racerx260 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Has anyone used a megasquirt in a n/a motor and tuned it for gas mileage?. What kind of mileage could you get city/ highway? Don't want to loose any power just use better tech to be efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Could you achieve better economy with MS over the stock EFI? Maybe, but is it worth the effort? You could spend many hours tuning for econmy, and not achieve what a well tuned stock setup can do. I have a stock 280Z, and with the OEM EFI, it gets just over 28MPG. Not sure you can beat that with an MS, but with many hours of tuning, maybe you can. If you are looking at from a hobby/project point of view, it would be a fun experiment. If you are just trying to save $ on gas, get the stock system in good tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 z-ya, what makes you say that? It seems to me that with MS you could seriously lean out the mixture in the cruising range, and save alot of gas over the stock system. Also, eliminating the AFM should help increase the efficiency of the engine, and give back some mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx260 Posted May 16, 2006 Author Share Posted May 16, 2006 Thanks for the imput.I'm looking at building a 2+2 to use as a daily driver and something to toolaround in with my wife and 6 yr old.My 260 with the turbo will not hold us all . I was looking at using a n/a motor and maybe putting in a stroker later.But as we all know gas is getting bad and I was hoping that using megasquirt would be more pecise and as mentioned leaner at highway speeds.Yea, sort of a project but with good odds of sucess.So wow me and tell me what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I have a stock 280Z, and with the OEM EFI, it gets just over 28MPG. Yours must be in good shape. When mine was still n/a I was nowhere near that. Maybe with enough work it could have gotten there, but the whole system is a rat's nest of corroded connections and sensors that may or may not be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweakinZs Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Hey I know Im probably about to sound stupid, but you gotta understand this is my first Z and I am very unfamiliar with its format and options of modification, but can anyone give me a pretty good understanding of "megasquirt"? Ive realized it has to have something to do with the intake, and fuel injection system. -Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I'll save someone else the trouble of saying it. Search. You can read up on it at http://www.megasquirt.info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 With a WBO2 gauge, you can lean it out as much as your motor will tolerate. I believe 1 fast Z used to run +16:1 afrs (maybe even 18:1, don't remember...) during cruise, and averaged high 20's low 30's highway on a modified engine. Using target AFR table's that seems like an easy thing to do. Mario PS Woah... another Mario?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 after some fumbling around with my ms i figured out the target a/f table and how to turn it on.an innovate motorsports wide band 02 feeds the ms and the innovate gauge is on the dash even though i dont need it with ms.the ms reads the wbo2 and corrects while driving to the target a/f table.i was running out to 16/1 on the freeway but now i am running about 14.2.heard its hard on valves running lean-you take your chances.i think ms would pay for itself soon over stock efi just because its more precise.but ms isnt for everybody because it has a steep learning curve to get it running.my car is in the daily commutor car now.but if you play around it will suck gas-you have to pay to play.with 42lb injectors and big turbo you are playing hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 with stock everything (except cr headers intake exhaust) I will be playing pretty lightly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Leaning it out is one thing, keeping it drivable is another. I'm sure Nissan had fuel economy in mind when they switched to EFI. The system is pretty efficient on a stock motor when in good condition. On a modified motor you may be able to get some more economy out of it. But even with a slightly modified L28 (+1mm, flat tops, MN47 head, stock cam), I can still get close to 30MPG on the stock EFI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 Leaning it out is one thing, keeping it drivable is another. I'm sure Nissan had fuel economy in mind when they switched to EFI. The system is pretty efficient on a stock motor when in good condition. On a modified motor you may be able to get some more economy out of it. But even with a slightly modified L28 (+1mm, flat tops, MN47 head, stock cam), I can still get close to 30MPG on the stock EFI. Not to call you out or anything, but the most i've ever gotten from my Z was 24mpg and that was with everything in tip top shape. With the MS i've already gottn 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Your mileage may vary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Your mileage may vary... lol by the weight of your foot? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohaa Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 lol by the weight of your foot? lol That's what I thought. Haha something tells me any savings on a lean cruising tune will be canceled out by the heavy foot people always seem to get when driving a car with the kinds of goodies that normally go with MegaSquirt. Still, a lean cruising tune sounds like music to my ears, and like... I dunno, leather conditioner.... to my wallet. I've always assumed you could match or beat most stock EFI cruising tunes for fuel mileage. Lean it out as far as you think you can under low load, then dump in the fuel under highest loads, with programmable maps and target AFRs in MS the only limit is the amount of time you want to spend getting everything perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 "I'm sure Nissan had fuel economy in mind when they switched to EFI." Actually, the primary concern of Nissan in going to EFI was reduction of Exhaust Emissions. The Japan Specifications for Emissions Control were going to be MUCH stricter than the US in regards to NOx by 1978, and they put the money in early to get something that would easily be tailored to many different markets with a minimum of stocked parts. The harness from a 76 Cal spec car works on a 76 Federal car as well. There is not two different pieces to make and stock spares for...different carburettors for different altitudes, etc... In fact, the EFI system was touted in Japan as the "NAPS" system: Nissan Anti-Pollution System. Starting with the EFI cars, ALL JDM Z's came with Catalysts, whereas EXPORT models didn't necessarily have them! Hell European TURBO models STILL have basic pre-programmed EFI boxes (no ECCS!) without O2 sensors!!! When the S130 came out, in conjuction with the JDM NOx requirements, they ALL got O2 Sensors... My 78 Fairlady 280Z(X) has a "hybrid" EFI system: No cold start injector, Stepper-Motor Idle Speed Control, O2 Sensor, AND Catalyst! VW Beat Nissan in Adoption of the Bosch System. They implemented it in 1968 on their Type III Models, primarily to satiate Emissions Concerns. They held off on the Beetle since it was already established technology, but the Type III was a 'clean slate' vehicle, and designed in the late 50's as a replacement for the Beetle--but it's downfall was a cramped engine bay with dual carburettors (this sound familiar?) so when the emissions rules changed in 67, VW didn't waste any time and got Bosch to make them the first mass-produced EFI system for passenger vehicles. My stock 2+2 runs around 22mpg on a regular highway drive...and I'm not putting around at 55. I probably could get much better if I tweaked the AFM a couple of clicks leaner, and slowed down to 65. I'm in pretty wide open territory and generally when I'm driving the Z on the Weekends traffic is light so I'm in the upper 70mph range + to get that mileage. Then again, with a 3.90 in it...I'm not exactly loafing along at 2500rpms at those speeds either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 i get about 25-26 with a 2960 stroker,t3/t4 turbo,intercooler,42 lb injectorstrans is a 82 na trans and 3.7 rear.head is ported and has a huge cam in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 When Im cruising at around 75ish, towing a trailer with a 3.9 and a 240sx trans, Im getting about 25mpg with my car running a nawwor band tuned MS&S_E set-up in a 280zx. Motor is modded a bit, but nothing extreme. Its possible to tune for power AND economy with megasquirt. infact, thats kind of the point of fuel injection all togheter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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