10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

August 2006 - Performance Zone
SUCCESS STORIES
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

Let’s take a look at trucking in Australia. Owner-operators in the Land Down Under, like truckers everywhere, love high performance diesel engines. Hauling 169,000 lbs. on regular roads and 181,000 lbs. on federal roads, they need all the power they can get. Yes, this is everyday, all day, turning 46 tires on 12 axles, pulling two trailers and paying $5.68 per gallon. Keep in mind, they purchase their fuel per liter, which is 3.785 liters per gallon, and the price of the fuel is $1.50 per liter. I have always said that the heavier the load, the easier it is to gain fuel mileage when improving the performance of a diesel engine, and the following story is a good example of that concept.

David Ferguson of Goombungee, Australia, which is 35 kilometers from the big city of Toowoomba (I’m sure all of you owner-operators out there know where this is – well, let’s just say its 160 kilometers over the great divide from Brisbane) owns a 1998 Iveco Powerstar made by International that is powered by a 500 horsepower 12.7 Detroit DD4 and an 18-speed transmission (see photo below). Here is just a portion of the letter I recently received from David.

“My truck is fitted with an RE engine from Detroit Diesel. I have had several problems with the engine running hot and the fan coming on. Detroit claimed that it was getting too much fuel and recommended that I cut it back. This didn’t fix anything and only made me more determined to make it go. After searching the internet, I came across your website (www.pittsburghpower.com) – what a fountain of information I found there. After lots of reading and a few phone calls, a Pittsburgh Power Performance Computer was ordered. Since installing the computer, I’ve gone from 1.41 miles per liter (5.34 mpg) to 1.68 miles per liter (6.36 mpg) and can now cruise at 100 kph (60 mph) with heaps of foot pedal left.”

“Here in Australia, the engine manufacturers have got everybody believing that big horsepower means big fuel. So, as I cruise around happily passing the C-15 and C-16 Cats and Cummins Signatures, other drivers are saying, “Wow, you must have a lot of money to keep the fuel up to that!” When I tell them that I am actually saving fuel, they scoff in disbelief. So to prove them wrong, I set out in my truck for two weeks, along with a Super Liner Mack with a C-15 set at 500 horsepower and a 9900 Eagle with a C-15 set at 550 horsepower. The journey we took was 1,034 kilometers round trip, and we did this for 10 days, taking one trip per day. My truck was in B-Double configuration, grossing 64.5 tons per trip (both of the others were pulling about 62.5 tons). My Detroit’s average fuel usage per trip was 545 liters; the 500 HP C-15 Cat used 590 liters; and the 550 HP C-15 Cat consumed 660 liters. And even better yet, I could give both of these trucks a head start and still pass them easily whenever I needed or wanted to.”

“I must take this opportunity to thank you and your team for the promptness and eagerness to answer any and all of the questions that I have had. It is rare to find a company that offers so much support after the sale. I should be out promoting the computer to my buddies, but I think I’ll enjoy burning their big trucks off for a while longer. I could rave for hours about the fuel savings and just how easy the computer is to install, but you already know that. Thanks again for making driving a pleasure!”

Another Detroit Diesel DD4 success story comes from Mike Westervelt of Manhatten, Montana. Mike is the proud owner of a 2003 Kenworth W900-L powered by a 500 horse DD4 Detroit Diesel. His fuel mileage average was 5.26 mpg – pretty poor for a 12.7-liter Detroit. Keep in mind that the W900-L has a ridiculous reverse flow muffler under the bunk and we have been preaching for the past two years that this muffler robs the truck of fuel mileage and power. Well, Mike called us on the 11th of April and ordered a Pittsburgh Power Performance Computer, a non waste-gated 17% larger turbo and the straight through muffler conversion kit for his truck. The parts were installed on Mike’s KW at Tim’s Diesel in Three Forks, Montana.

During Mike’s first test drive with an empty trailer, he reported back to us that he thinks his rig could spin the tires if he put it on Power Level 9! After working the truck for a week and keeping the performance computer on Power Level 3, his fuel mileage climbed to 7.18 mpg. I agree this is hard to believe, however Mike is a straight shooter, and he has no reason not to tell the truth. He says the truck runs very free and that all he has to do is rest his foot on the throttle and he is quickly cruising at highway speeds with under 10 psi of turbo boost. He drives 120,000 miles per year and will save $18,300 this year because of the 1.92 mpg improvement. His $4,000 investment in performance parts will have a payback time of about four-and-a-half months.

Unfortunately, after all of these and many other real-life examples I’ve talked about, many people out there still think that a great running truck will NOT gain fuel mileage. Well, all of you skeptics out there can just keep driving your factory-built stock trucks and suffering the consequences – I just hope that you don’t go broke doing it! If you want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, call and ask Mike about his truck’s performance yourself. His phone number is (406) 581-0063. If you want to speak to one very happy owner-operator, give him a ring. And if you have any performance-related questions for me, I can be reached at Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh at (724) 274-4080 or via e-mail at bruce@pittsburghpower.com.