atldave

I purchased a '08 V6 convertible Mustang last week. Silver exterior and grey leather inside. The car has about 15K miles and was owned previously by a car rental co. in Florida. The only non-stock parts are 17 inch rims and new 235/65 Kumho tires. I love the car and am considering a CAI/Tune upgrade. I've got a few newbie questions:

1. My gas mileage sucks! I drive 85-90% highway at 75-80 mph. No especially aggressive driving. I've only gotten 19 mpg on the first two tankfuls. My old Toyota Avalon gets 25 mpg on the same route and is quicker than the 'Stang. From what I'm reading on the forums, most of you are getting better mileage than this. I can't figure out what's going on. I've had the top down about half of time if that matters.

2. Based on my GPS, my speedo is reading about 5 mph too low at highway speeds. (Glad I checked that!) Maybe the larger rims? Can the dealer recalibrate? If I get a custom tune with the CAI, can the seller recalibrate then? If so, I won't pay for a separate recalibration now.

3. I learned a great tip here about how to turn off the throttle lag. Unbelievable change! This got me thinking, though. If it's so easy to turn off the lag, why doesn't Ford do it???? For that matter, if Bamatunes or Brenspeed can write such great tunes, why doesn't Ford do it too? They've got lots of smart guys working for them. Is it an engine wear-and-tear issue? Emissions?

Thanks!

shanec

Bone stock except for some exhaust, I get 19mpg in my '08 GT.

For you - removing throttle lag = bad mpg? Maybe that's why Ford did it?

atldave

Sorry--I should have been clearer. I ran one tank before getting rid of the throttle lag and one after. There wasn't much diff. in the mileage between the two tanks.

Texotic

a) your avalon was NOT quicker than your stang. if it was, then you must have gotten a factory freak (good way) avalon and a factory freak (bad way) stang.

b) yes, when you order the tunes from Brenspeed or Bama, they calibrate it to your tire size.

c) as for ford. if they put in a throttle lag, then you really have to get into it for it to be aggressive. this ensures that you don't romp on it as much and, thus, don't need as much warranty work.

BruceH

Learn it yourself. I'm done.

Legion5

Ford designed the car to have lag, probably because it gets horrible MPG and they wanted it to be slightly better on the fuel from the factory than it's base components would result in to prevent disappointment.

After market tunes have a problem about once every 5 years for 1 in every 50 people. Your car will fail a "check sum" and disable your engine making you restart the car. Also tunes have issues working in harsh environments like in Mexico, the desert and in Alaska. Also tunes make the car emission illegal (even though they pass emissions diagnostics and the legally required periodic tests for emissions).

302svt

[
3. I learned a great tip here about how to turn off the throttle lag. Unbelievable change! This got me thinking, though. If it's so easy to turn off the lag, why doesn't Ford do it???? For that matter, if Bamatunes or Brenspeed can write such great tunes, why doesn't Ford do it too? They've got lots of smart guys working for them. Is it an engine wear-and-tear issue? Emissions?

Thanks![/QUOTE]


How did you tune off the throttle lag?

shoeys08dkcandygt

How did you tune off the throttle lag?

this is what i was wondering? there is no way to turn it off. it is in the algorythm that ford made for the transmission ecu.
and he should be gettin better mpg than 19. his sig says he has a sixer. my 2006 v6 got almost 30mpg once i got it tuned. got 25 before that. he is gettin the mpg of a gt. and i abused the hell out the v6 i had. got on it every chance i got.

atldave

Here's what I've done, based on a post in this forum:

"Do the battery disconnect, or do what I do, every week or so I do the trick to reset it. when the car is not running, turn it to the on position, push down the gas, try to time it over a period of 5 seconds from nothing to pushed all the way down, then let up over 5 seconds, then take your foot off completely and wait 5 seconds. start the car and I notice a huge difference every time, car even shifts smoother for a while."

What I might have done is simply reset to the original tune. When I first got the car it seemed underpowered and had a REALLY bad lag in the throttle response. I could hardly pass on the highway. After I did this trick the lag immediately disappeared. The car is getting quicker the more I drive it. It was a rental car down in Florida before I bought it used. I'm guessing that the adaptive tune is learning that I don't cruise like a Florida vacationer on the beach

I just finished my third tank of gas. I commute 150 miles a day, mostly on the highway. Once again, I averaged 19 miles a gallon. I drive 70-80 mph, 90% highway. Something seems seriously wrong here.

howarmat

are you using the stupid computer to calculate your mileage.....use a pen and paper then then see what you are getting.