All very good points, but now you're making me feel like a douche' for not planning this out better from the start. I went at it half-a$$ed somewhat on purpose, my pre-chip numbers are guesstimates so this was not going to be perfect by any means. I know how to measure my mpg with miles/gallons etc, I just would not have any "BEFORE" numbers to compare against my "AFTER" numbers.

I know there is plenty of room for error and there is very little precision or accuracy, and if I was writing a paper on this experiment to PROVE that the Volo chip actually works...my paper would get tossed in the trash, I understand and accept that.

My main thing is that if I was getting anywhere from 310-330 miles per tank and start getting 350-370 miles per tank...that to me is an improvement and I'd say the thing "works," and I'll be happy and won't feel like I wasted my money because I wasn't expecting much to begin with. Maybe next time I'll this try using the Tornado Fuel Saver....HA! Hope that the smiley faces let you know that I'm not trying to be an a$$#&!%. I should have gotten some opinions before I started.

I'm still pretty stoked that I drove 374 miles before the gas light came on!

 

yolo,

Wasn't trying to make you feel bad. I guess I'm **** about the milage thing, not because I am trying to change or alter it but because I learned a long time ago (from exerience) that when the gas milage takes an unexplained dip then it probably means something is wrong so I keep up with it. I assumed that you had hard numbers before starting and wanted conclusive evidence of the quantitative rather than qualitative change. I would agree that if you normally got 320 a tank and are now getting 375 and aren't doing something like taking it to dead empty (driving 50 miles or so after the light comes on) then yes, that is a statistical difference and probably meaningful. Of course it would have been better in 20-20 hindsight to work with known "before" and then "after" numbers but what is past can't be changed. The incerease you are noting is 17%+ and I find that really hard to come to grips with for a chip change if the performance hasn't been significantly changed. But then again I'd give some performance to take my 17mpg highway to almost 20mpg at 70 to 75 miles per hour. Let us know some numbers after a few tankfulls. Who makes this magic bullet?

 

.... stop putting the gas light on. or you will lose all the money you saved in gas on a new fuel pump

 

No worries, I know this was half-a$$ed I got my chip in the mail a couple weeks ago (From Volo Performance to answer your question) and wasn't planning on installing it until I got a few more actual documented solid "BEFORE" numbers with a couple more tanks, but I just got ancy and installed it one day during my lunch break So yeah, any actual scientific accuracy was out the window from the start.

Hate to be redundant BUT, I have been commuting for a long while now and 330 miles/tank was a high average per tank, and I was filling up at the same Shell, at the same pump basically every time, so although it wasn't documented, I feel though I have been consistent enough to see an actual change in "before" and "after." I am also **** about tire pressure, oil changes, air filter changes, etc, and NO, I am definitely skewing the numbers by driving like a Grandma, or anything like that. I really do appreciate you input. I'll keep posting as I get some more numbers, filling up today.

OK, I GET IT. You can say "HA HA HA, I told you so MORON!" If my fuel pump dies

 

Any updates?

 

WELL....the week after I installed the chip, my fiance' got in a Van-Pool to work, so I started driving her Mazda3 to and from work, which threw off the "experiment"...........(but has saved us a ton of money)

She drives the Rover about 10 miles a day, down a big hill in the morning, and back up a big hill in the evening back home. She's been averaging 16 mpg on in what I would call pretty rigorous "city" driving....plus she has a lead foot

I drove it for a full week, back and forth to work and got about 18mpg and I sit in stop-and-go traffic for 15-20 minutes per trip so it's not all necessarily highway miles.

Overall, I consider the chip a success and have squeezed an average of an extra 30-40 miles more per tank. DEFINITELY worth the $60 and the 10 minutes to install.

 

Next tank was 100% city driving with a little extra lead in the foot and a little extra revving of the engine because I just had my resonator cut off.....15.8 MPG

SIDENOTE : for anyone that hasn't cut their resonator off, I highly recommend it.

 

Keep us updated as more data comes in! I'm always happy to save a few mpg's. Heck, if I can push my rover to 18-20mpg highway I'd be thrilled, as my BMW used to get 23 or so (I drove it like a maniac )

 

You betcha, every MPG counts for me with my commute so I am perfectly content with a 1-2 MPG gain.

I hope to squeeze a few more miles out once I get the time to install my +4's and Magnacor wires.

 

I have one of those Volo chips too....I get about 1-3 mpg better. I've been using it since Christmas, and I definately like the extra mpg.