wideband controller for fuel mileage

[cortezit]

Is anyone adjusting their O2 signal to boost fuel mileage by employing a wide band O2 sensor gauge and controller.
Cortezit
1995 Aspire
2" "modified" exhaust

[Pu241]

I don't recall anyone has, but it sounds a good idea!
Provided you have have some means of monitoring EGT.
Have had discussions along those lines, including ceramic coating of piston crown.
Wonder if we can adapt sodium filled valves from another manufacturer?

[Rocketman]

I did notice a bit of an increase when I went to WBO2.

I've heard you can play with a narrowbands a bit by moving the sensor further downstream

[Advancedynamix]

I use my wide band to control my foot and it definitely improves my mileage. Lol. Does anyone know where to buy sodium filled valves for the b6t? I looked but ended up just using supertech valves.

[Grey Vw]

A vacuum gauge would probably help you more with monitoring your driving habits.

[Pu241]

A vacuum gauge would probably help you more with monitoring your driving habits.

That would be true initially, but after your in the 45-50 MPG range I beleive this could be very helpful, provided you don't run too lean and burn valves or over heat the engine in general. Thus EGT monitoring!

[Advancedynamix]

A vacuum gauge would probably help you more with monitoring your driving habits.

Vacuum gauge works well (my boost gauge also reads vacuum) but isn't as accurate as the wideband for fuel consumption. The vacuum gauge tells you engine load, but sometimes the ECU will richen the fuel mixture for reasons other than load. Depending on engine temp and elevation, I notice the B6t ecu richening the mixture above a certain RPM. The wideband shows me what my mixture is regardless of engine load. Plus I've been watching wideband o2 meters for 15 years, so It's like second nature to me. With the stock B6T ecu, fuel consumption can drastically change between a 1000rpm window, even though load has remained consistent.

[Rocketman]

That would be true initially, but after your in the 45-50 MPG range I beleive this could be very helpful, provided you don't run too lean and burn valves or over heat the engine in general. Thus EGT monitoring!

What mods have you done that you are at risk of running that lean to burn valves? The OEM management won't let it run that far off the scale.

Vacuum gauge works well (my boost gauge also reads vacuum) but isn't as accurate as the wideband for fuel consumption. The vacuum gauge tells you engine load, but sometimes the ECU will richen the fuel mixture for reasons other than load. Depending on engine temp and elevation, I notice the B6t ecu richening the mixture above a certain RPM. The wideband shows me what my mixture is regardless of engine load. Plus I've been watching wideband o2 meters for 15 years, so It's like second nature to me. With the stock B6T ecu, fuel consumption can drastically change between a 1000rpm window, even though load has remained consistent.

This is entirely correct. Cruising, above ~4000RPM the engine will run dead rich all the time, which corresponds to ~80mph (not that you should be driving that speed for economy anyway)

Going up hills I push the throttle just until it drops out of closed loop & into open loop, then back off a bit. Can really grab good mileage in the hills/mountains doing this. This does not correspond to any particular point on the vacuum gauge, so that's no help in this instance.

[Advancedynamix]

^ yup, sometimes I can get the throttle and RPM just right to let me cruise around 70 (stock g25 5th) at like 15:1. I haven't quite pinpointed how it's done, but it's even under load. It usually happens by mistake, but I think it's a "go open loop, pull off" trick like what you just mentioned. Must be a little "lean hole" in the table somewhere.

[sasquatch]

check out the zeitronix wideband, it has an adjustable narrow band output that you hook to the ecu and you can make the engine run leaner (i think its 15.5 at low throttle...) or you can choose stock 14.7 or rich to cool it down if your running a turbo... its a very cool wideband... i had one of the first widebands they made and it was awesome... only mine didnt have all the features in it cause they didnt have them when i bought it lol... the new ones are awesome!!!

[Advancedynamix]

^ Those are pretty cool. The thing is that most narrow band systems get their worst MPG in open loop, so it wouldn't help that, but does make a little difference in light throttle stop n' go.

What was your first Wideband unit?

[sasquatch]

it was the very first gen ZT-2 they had... it didnt have the warning out and adjustable NB output... it only had the regular NB output... it worked great but it was kind of hard to see in daylight (they say they have fixed this...) and mine took a long time to warm up but i havnt seen anyone else having this problem so i think its just mine lol... i was thinking about putting it in my tracker to try and get some better mpg's i was gonna buy the new one but i went with a AEM one, cause i dont need all these fancy features with a standalone, they are very handy if your running a factory ecu...

[Sid_RallyX_82]

Can the ECU in my '91 handle a wide band? Or are you guys just putting a gauge on the dash?

[Dragonhealer]

Can the ECU in my '91 handle a wide band? Or are you guys just putting a gauge on the dash?

Interesting thought, never tried that, most wide bands have a narrow band emulation output you can use to the ECU.