CAI vs Custom Tune

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withac

withac

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My goal is increased mpg, not performance. I have a 2000 Tahoe with a 5.3 and about 92K miles on it. The tranny was recently rebuilt with a mild shift kit and a 'Vette servo. In looking at prices, it looks like a custom tune costs about the same as a CAI. In your opinions, which provides the biggest boost in mpg?
 
EZStreet

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Get both, they're cheap. I installed a K&N CAI in my yukon and got a custom tune from blackbearperformance.com

MPG went from about 13 mixed to about 16.2 immediately after these two mods. Power also increased quite a bit, which in turn saves you money on gas cause the engine isn't working as hard to push the truck.


Another fuel saving mod is an exhaust system. I ran a flowmaster force II system and saw another 1.5 mpg increase.

There are some other things you can do to increase fuel effeciency, but these 3 mods are the quickest way to boost your fuel economy. There are others also, see the thread below

http://www.tahoeforum.com/showthread.php?t=2974&highlight=quest
 
withac

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EZStreet said:
Get both, they're cheap. I installed a K&N CAI in my yukon and got a custom tune from blackbearperformance.com

MPG went from about 13 mixed to about 16.2 immediately after these two mods. Power also increased quite a bit, which in turn saves you money on gas cause the engine isn't working as hard to push the truck.


Another fuel saving mod is an exhaust system. I ran a flowmaster force II system and saw another 1.5 mpg increase.

There are some other things you can do to increase fuel effeciency, but these 3 mods are the quickest way to boost your fuel economy. There are others also, see the thread below

http://www.tahoeforum.com/showthread.php?t=2974&highlight=quest
Click to expand...

Thanks. I can only afford one at a time, that's why I'm trying to decide where to start.

I put a SpinTech muffler and went from a 2 3/4 pipe to a 3" pipe on my Ram and saw some difference. In looking at the exhaust on the 'Ho it looks like it already has a 3" pipe but a high flow muffler would still help.
 
Gambler

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I didn't get any mileage gain with my CAI, but then I'm a different year model too. Hey EZStreet, what octane tune did you get from blackbear? I got my 91 blackbear tune, the highway jumped 2mpg, but the city dropped 1...

Thanks!
 
JKmotorsports

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You will more than likely benefit more from a custom tune. Timing, fuel curve, trans parameters, etc, can all be manipulated with a tune, bringing your mpg and power up more than a cai alone. But, if you plan on adding mods down the road, check with the company you are getting your tune from and see if they offer free or cheap updates when you add mods. The pcm can be reflashed to take advantage of any performance mods you add later down the road. Jesse from wait4meperformance.com offer free lifetime retuning, just pay shipping of the pcm.
 
withac

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JKmotorsports said:
You will more than likely benefit more from a custom tune. Timing, fuel curve, trans parameters, etc, can all be manipulated with a tune, bringing your mpg and power up more than a cai alone. But, if you plan on adding mods down the road, check with the company you are getting your tune from and see if they offer free or cheap updates when you add mods. The pcm can be reflashed to take advantage of any performance mods you add later down the road. Jesse from wait4meperformance.com offer free lifetime retuning, just pay shipping of the pcm.
Click to expand...

Thanks. A lot of the guys here swear by Black Bear Tunes. The guys over on LS1 swear by Nelson Tunes. I think both offer free updates.
 
B

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$200 for a custom tune plus deposit on the core pcm and the scantool, or you can just get a tuned pcm shipped to you for $250 and they'll credit you the core once you send your old stuff back. Intake won't do anything for mileage, tune and some electric fans are your best bet for increasing mileage.
 
JennaBear

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withac said:
Thanks. A lot of the guys here swear by Black Bear Tunes. The guys over on LS1 swear by Nelson Tunes. I think both offer free updates.
Click to expand...

You mean LS1Truck? That forum is run by Nelson :au::lol:
 
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