How to get 20mpg+ on 37’s/ECU basics 5/5 up @ 60-70mph with V6 3.6L

[IamWardicus]

Hey guys. Been watching this thread for some time. Anyone bought any of the tuners and is getting decent gas mileage? I'm running 35s and most times 60 or under and i struggle getting anything close to 17. Typically 14-15. Just curious since this discussion has happened, if anyone has anymore real time data? Thinking about buying one but thought I'd check. Thanks

I have the Livernois Tune (Engine & Transmission) and during the hotter months this year (on 34"s - 285/75/r17) I was getting 19-21 on my work commute which is 80% 70mph highway, 10% 55-60mph highway, 10% 35-50 street). Right now I'm down to 17-19mpg with the colder weather.
The summer MPG was also on the 91 tune. With gas prices being what they are I dropped to my 87 tune - there's a very little bit of a loss in the giddy up but I've been trying to slow down a bit anyways for MPG XD. Performance is still nicer than stock.

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[DbMojave21]

Ok. Just got the Pulsar and S&B cold air intake. Will install it tonight and provide update over the next week on improvement achieved with the combination of these 2.
21 Mojave with 35" is all i have on it for now. No lift or extra weight

 

[WAOverlandJT]

Ok. Just got the Pulsar and S&B cold air intake. Will install it tonight and provide update over the next week on improvement achieved with the combination of these 2.
21 Mojave with 35" is all i have on it for now. No lift or extra weight

I can’t wait to see your results

 

[ShadowsPapa]

First thing I'd do is put a good filter in there that doesn't let dirt through..........

 

[DbMojave21]

Alright guys. Did take me a while to install it. The bracket that Pulsar (Holley) sent did not really work with the ECU. I could only line up 1 hole at a time even though it says JL JK on each hole. So I emailed them and decided to drill new holes.
Eventually messing around with it for a while got it to fit.
The farthest hole to the back is a pain. You barely have any room to work it and took forever to tighten.

Now to the test drive. Since I had 93 gas from Costco, decided to put it in performance mode. Did take me a bit to figure out the settings, but I think I got it down.
Engine sound. Yes it has a lot more growl to it. At one point, it sounded too much as it almost started vibrating inside. But the engine was cold.
Pedal, yes it definitely feels different and more responsive. I did like that.
MPG, welllll. I will have to update this. I only went about 5 miles each way. Once in performance and once I thought it was economy, bit I have a feeling I didn't change it properly.
Typical Iowa back roads. Some ups and downs. I was getting about 18 or so. No wind and about 40s right now. I will definitely take it on a longer drive tomorrow and let you know if anything changes. Right now, I'm 65/35 happy vs disappointed. For spending almost $1k. Hopefully driving it this week, I'll see better results.

 

[USMC-SSGT]

Keep the updates coming- just wanted to vocally say it’s not for nothing and people are watching.

I don’t care one bit about performance gains (ok, maybe just a very small bit) but am curious about:
1: any mpg changes
2: will this pulsar ultimately be a headache like some (most?) seem to report.

This whole MPG thing is more if a project anyway and something to do. The way I look at it, even if the pulsar gained 2mpg that’s only 40 miles per tank or about 2.4 gallons. 3 fill ups a month for me and it’s about $280 a year in fuel savings…so a 3 year break even. Not great. It is fun to see the “mental” win though of looking down and seeing more than 320 miles to empty after a fill or an average over 16mpg.


Overall though I remind myself that there was a sign up sheet to get terrible MPG and I signed it 5 times over
1: jeep
2: lifted
3: stubby bumper
4: the least aerodynamic, huge side lug, large frontal area tires.
5: driving 75mph on the freeway

All said and done it costs me about $40 in gas over stock a month. I pay $40 a month for a lot of things that bring me much less joy. Still a fun fuel project.

Had I ordered though….diesel.

 

[DbMojave21]

Yeah, trust me, if Mojave was available in diesel, i would have pulled the trigger. I do like the best what Mojave has to offer for my needs.
As far as my driving, I'm usually about 60mph. Rarely 75. So technically, it's the ideal speed where i should get more out of a tank.
I'll give more updates later

 

[WAOverlandJT]

Keep the updates coming- just wanted to vocally say it’s not for nothing and people are watching.

I don’t care one bit about performance gains (ok, maybe just a very small bit) but am curious about:
1: any mpg changes
2: will this pulsar ultimately be a headache like some (most?) seem to report.

This whole MPG thing is more if a project anyway and something to do. The way I look at it, even if the pulsar gained 2mpg that’s only 40 miles per tank or about 2.4 gallons. 3 fill ups a month for me and it’s about $280 a year in fuel savings…so a 3 year break even. Not great. It is fun to see the “mental” win though of looking down and seeing more than 320 miles to empty after a fill or an average over 16mpg.


Overall though I remind myself that there was a sign up sheet to get terrible MPG and I signed it 5 times over
1: jeep
2: lifted
3: stubby bumper
4: the least aerodynamic, huge side lug, large frontal area tires.
5: driving 75mph on the freeway

All said and done it costs me about $40 in gas over stock a month. I pay $40 a month for a lot of things that bring me much less joy. Still a fun fuel project.

Had I ordered though….diesel.

Yeah for me it’s that range of 40 more miles. That can be big in some trips. I swear I always end up needing to fill up just before I would be getting to the next stop with better gas prices or the place I want to stay at lol.

 

[DbMojave21]

I know everyone likes updates. Quick update. For the first tank of gas, i filled up 93 octane and have driven it half way in performance and half way in economy.

As far as performance, i probably averaged about 18.5 mpg. I reset it few times as i was in a hurry and had to step on it.
Most trips it was 60-65 mph and a pretty open and flatish road. I would think that a 20 mile trip each way on the same road l, couple of times, should tell me pretty darn close my mpg. So, no, i didn't reach 20 or even over. Again, no load except myself. Was the truck responsive, I'd say yes for sure; however, it appeared the most responsive up until about 4k rpms. Seems after that i felt less of a pull

Economy mode. The truck did feel less responsive compared to stock. The beauty is that you can switch it on the spot and notice the difference. As far as mpg goes, i did see it decrease to about 16.5-17 on 93 octane.

Yesterday i filled it up with 87 octane and will leave it in economy to see where I'm at.
Side note, I know people would like to see over 300 miles per tank. We'll, when i filled it up, showed me a range of 305 .
Ill provide another update this week as one of my friends wants to get the same setup and I'm not sure if i should recommend it yet.

I like the performance feel of it, just not sure if paying 70 cents a gallon more justifies it.

The last part. So in the instructions, they note how to access and change performance mode; however, it doesn't indicate how to select that mode and keep it. For example, when i select the mode, it doesn't appear like it's backed out if that menu, unless my cruise is on, touching the up and down the buttons changed my performance selection, even tho I wasn't in that screen. So if anyone can chime in on that, that would be great. Seems only way is to shut the car off

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Gee, mine routinely shows me over 400 miles.......... and reality often matches that. Not always, but often. But then I'm not on 37s. If I was, I'd be happy with 17 mpg!

 

[DbMojave21]

Gee, mine routinely shows me over 400 miles.......... and reality often matches that. Not always, but often. But then I'm not on 37s. If I was, I'd be happy with 17 mpg!

Yeah but I'm on 35s, no lift

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yeah but I'm on 35s, no lift

You calibrated things comparing odometer to independent GPS?

 

[DbMojave21]

You calibrated things comparing odometer to independent GPS?

I am 2 miles faster going at 60mph. Not relevant where i would see 50 miles increase per tank for example.

 

[DbMojave21]

Ok update.
I'll cut to the chase. No, i did not get nowhere near 20+ mpg average. Kurt, you must have had some major wind anytime you tested.
Best i got on flat road is about 18. As soon there's an uphill, i drop down to 12ish, as expected. So you would have to gotten well into the mid to high 20s to average your 20mpg. I just don't see how it's realistic, especially on 37 with lift compared to me with no lift and 35s. Sorry man.
Pros:
Shift on the fly
Professional look on the dashboard
Instant switch compared to pro cal for example which took 5 min.

Cons:
Lose the bracket that came with it. It's pointless. Poorly designed and will only fit on 2 holes, leaving one unattached. Talked to support and they said the same thing. Mine would have fit on the stock bracket. Instead i drilled New holes and made it work.
When you are switching performance levels, there is no option to confirm that. So this means you're in active change status entire time unless you turn on your cruise. If cruise is off, you can accidentally change your tune without being in the "setup screen". Prod support has no answer on that and neither does the manual.
I'd say i have gain better responsiveness by all means and do like that; however, gas mileage has remained the same. So if you're all like me reading this thread and think you can achieve 20+ mpg, you're mistaken.

I know winter is a tough time to gauge mpg, but most of my runs were while the weather was 50s.

Sorry for the bad news fellas

 

[Killroy Was Here]

Ok update.
I'll cut to the chase. No, i did not get nowhere near 20+ mpg average. Kurt, you must have had some major wind anytime you tested.
Best i got on flat road is about 18. As soon there's an uphill, i drop down to 12ish, as expected. So you would have to gotten well into the mid to high 20s to average your 20mpg. I just don't see how it's realistic, especially on 37 with lift compared to me with no lift and 35s. Sorry man.
Pros:
Shift on the fly
Professional look on the dashboard
Instant switch compared to pro cal for example which took 5 min.

Cons:
Lose the bracket that came with it. It's pointless. Poorly designed and will only fit on 2 holes, leaving one unattached. Talked to support and they said the same thing. Mine would have fit on the stock bracket. Instead i drilled New holes and made it work.
When you are switching performance levels, there is no option to confirm that. So this means you're in active change status entire time unless you turn on your cruise. If cruise is off, you can accidentally change your tune without being in the "setup screen". Prod support has no answer on that and neither does the manual.
I'd say i have gain better responsiveness by all means and do like that; however, gas mileage has remained the same. So if you're all like me reading this thread and think you can achieve 20+ mpg, you're mistaken.

I know winter is a tough time to gauge mpg, but most of my runs were while the weather was 50s.

Sorry for the bad news fellas

Thanks for the detailed update.
I have been watching your progress with this, & was very interested to hear how this worked out for you as I my Mojave is also on 35ish tires (285/75R/17's) and no lift.
I guess as they say, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

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