Anybody tweak your truck with HPtuners?

[Firebirdjones]

Just an update. Filled up again today, nothing but around town driving and got 17.55 mpg on this tank with nothing but stop and go driving.
That's 2 tanks in a row with mid 17's mpg. This new SD tune is definately an improvement over the MAF. Didn't get to use it for the highway trip planned over the weekend, so I'm still anxious to see highway MPG. Should be easily over 20. Not bad for a 4,700 lbs. truck shaped like a brick.

And they say 6.0's don't get gas mileage It's only 364 cubes, not like it's big.


Edit: Something else worth mentioning. All the driving around here is contantly going up and down hills combined with the stop and go. There is nothing flat in Prescott With more favorable conditions I would think there is more in it.

[REVNORR82]

Just an update. Filled up again today, nothing but around town driving and got 17.55 mpg on this tank with nothing but stop and go driving.
That's 2 tanks in a row with mid 17's mpg. This new SD tune is definately an improvement over the MAF. Didn't get to use it for the highway trip planned over the weekend, so I'm still anxious to see highway MPG. Should be easily over 20. Not bad for a 4,700 lbs. truck shaped like a brick.

And they say 6.0's don't get gas mileage It's only 364 cubes, not like it's big.

What octane are you using.

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[Firebirdjones]

I run 91 in everything. That's the best available out here, and I'm not that impressed with it. But,,,,I've tuned the truck to it as well as everything else so it's working. Unfortunately I had to tame down the timing tables when I switched to it (from the 94 I used to get).
Plus I moved up in elevation to 5,000 feet (from ~800) which allows more wiggle room for timing. Yet I still had to pull timing out of all the cars, that's how crappy the 91 octane is out here.

[REVNORR82]

I more wondering if the gas mileage out ways the the price of using 91 over 87

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[Firebirdjones]

Don't know for sure, but what I've experienced might help to answer that. The price difference from 87 to 91 really isn't all that much per fillup. So I never contemplated it. I've always run high test pump gas for 30 years, the best that I could find no matter what the price was.

In Ohio 94 was plentiful and easy to find. At times it was $4.00 per gallon a few years ago. Most of the time it would mimic any 93 octane station though as far as price goes. I tuned the cars on it, and ran it 100% of the time for years and years.

Moving out here to AZ I had to drop to 91 octane, that's all we have out here. I quickly found that every car needed to be detuned slightly, even up here at 5,000 feet. I was having slight ping problems with 91, more so in the heat.
The detuning more than likely affected gas mileage. The classic cars I don't notice as much because I'm not driving them on a regular basis, but I did notice a slight change in my wifes 4th gen SS camaro. Maybe a drop of 1 mpg seemed pretty consistent. I have since switched to an SD tune and some other fuel mileage tricks on her car and picked up more MPG than it lost.


An affect that altitude has on the engine is two fold. Air is thinner up here. I went from ~800 feet to more than 5,000 feet when I moved out here. With higher altitude you can run more timing (about 2-4 degrees) IF everything else stays the same (gas for instance) unfortunately the gas quality dropped substantially and I found myself pulling 2-3 degrees rather than adding it.

The other variable high altitude affects is fueling. I found that I run about .3 to .4 richer on my wideband up here than I do closer to sea level. So every car had to be leaned about 3 jet sizes, or in the case of these LS engines I had to completely revamp the entire VE table. Needless to say, the cars are down a bit on HP up at this elevation so you would think that could also affect it's mileage (ie: efficiency).

Just too many changes to know for sure in my case.

[5.0THIS]

That's good mileage. I really need to get some funds together so I can have Justin from Blackbear write me a tune for mine. I struggle to get mid 17s in my rcsb 5.3 4wd truck (stock other than an intake). When I got it I expected more along the lines of 18-19 on average, with highways trips around 20. I think a tune could get me there.

Also, must be nice down at that low altitude in Prescott. Arizona is for high altitude pretenders

[Firebirdjones]

That's good mileage. I really need to get some funds together so I can have Justin from Blackbear write me a tune for mine. I struggle to get mid 17s in my rcsb 5.3 4wd truck (stock other than an intake). When I got it I expected more along the lines of 18-19 on average, with highways trips around 20. I think a tune could get me there.

Also, must be nice down at that low altitude in Prescott. Arizona is for high altitude pretenders

Well,,,, I can drive about 30 miles in any direction and get a vast difference in altitude,,,,and that's the problem. I can go as high as 8,000 feet (and even more if I wanted) or down near sea level. Really makes tuning the cars difficult because the DA changes drastically in every direction.

Your high elevation dragstrip is only 5800 feet which is about the altitude I live and drive 90% of the time. So you are dealing with nearly identical conditions that we do here in Prescott. As a matter of fact, Denver is called the mile high city,,,,So is Prescott.
The couple we bought our house from moved to Denver (nearly identical elevations) and tells me the weather is very similar to Prescott with mild temp changes. The only big difference is the weather systems seem to hit Denver more frequently where as they basically pass over us here in Prescott, so we don't get as much precip.

At least you guys get to race at the altitude that you live and drive in. We don't have a dragstrip up here in Prescott, so any tuning I do up here at 5,000 ft + is thrown out the window when I go to the only 2 dragstrips in Phoenix that are about 1,000 feet above sea level. It sucks.

In any event, I believe your 5.3 4x4 is easily capable of 20+ mpg. These truck tunes are tame, there is alot to tinker with. Depending on how your truck is geared and tire size, I would think your 5.3 would do better than my 6.0 is doing. I'm lugging around a 4700 lbs. 72 blazer with it using 3.07 gears and 33" tires. So it has to work a bit in stop and go traffic But it's getting phenominal mileage considering. The 3.06 first gear and 1.62 second gear in the 4L60 helps it get moving. I'm going to swap over to 3.73 gears though and see how that affects things.

[Cutlass]

So I've been looking at getting a LC1 wideband setup. Looks like I can get the LC1 cable kit with the software, wideband sensor, serial cable to connect to the PC, and the O2 bung for around $135 in eBay. Is that all I need or would I be better off getting the kit with the gauge for around $225??

[Firebirdjones]

So I've been looking at getting a LC1 wideband setup. Looks like I can get the LC1 cable kit with the software, wideband sensor, serial cable to connect to the PC, and the O2 bung for around $135 in eBay. Is that all I need or would I be better off getting the kit with the gauge for around $225??

That's all you need.

The kit with the gauge is nice, if you plan to perminantly mount it in the car or something along those lines.
The LC1 (which is what I believe mine is) is basically a black box about 8" tall with a digital readout. I prefer it because I have several of my own cars to tune as well as others, and I can move it from one car to the next. Much more versitile.
You can use it by itself just for the AFR (on a carbed application) or you can use it in conjunction with HPtuners (if you buy the pro version).

[Cutlass]

maybe you have the LM1?

Here's the lc1 without a gauge:


here's a different pic of it

[Firebirdjones]

Yes, what I have is in the very top picture.

[5.0THIS]

In any event, I believe your 5.3 4x4 is easily capable of 20+ mpg. These truck tunes are tame, there is alot to tinker with. Depending on how your truck is geared and tire size, I would think your 5.3 would do better than my 6.0 is doing. I'm lugging around a 4700 lbs. 72 blazer with it using 3.07 gears and 33" tires. So it has to work a bit in stop and go traffic But it's getting phenominal mileage considering. The 3.06 first gear and 1.62 second gear in the 4L60 helps it get moving. I'm going to swap over to 3.73 gears though and see how that affects things.

Well, my truck is about 4700 as well, so same weight.


Also, I can drive not too far and get up over 10000 ft on paved roads, so there. BOOM! HEAD SHOT!, you got nothin on Colorado.

[Firebirdjones]

I believe the Sanfransisco Peaks up here top 11,000 feet

[pajeff02]

I have the LC-1 and LM-2 Innovate wide band setups. The LM-2 works great... the LC-1 is a POS. It wigs out anytime I open my cutout or go to WOT. The cutout is located on the other side of the converter about 7' downstream from the sensor. According to Innovate, I need to extend my bung to pull the sensor up out of the exhaust stream. How about just selling a sensor that works?

[Cutlass]

I can't decide what I want to do. Looks like the LC1 works fine for most people, but its also looks like its a little bit of a pain to make it portable. The LM1/LM2 looks like its a lot easier to work with, but costs quite a bit more.

[pajeff02]

I have the basic model LM-2. None of the bells and whistles and it was not too expensive. Check their site and you can read up on the differences. I have been considering swapping over to an AEM if the bung trick does not work. How impatient are you for an LC-1? I would gladly send you mine to try if this does not work.

[5.0THIS]

I believe the Sanfransisco Peaks up here top 11,000 feet

We have the highest paved road in north america, and mountains over 14,000 ft (dozens of them). Keep trying

[Cutlass]

I have the basic model LM-2. None of the bells and whistles and it was not too expensive. Check their site and you can read up on the differences. I have been considering swapping over to an AEM if the bung trick does not work. How impatient are you for an LC-1? I would gladly send you mine to try if this does not work.

PM sent

[Firebirdjones]

We have the highest paved road in north america, and mountains over 14,000 ft (dozens of them). Keep trying

Do you drag race up there though?

[Firebirdjones]

I can't decide what I want to do. Looks like the LC1 works fine for most people, but its also looks like its a little bit of a pain to make it portable. The LM1/LM2 looks like its a lot easier to work with, but costs quite a bit more.

I'm not familiar with the LC-1, quite honestly when I told you I had the big black box I couldn't remember if it was called the LM or LC,,,,,numbers, letters, it all just starts running together when you get old

I've had my (LM-1 I guess it is) for many many years. Long before I even owned a fuel injected car. I don't even think the perminant AFR gauges were gaining in popularity yet at that time. I've used it more than I can count tuning carbed cars back then.
I'm still on the same sensor the unit was shipped with and it works flawlessly. I recalibrate it before each use, plug it in and go.

Frankly I don't remember what I paid for it, it's been so many years ago. I seem to remember even back then it was pricey but it's more than paid for itself. For me I absolutely needed the portability that it offered. It has bells and whistles on it as Jeff mentioned, like data logging for a certain amount of time (can't remember the length) and the ability to plug that into any computer and map out an AFR graph or spread sheet.
For what it's worth, if this helps you decide on a unit,,,,,,,,,,,I've never used any of that stuff. I simply plug it into the cigarette lighter, run the wire from the 02 bung in through the window and go driving. Sometimes I'll tape it to the dash because some cars require 2 hands to drive full boogy
It's hard to watch sometimes and watch the road too, takes practice I take my son along sometimes and he reads it off to me as I do a full RPM sweep. I've even taken it to the drag strip on occasions. Tech officials give me a funny look with an 02 line taped to the outside of my door .

That's all I've ever used it for. Now that I have it hooked up to HPtuners Pro, it's really made tuning the VE tables a snap. Just log AFR % Error and make your changes.