After I had installed lightweight aftermarket rims and new tires I noticed a significant drop in mpg and did as much research as I could to fix this. I slowly raised my air pressure to 50psi and kept using the hypermiling tips I had learned to at least get my mpg back to where it was before. I couldn't wait any longer for my tires to break in so I searched the internet and found out about resetting the ECU
here.
Most performance modders will reset the ecu when they install new equipment so the computer can relearn the drivers habits and get use to the new mods in the car. I wasn't sure if my slightly bigger (went from 16" to 17") rims yet lighter would be a candidate for this, but I tried it anyway. Didn't seem like there was much to lose.
Looks like it worked! I notice a change in the gear shift a bit earlier and keeping the rpms a bit lower. I checked my
scangauge to make sure the settings didn't change and I seem to have gained the 3-5mpg I lost when I changed the tires and rims.
I'm still not sure if it really did the trick, I guess I won't know until the end of this fillup.
I hope it only gets better when my tires break in! Has anyone else tried resetting their ecu after doing warm air intakes or anything else?
