Douglas Studdard of Bamachips Debunks the Economy Tune Ploy

People are trying everything today to save a buck on gas. We already know about some of the worthless gadgets out right now that do next to nothing to save you even a penny at the pumps. We come at you today with yet another method of increasing fuel economy, the economy tune.

Not all of you may be familiar with this, but today's technology has brought us a way of tuning our vehicles with a computer. Gone are the days of sniffing gasoline, bending over a hot engine for hours at a time with a timing light, looking to dial in that perfect mixture of air, fuel, and spark.

Performance gurus will no doubt know the terms "performance tune" or "performance chip." These are either a computer chip or module used to install a program into your vehicles computer to alter a few characteristics of your engine to either improve performance and sometimes economy.

The price for these gadgets range anywhere from a $30 chip on eBay, to a $400 tuning module. The $30 chips on eBay are worthless gimmicks for the most part, but the tuning modules from reputable companies (SCT, Diablo, etc.) actually can improve the performance and response of your vehicle... but improve its economy?

We went all the way to Alabama to visit with Douglas Studdard of Bamachips, who is one of the kings of performance tuning. We asked him about the so called economy tune, to see if it is actually a worthwhile investment in our fight for better economy and improved emissions.

What is your opinion of the economy tune Doug?

Economy tunes are nothing more than a bunch of smoke and mirrors truly.

Is there any benefit at all for this type of tune from a economy standpoint?

I can and have tried a few things from time to time on tuning, but truly the PCM in most cars are setup to run at 14.64:1 air/fuel ratio during normal cruise and idle so getting much better than that isn't worth much. I've tried running them leaner in the tuning but the powerless from the lean mixture most of the time isn't worth the effort. Most aftermarket mileage specific tunes aren't good enough for a

Is there anything that you would recommend to improve the economy of a gas engine?

A few things I recommend to my customers for the best economy gains are as follows:

- A free flowing air intake with some type of air box to help shield it from under hood temps.

- An improved flowing exhaust system. It doesn't have to be loud, but just better flowing.

- The best things for economy are always making sure you have a good tune up on your car.

- Fresh spark plugs with a good gap, clean fuel filter and air filter, and if you still got them, plug wires.

- Checking your tires air pressure and making sure it's at the maximum recommend pressure will help reduce rolling resistance and therefore increase mileage too.

- Also, try to ride with as little amount of luggage as you can, the lighter the car the better the economy, so driving around with a 30 to 60 lb speaker system may sound nice, but it's not helping you.

- Large wheels can hurt mileage a great deal because of the weight of the tire/wheel combo and the rolling resistance of the tread pattern to the pavement.

- I've heard keeping your car clean and waxed helps but I don't think you could ever truly measure the gains there.

What are a gimmicks for gas engines that you would NOT recommend?

A few things to stay away from are:

1. The Tornado system, its crap and I have the dynosheet to prove it power wise and a local TV station has the economy information that further proves it means nothing.

2. Throttle body spacers do nothing for power or economy.

3. Special Spark plugs, for example Split Fire or E3 triple fire plugs won't do anything more for economy that a well maintained properly gapped plug won't do.

4. Fuel line magnets are just plain wrong.

Could you give us a summary on how to improve gas efficiency and economy with a gas fed engine?

I guess the best summary is to use common sense, your car got the best mileage when it was new so keeping it well maintained and running like its new will help keep the mileage up. Also driving at the posted speed limit is a big one as you lose a large percentage just going from 65mph to 70mph.

There truly is no magic elixir for better economy, other than common sense and regular maintenance. Stick to the basics and leave the tricks to David Copperfield and Chris Angel. Thanks for your time Doug!

Feel the need for sustainable speed? See what eco-engineers are doing to create super-charged but low-impact cars, bikes, and planes on Planet Green TV's Mean Green Machines.