What do you think of detuning vehicles?

Question

II have seen a lot of diesel pickups that they put performance chips in to enhance horsepower. I can't say what this does to mpg. I wouldn't think it helps much aside from the fact that it must void the warranty on a $40,000.00 truck.When they get on it the back of the truck disappears in a cloud of black smoke. Also car manufacturers are getting performance out of 4 cylinder gas engines that the old muscle cars use to get in the 60's with gear ratio and massive cubic inches, only now they do it with computers and get mediocre gas mileage.

If they detuned the engines in favor of mpg instead of hp it could make for a lot less gas being used and less emission. The speed limit is only 75mph.

Answer 1

well at work we just got a brand new F-350 Dually and it doesn't put out any black smoke period. no matter how hard we stomp on the throttle. it actually gets pretty good gas mileage too...

Answer 2

the speed limit is 80 mph.

Yes, more torque is more fuel. And the warranty is voided. That's the law.  If you put mods on your car and it breaks under warranty, its up to the car manufacturer to prove that the mod was the sole reason the car failed.

mediocre gas mileage? a 12 mpg 300HP muscle car versus a 27 mpg 300HP car, that mediocre? that's progress.

If you detuned a small engine, then its NOx and CO would go up, yes it CO2 and fuel use would drop, but pick you poison.

Answer 3

"detuning" is a no-no.

The vehicle should be tuned FOR THE PROPOSED USE.

"Factory" tuning is, at best, a compromise to provide satisfactory operation over a wide range of uses, and/or to meet specific government regulations at the expense of other criteria.

Answer 4

Your right with assuming that most cars a grossly overpowered. You are definitely seeing more and more smaller cars, and usually they mean that they are lighter and achieve a mush better mpg/efficiency. Diesel vehicles do get more mpg with some tuning, but usually it is not seen unless under load and other factors aren't taken into consideration.

My feeling about power in cars trucks ect, is that you can have a more useful, smaller horsepower, vehicle if you consider gearing. If you had a car with more gears, you could more effectively use the power of that vehicle for the given situation. The harder you make the engine work, the less efficient it is. You can lower the rpm on the highway by shifting gears up. Look at tractor trailers, most have a 7speed transmission with a high and low range, or two transmissions hooked to one and other.

Diesel cars, (the vw TDi) and some older mercedes models get excellent fuel mileage. My fiance gets 55mpg in her 2000 golf TDi. I have a similar 2004 golf, but is the naturally aspirated gas model and usually get about 30mpg.  

Answer 5

See we need more people like you out there.

GOOD IDEA

Answer 6

WHAT IS THIS? PLEASE GIVE MORE DETAILS.

Answer 7

Personally, I don't have any problem with anyone that wants to de-tune their vehicle, or with anyone that wants to increase the performance in their vehicle. It all comes down to choice, and while these gadgets are available people will either buy them or they won't.