Wait4me mini-review

[kevinr1970]

For X-mas my sister payed for me to send my PCM to wait4me to get a tune.
This past weekend was the first time I was able to put a good chunk of miles in one run.

The tune was for 92 (or 91?) octane but he said I could safely run 87 but would not see the same gains as the 91. He claimed "at least 20hp and 3mpg" with the tune.

The only two times I have checked the mileage was at about the 500 mile mark going from Seattle To Whistler BC which involved quite a bit of hill climbing getting up into the mountains. Then at around 13,000 going over to my girlfriends parents house in eastern WA which involves going over the mountains. This is the same trip I made this past weekend.
I got 18.2 and 18.5 respectively. Both straight runs with basically no stops. The first trip I had a bike rack on the back with three bikes and averaged low 70mph in WA and high 60mph in Canada. The second trip I had two bikes on the back and a soft tonneau cover and probably averaged closer to 75mph.

After I first installed the reprogrammed PCM I got 17.5 on a full tank of 87 and 17.75 on a full tank of 91 with mixed driving but mostly freeway; 14 miles to and from work (28 round trip) and probably 70/30 fwy/city. Admittedly I was throttling it every chance I got to see if I could feel the power difference, more so on the first tank. And I did feel some difference especially in the mid-range.

So on our little trip this weekend we went 236 miles on the way over there then a few miles driving to the store and to the coffee shop in the morning and such. It was almost exactly 240 miles on the tripometer when I refilled it. I was sort of happy to see the tripometer hit 160 miles but only be at the 3/4 tank mark on the way over.

I put in 11.08 gallons to top the tank off and after doing the math it came out to 21.66 mpg. So I picked up over 3mpg! And a little more power to boot!!
I didn't have any bikes (or bike rack) on the back and I probably only averaged about 73mph this time but I don't think those differences would have given me 3mpg before?

Jesse(?) from wait4me said the mileage gains I would see running 91 would make up the difference in $ per gallon so I am anxious to take another trip and see how I would do with the 91.

So far, thumbs up

[Joe67]

I've had my W4Me tune in my GMC for a few years now, love it

[79elkyss]

What is W4Me? I have an '02 Silverado, this sounds like something I'd like to check out.

[Joe67]

www.wait4meperformance.com - custom tuned PCM work

[kevinr1970]

I can't believe I forgot to update this.

So two weekends ago we went down to Bend, OR. for the weekend.
When we left, we had about a 1/4 tank of regular and topped the rest off (about 3/4 tank) with Super (92).
We went I90 over the pass then went south at Yakima down through Goldendale, straight down to Bend. This was roughly 350+ miles.
While on I90 it is mostly 70mph speed limit (so we were going about 72-73) and then pretty much everywhere else it was 60mph (so we were going about 65).

We left on a Thursday morning and were generally taking it easy but we ran into a lot of semi-truck traffic on the two lane roads. I was content driving like this and was being passed some what regularly by cars going 70+. I wasn't holding up traffic in any way; when someone came up behind me and it looked like it was a good place for a pass I pulled as far to the right as I could and maintained my speed.
The problems came when cars would get stacked up behind a few semis and a few RV's or trucks pulling trailers.
Now all of a sudden the guy that was tailgating me then blowing by me 5 minutes ago lost his nerve when it came time to get two or three trucks in a shot. Mr. BMW X7, you know who you are...
Since he wasn't going to go I did. I had only planned an getting the first few semis but it was still clear so I went for a few more then for good measure the last few. I didn't see Mr BMW again for about an hour
Went through something like this about four more times before we got down to Redmond/Bend.
BTW, in OR, three trailer semi's are legal so sometimes it takes a little bit to get by one. Or three...

But even with those full throttle exploits I came out OK. I didn't write down the exact figures but when we calculated it came out to just over 23.25mpg.
I should mention we didn't start using the AC until about 75 miles out of Redmond/Bend either.

We filled up with 92 then did some sight seeing so we probably put 75 miles on the odometer just driving around central OR the next few days.
On the way home we went west to Albany then north through Portland to Seattle. Speed limit in OR was 65 but people were going close to 80 to we were "taking it easy" at about 75. Made a few stops including getting lost in downtown Portland for a while.
Using the AC the whole time because it was close to 90 degrees and I am a girly man.
I put on almost 420 miles before I refilled again. This time it was about 22.3 mpg.

For good measure I refilled again with 92 and went about my usual routine of commuting and such. This mixed driving got me about 18.3mpg. Not bad considering I usually got about 17.7 mixed.

Will update again next trip.

[Ford Assassin]

I sent my wiring harness and PCM to Jesse to get re-tuned and the harness modified. I haven't got it back, but I am biting at the bit waiting for it.

Did you ask for a mileage or performance tune? Also, what size engine are you running?

Thanks!!

[kevinr1970]

Originally Posted by Ford Assassin

I sent my wiring harness and PCM to Jesse to get re-tuned and the harness modified. I haven't got it back, but I am biting at the bit waiting for it.

Did you ask for a mileage or performance tune? Also, what size engine are you running?

Thanks!!

To be honest I didn't know there was a difference? I was told it was tuned for 92 but I could run 87 it just wouldn't give me the same gains.
I have been running 92 since my trip in early July. Got 22.4 with a trip to the coast last weekend. Next trip I think I will try to go back to 87 and see if the mpg falls off.

It is a 4.8 V-8 with a 5-speed manual.

[Ford Assassin]

Gotcha. I have the 5.3. I would be happy with 20 mpg.

Have you ever run a tank in-town only driving? If so, what was your mpg then?

I ask because my Charger (winter daily driver) gets 11-12 around town and I'd rather drive my truck anyway.

[Josh]

What gearing are you running? I've been contemplating one of the tunes on our yukon and silverado. I get around 21-22mpg highway with the silverado normal driving and around 16.5 mixed driving... How much does it help in normal around town driving? Noticeable power increases?

Josh

[kevinr1970]

Originally Posted by Ford Assassin

Gotcha. I have the 5.3. I would be happy with 20 mpg.

Have you ever run a tank in-town only driving? If so, what was your mpg then?

I ask because my Charger (winter daily driver) gets 11-12 around town and I'd rather drive my truck anyway.

My drive to work is just about 14 miles going against traffic to work and mostly against from work. I have 5 stop lights before getting on/off the fwy by the house and 2 by work. I do some running around besides that but that is mostly it.
So no city only results. Sorry.

Originally Posted by Josh

What gearing are you running? I've been contemplating one of the tunes on our yukon and silverado. I get around 21-22mpg highway with the silverado normal driving and around 16.5 mixed driving... How much does it help in normal around town driving? Noticeable power increases?

Josh

My truck has a locking 3.23. I have been tempted to get it re-geared to a 3.73; R&P shop kept talking about 4.11 but I don't think they understood what I was looking for.
If this wasn't my DD that might just be fun. Don't get me wrong, I drive the hell out of this truck. But if the difference between driving gentle and throttling it and enjoying it, is getting 23.25mpg vs. 22.5, well....

I want to install CC but with the 3.23 gearing I didn't think it would work. The big reason for wanting to re-gear it.
But with the tune it seems to have more mid-range power. Used to be going up a slope on the fwy at 60mph I would contemplate down-shifting to 4th to keep the power up. Below 60 and it was a must.
Now I am going up the same stretch of fwy and I can get down to almost 50 before I feel the need to down-shift. It's not super responsive but it will still accelerate.

The mileage increase made it worth the $75 I spent. Plus a little more power to boot.

[Josh]

The not down shifting is what I'm looking for, my truck is a cc/sb 1/2t with a 4.8/4l60e/3.23s and it isn't bad to drive and I love the mileage it gets right now and any increase would be great. Running minor hills at 60 it kicks out of overdrive a lot where the 5.3 in our Yukon can pull the same hills without a problem... I'm definitely gonna get it tuned after the first of the year.

Josh

[kevinr1970]

Originally Posted by Josh

The not down shifting is what I'm looking for, my truck is a cc/sb 1/2t with a 4.8/4l60e/3.23s and it isn't bad to drive and I love the mileage it gets right now and any increase would be great. Running minor hills at 60 it kicks out of overdrive a lot where the 5.3 in our Yukon can pull the same hills without a problem... I'm definitely gonna get it tuned after the first of the year.

Josh

Funny thing, I was looking through the GMC site just after I bought my truck.
When looking over the specs on the Yukon's, the 5.3 was rated at about 2mpg better both city and hwy over the 4.8?
I guess that extra torque is useful for something huh?

[Ford Assassin]

I just heard from wait4me that my re-worked harness and PCM will be back to me on Wed on next week.

Guess that means I'd better get on the ball with getting the truck prepped for the new engine/trans.....

[Josh]

The ratings on the trucks are way off in my experience... With the whole family in the Silverado I can manage 21mpg highway, Best I've gotten to date fully loaded in the Yukon is 19mpg, unloaded with just two of us in it I've managed 20mpg on a few trips. My Dads 02 Tahoe 5.3/3.42s used to average around 20-21 highway, it seems like the pre 03 trucks get a little better mileage than the newer trucks that have more torque management in them. I'm going to get them both tuned and see what difference it makes.

[wasteaway]

Originally Posted by Josh

The ratings on the trucks are way off in my experience... With the whole family in the Silverado I can manage 21mpg highway, Best I've gotten to date fully loaded in the Yukon is 19mpg, unloaded with just two of us in it I've managed 20mpg on a few trips. My Dads 02 Tahoe 5.3/3.42s used to average around 20-21 highway, it seems like the pre 03 trucks get a little better mileage than the newer trucks that have more torque management in them. I'm going to get them both tuned and see what difference it makes.

Josh,

Not doubting you or anything, but do you think the new ethanol content in the gas is part of the reason the newer trucks may not be any better than the older ones (used to)? I know we are supposed to expect a little less mileage with the new gas. Its my understanding that the new engines are a bit more efficient but the gas could be holding those gains down. We now have 10% ethanol. Not sure about your area.

You said your dad's 02 used to get............ does it still?

[Josh]

Yeah it still does, it lost a mpg when we went to 265/70/17s from the 265/70/16s, but we can swap the tires back and it regains the old mileage... I worked in a Chevy dealer when these trucks were all new and we had a lot of complaints from people trading in their 02 and older stuff for the newer ones that the gas mileage was lower...