2006.5 Kia Optima

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@o11g2000prd.googlegroups.com:

Generally speaking, the aim of the mods you are suggesting is to produce more power. Producing more power means burning more fuel, period. Those mod chip sellers that tell you they will give you more power AND higher mileage are just lying.

I don't have first-hand experience with these mods, but from what I've read all that the cheap chip mods do is trick the ECU into thinking the intake air is cooler or more dense than it really is to advance the spark timing. They also recommend using higher octane gas with the chips. Why? With low octane gas and an advanced spark your engine will be prone to knocking. The engine's built-in anti-knock sensor reacts to this by retarding the spark, thus undoing the so-called improvement from the chip. Even if they could manage a small improvement in mileage under conservative driving conditions, you are spending more for each gallon of gas you are using.

Go ahead and try the cold-air intake if you want. At least it will do no harm and you are honestly giving the engine cooler air instead of tricking a sensor.

Be glad you are getting 28 MPG. My average is about 23.5 with over 75% highway driving. The trip computer shows 44 MPH average since new. You won't get that from sitting at stop lights all day ;).

Jeff

innews: snipped-for-privacy@o11g2000prd.googlegroups.com:

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I was definately leaning away from the chips anyway, and figured there had to be a "catch" of some sort. So, should I choose to try the cold-air intake, would I need to go to a higher-octane gas as well? If so, it would nearly defeat the purpose of getting a higher gas mileage.

quikandskinny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:

A higher octane shouldn't be necessary if you could get cooler/denser air to your intake, however, the ECU would compensate for this by INCREASING the fuel injected to get the proper mixture ratio.

Take a look at the air intake system on your car. You will see it is fed by a tube running under the battery from an intake just above the grill. You already have a cold-air intake from the factory. Altering that is not likely to help anything.

Don t spend your Time or your hard earned MONEY