11 years now but as I am doing more miles than ever I need it to be as economical as possible. I refuse to sell it and drive an oil burner.

Evo-vlc, thanks for your reply, that works out at about 26.5 mpg but as Pete Mcrash says it depends how you drive and to be fair I drive it quite steadily most of the time much to the annoyance of the Nova boys who think I will take them on, it frustates the hell out of them.

Cheers Craig

[sponghead]

Tabetha Thanks again for your help. I get about 390 to a tank but divided by 60 litres (13.2 Gallons) it works out at 29.5 mpg and I do get this. I think I read in a previous thread that you are running big power so if you are getting this mpg you are doing well.

When you say about getting it mapped do you mean with a standard chip? The reason I did not think of this was that I had heard that to get the car to run smoothly as standard the mapping was not the best. Would I lose the smoothness and easy driving nature of a standard cossie.

I tend to sit around 65/70 on motorways but will boot it from time to time but it's almost linked to the fuel gauge. It'll sit in 1 place mile after mile the minute you cane it , even for 50 metres the fuel gauge moves.

I am quite happy to keep it standard if I'm not going to gain anything but the miles I do if it will pay for itself in 6 months I'll do it, however, judging by an earlier reply if I do have it chipped will I go and hunt down porche and scooby owners in an attempt to re-live my youth?

[martysmartie]

No if getting the standard ECU mapped they will use a new (Blank) chip and program that, that's once you have found a tuner than can map Weber some do such as MSD, as said a live map as is tailored specifically to your engine opposed to an off the shelf chip as every engine performs different, despite being the same engine so will have maximum economy along with best performance.

Stage 1 will not only help economy but will also transform the drive abilty of the car it will be more responsive mainly due to the extra torque produced and thus you will be able to "re-live" your youth

Martin

[sponghead]

Martysmartie. Thanks for the reply.

Ok, so the stage 1 sounds good, now it's down to cost. I have seen chips for £40 (ebay) and a -31 for a similar price so combine that with a rolling road setup £150-£200 all in.

I know now having read some threads whilst looking for an answer to this original question that it is not that simple so could someone give me an idea to cost.

Thanks again.

[tabetha]

You need to do a bit more research, I beleive msd charge £500 for a mapping session, but this will be on your ecu(L6), now factor in chip cost, then the fact you are still on ancient ignition, so the cost of this conversion on top which is well worthwhile for what you want, the boost control on the L6 is not the best in the world, but be fair it's 20+ years old, bit like expecting a saab 99 turbo not to have turbo lag!!
Injection control is so much better controlled on a more modern ecu, even with big injectors, compared with older ecu's of 20+ years, I decided to switch to emerald k3, and haven't looked back since.
I like the fact that is does coilpack direct, amplifiers are internal so no external amps and brackets and wiring loom yet again to buy extra, on top of the ecu needed stuff to run coilpack, my ecu uses 100% of the original sensors, even the oe crank pulley, simply modded with a bit of easy machining and putting a 36-1 trigger wheel on it.
Mapping for myself was £280,(std price) this is for however long it takes, whether it is a day or a week(though obviously not a week for this!!), you get to speak to the people who design, manufacture and map thier own ecu, it's amazingly adaptable, it does closed loop, not doubt you've heard of this where mpg was wanted, I don't run it, IF IT IS MAPPED CORRECTLY IT WILL GIVE NO ADVANATGE.
Smoothness, you don't know what smoothness is, I can hand on heart tell you I cannot even tell my engine is running when idling, if I can't hear the exhaust and don't see the tacho there's no sign at all, but then it does have idle stabilisation using ignition tweaks, std feature.
Should you want the ecu has three map capability so can be transfered from car to car, say if you had a track car for example, saving money again.
My tps went tits up, didn't have a year to hunt down another, didn't want to risk a s/h one, didn't want to get raped price wise with a new one, what did I do, simple it had had some very basic mapping done when this went, so I nursed it home about 1/4 mile from emerald, took tb off drilled two holes tapped to m3 x 0.7 fitted a emerald universal tps, at £20, snipped a few wires, went back down to get finished, then the fuel pump packed up FFS!
Long and short dave walker(emerald) did about 3 hours mapping when this happened, so back to square one, nb pump was 3 months old 044(group a), replaced under warranty.
The difference after just some basic mapping when my tps went crap was unreal, was like a rocket ship, but it was the smootheness that struck me, I nearly hit a wall coming out the estate as gave it a bit of gas as used to have to car just came alive and caught me out, was previously on 3 different chips inc msd, not a patch on a decent mapped system, like a model t and a F1 so different.
Dave would not charge for this few hours mapping, I was of course very willing to pay full fee, but he said no it's not finished, pay £280 when it is, anyway long story short, most helpful people I know, and despite what some think I get NOTHING from emerald discount wise, just ace service.
Pm opposite lock off here he came up from southend a few weeks back with his mate and I took them for a 35 mile drive, they both have cossies, this included town work at 20mph top gear ZERO glitches anywhere ever, stone cold start off as well, dual carriageway blast, even had to turn the stereo down so one could listen to the exhaust, he couldn't beleive how different it sounded to his same system.
Pm opposite lock I'm sure he'll tell you, as he's now going on k3 how well it drives.
tabetha

[pete mcrash]

tabetha........ur giving him way too much to think about..
sponghead.....i wouldn't recomend buying a £40 chip of e-bay unless u can prove it's worth...if u go to a tuner they will chip ur car and make sure it all works as it should for £300-350

[Rob_DOHC]

If it were me i could be tempted to save up and buy a 4x4 ecu and get closed loop fitted, this will be best for economy and this is why tabatha has such good emissions and economy,

Rob,

[Toe Knee]

tabetha doesnt run an L8 thou!! and doesnt put the good MPG down to him having closed loop, more the mapping of it!!!

need to sort mine out, had 2 use it for work as my deisel is off the road, i do 90miles each day to and from and its costing me £20 a day

Has got greys and a t34 but its running a tad rich too so needs to get sorted before i go bankrupt

[Rob_DOHC]

Originally Posted by Toe Knee

tabetha doesnt run an L8 thou!! and doesnt put the good MPG down to him having closed loop, more the mapping of it!!!

need to sort mine out, had 2 use it for work as my deisel is off the road, i do 90miles each day to and from and its costing me £20 a day

Has got greys and a t34 but its running a tad rich too so needs to get sorted before i go bankrupt

EDIT,

Sorry just read that tabetha doesn't run a wb..... not sure why? i agree that a very well mapped ecu in theory would not benefit from closed loop, however in the real world where variables which you have no control over are constantly changing closed loop is very advantageous.

Rob,

[hitchwest]

i dont know how you get 400 miles to a tank full i have never got anything under 250 miles to a tank but i suppose it depends how you drive and im not one for feathering my peddle

[sponghead]

Tabetha: Once again you have provided me with valuable info, however on this occasion I think Pete Mcrash is right, I am on a limited budget and whilst this thread is about econonmy it would need to pay for itself and I think spending £1k+ on a set up is too much for me. £350 sound good though If I can get something good for that it might be the way forward.

[sponghead]

Originally Posted by hitchwest

i dont know how you get 400 miles to a tank full i have never got anything under 250 miles to a tank but i suppose it depends how you drive and im not one for feathering my peddle

The car was set up last year by Grame Goode in Leicester and I don't drive it like an old man but 65/70 on the motorways and if you don't go like a bat out of shit and then brake heavily for lights/roundabouts etc you will see ecinomy rise.

I have seen 250 to a tank but I really have to cane it for that. I will get 300+ if i cruise at 80/90 on the motorway which, to be fair the majority of my journeys are as I live in the Midlands but work on the outskirts of London.

Ill keep you all posted but MOT due so we will see if there is anything left in the coffers for upgrades.

Just in case it does not need a fortune spending on the MOT any reccommended specialists for a fitted stage 1 chip.

Many thanks
Craig

[martysmartie]

It does depend on budget, personally I don't find a problem with standard management it does the job so why spend a fortune replacing?, agreed there are better modern alternatives around which have more options and give better economy and running but it's still a good ECU considering it's age.

As for fitting the chip it's easy enough DIY if your competent just need to check CO etc after, I don't know of tuners in your area but someone will.

As you say a lot has to do with the driver as with any car as to the economy you get more than the car itself.

The best advise you can get is as said do not buy a cheap chip it's cheap for a reason and will cause catastrophe only buy from from a reputable seller/reseller.

Martin