Mpg's increase when driven "respectfully"

A super charger will increase air density on the intake side, when You go WOT the computer is sending more fuel to match the massive air flow, a minor side effect of all that power, fuel, and air is going to be reduced fuel efficiency. When they figure out how to make air power a vehicle, i'll be the first one in line paying big money to ditch my flux capacitor. Meanwhile, anyone who believes mashing the gas pedal will increase fuel efficiency should invest in my flux capacitor 3.9 tune

*disclaimer the above post was intended to inject some humor into a discussion of the relationship between use of the skinny pedal and gas mileage. No offense was intended to anyone

 

I'm aware about the compensation for air-fuel ratios, but I guess that was my fault for lack of detail. It has been my experience that forced induction can yield better economy when driven within reasonable means, but I've heard a coupe guys complain about a dramatic drop in MPG since installing the RIPP charger. So I guess my question was this;

1) To those who have noticed a drop in economy, has your driving habits been at fault for this? Be honest please.

2) For those who have seen gains in fuel economy, are you driving so gently that you are not getting the benefit of being boosted?

 

Did you guys really think you were going to get better gas milage and increase horsepower??? Supercharged systems take power to make power. Increased power uses more fuel. You don't get something for nothing. Easy driving will help but you will not miraculously get better mpg from a supercharged car over stock. Laws of physics don't take a holiday.

 

No offense, but I was looking to hear from the people who actually have RIPP superchargers. I'm assuming MPG goes up because a closer power to weight ratio.

 

If the power to weight ratio is improved through weight reduction then yes. If it is obtained through adding horse power then no. Your motor is basically a big pump that makes heat. The more you pump the more heat and fuel.

Look at all the high horsepower cars out there with great power to weight ratios. They all get terrible gas milage. Unless of course its a car like a Lotus or similar, which has a great power to weight ratio obtained by light weight and not high horsepower. Losing weight and or aerodynamics is your only option outside of a different motor to getting improved gas milage not so much by adding power. Just some food for thought.

 

Ah, don't listen to Lotus F1. Since I put my SC on I've been getting an easy 2 mpg improvement. The power it takes to make HP on this SC is minimal. It's not a huge Roots style blower. If you can keep your foot out of it, you will get improved gas mileage.

 

If you can keep your foot out of it is the key. I've only had it install four days so that is a little tough right now. I will say that my MPGs are still higher that post SC. By almost 2mpgs. Granted that is only four days of mixed driving. Additionally, I did not buy the SC for increased gas mileage. I really would not care if I lost a MPG. I wanted more power. I got what I wanted.

 

I'm building my jeep for long overland expeditions, so MPG is one of my concerns. But I need power to pull a little trailer, or a load on the roof rack. Otherwise I wouldn't care either. Thanks for the input and I would like to see if the loss of MPG after RIPP SC install is entirely based on the driver.

 

Tell you the truth when i first started running my SC I have had awesome MPG. Before I put the SC in I was running about 16.5L/100KM. I was running about 13L/100km after. I have to figure out the converson to MPG. Now i am running 15L/100KM it is still better but not as good.


I drive on the hiway alot so i dont go heavy on the skinny. Costs to much up here it is 1.0199/L. 1 Gallon is 3.78L. that makes 1 gallon = $3.86


Don't get me wrong but i do love the extra power and do not regret buying the SC and Between RIPP and the other guys on this thread 99.9% of the problems have been worked out.

 

Driving habits almost the same if not ridiculously more conservative after the SC install. I just knew I shouldn't be the only one in the world losing fuel economy while all others were experiencing gains so I started coasting a quarter mile before stop signs, coasting down hills at every chance, etc. to attempt to squeeze out the reputed increased MPG - never happened. I dropped about 3-4 mpg initially (first eight months). After a new MAP sensor and tune, I've gained back 1 mpg. I really didn't expect to gain MPG from the beginning, but was hopeful that I'd somehow maintain the pre-supercharger fuel economy which was around 19-20 mpg (greater out on the highway holding about 55-60 mph), and that's with a 2.5" lift and baby 35s. By the way, my fuel economy is hand calculated.

Here's my theory at the moment (setting aside physical laws) - if you had great fuel economy pre-supercharger you're going to lose mpg. If you were in the low to mid-teens pre-supercharger, you're going to gain 1 or 2 mpg. Again, this is based purely on anecdotal data I've observed here on the forum. I would love to hear about someone who started with 20 mpg who is now getting 22-23 mpg after installing a RIPP supercharger, but I don't think it's going to happen. There were some initial reports of huge fuel economy gains, but I think that was traced back to a "bug" in the Diablo tuner that was later corrected.

I tried to implement option 2, "driving so gently that you are not getting the benefit of being boosted" but without success. No measurable MPG improvement most likely due to my already conservative driving habits. I wanted the extra power for the occasional traffic conditions where it was warranted, but still drive my JK mildly. I do notice a little more torque and power at lower rpms which has made a positive difference in around town driving so the blower is contributing even when not in the 3K plus range band.