Malone Eco tune ???

I'd like to get a Malone Eco tune for my 03 Jetta TDI, auto trans. I've emailed a few times on their site, no response. I also tried my closest dealer who says they no longer do the Malone tunes. Are they still doing these? Anyone know someone capable and willing between Indianapolis and Dayton Ohio?

I had a regular stage 1 on my Golf and it did wonders for MPG when I wasn't hauling arse. I think the main advantage of dedicated Econo tunes is for the CR engines in 2009 and later cars.

Hopefully a tuner or Malone will jump in and set it us straight.

Jason

Ditto for 96 b4v tdi

I'd like to know, too--I'm very interested in getting an Ecotune for my 96 b4v tdi with the 1z engine. Will it work for that?

I'm subscribing to this thread out of curiosity as well.

Anybody know what it is they change in the ECU for this tune? I'm not looking for exact details...just curious where the gains are.

I'm thinking that a lot of the gains come from those who go with new nozzles (along with calibration).

I have gotten my car running as well as I can w/o any mods (averaging 50mpg over the last 10 tankfuls) and am awaiting new nozzles (DLC520s), which will be professionally mounted and the injectors balanced and calibrated, and the stage 1.5 Malone tune. Based on what I have read I could expect to see mpgs around 53. Right now I'm working for that 50mpg; I'd like to be able to achieve it more easily, in which case I'm less about peak mpg than just achieving a steady target of 50mpg (and doing so for both my cars).

The 1.5 tune will have dynamic egr and idle: I've already verified that altering the egr value on stock maps makes mileage WORSE

I'm also going to try out stage 2. Will be curious as to how each does vis a vis mileage: I am also wanting a bit more power on-tap.

?????

How does this help those of us who are in this thread to find out about the Malone Ecotune?? Please refer to the title of the thread, and to the content of every subsequent post.

Pgawanab69 said:

I'd like to get a Malone Eco tune for my 03 Jetta TDI, auto trans. I've emailed a few times on their site, no response. I also tried my closest dealer who says they no longer do the Malone tunes. Are they still doing these? Anyone know someone capable and willing between Indianapolis and Dayton Ohio?

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What kind of MPG are you getting now? Car all stock?

My Golf is an 03 5spd, so I haven't read enough on what's normal MPG for the autos.

I'd like to hear from somebody else that tried the Malone ECOtune on an ALH car. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like very many people have tried it.
Not that I can find at least.

glassman said:

How does this help those of us who are in this thread to find out about the Malone Ecotune?? Please refer to the title of the thread, and to the content of every subsequent post.

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And your comment is contributing, how?

MANY people get nozzle upgrades and or refreshes ALONG with tunes. Matter of fact, I would almost guarantee you that you will get a better increase in mileage with new nozzles than with merely a tune. So, I toss it back to you: What is your point here, to sell everyone on the tune or to spend your money hoping, without more extensive research, that tossing money at something will magically make something happen?

Less policing, more education...

I've been a Malone dealer in Lousiville KY for quite a while and have tuned too many cars to keep count of. For the ALH like OP has, the stage 1 performance tune is about as good as it gets for fuel economy. The "Eco tune" for the ALH was largely a marketing experiment having to do with price point. That said, Mark Malone told me stage 1 Malone tuned ALHs get better FE than Malone "Eco" tuned cars.

Feel free to contact me via link in my sig if I can be of service.

A5INKY said:

I've been a Malone dealer in Lousiville KY for quite a while and have tuned too many cars to keep count of. For the ALH like OP has, the stage 1 performance tune is about as good as it gets for fuel economy. The "Eco tune" for the ALH was largely a marketing experiment having to do with price point. That said, Mark Malone told me stage 1 Malone tuned ALHs get better FE than Malone "Eco" tuned cars.

Feel free to contact me via link in my sig if I can be of service.

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And that's how the game is played.

Great answer.

Thanks A5INKY

Thanks for the response. I did get an email today from a Malone tech. He recommended the 1.5 with upgraded nozzles also. Pretty much stated the Eco tune was just an inexpensive tune that might gain 1-3 mpg.

My car is all stock as far as I know. I am getting 43 mpg driving 170 miles daily, most all of it highway, driving 65-80 mph. Not bad for an auto I'd say. I'd like to squeeze a few more mpg if possible though. I'll have to price nozzles and go from there. Thanks guys.

Uhoh, (and anyone else I may have offended); I apologize for my tone--three days on two hours' sleep--but not for my content.
The title of the post specifically asks for info on the Malone Eco Tune, as do the next few responses, including mine. I was ruffled because you mentioned the result you've had from nozzles, and from a different tune--but you didn't refer to(or add anything to) the whole content of the thread. If you'd added your results as an addition to your own experiences with the Malone EcoTune, or even what you'd heard about it from others, I'd have been glad to read them.
My comment contributed by aiming (badly,I admit, and I apologize again for the snarky tone) to keep the discussion focused on the stated topic. And by the way, I'm fairly well educated, and I'm not trying to sell anybody anything.
P.S. I'd still like to hear from someone with direct experience of the Malone EcoTune.

May I suggest Green Diesel Engineering?

Their whole thing seems to be based around fuel efficiency.

poormanq45 said:

May I suggest Green Diesel Engineering?

Their whole thing seems to be based around fuel efficiency.

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GDE seems to offer some good MPG improvements for the BEW engine cars, but nothing special for the ALH. And, their prices are a bit much...certainly for me anyway.

GDE "ECO Tune" for the ALH offering a 1-3 MPG increase: $695.
Malone "ECO Tune" for the ALH offering 1-3 MPG increase: $150.

Rem

glassman, no problems.

A5INKY provides the info that one needs about the "eco tune." I've done a LOT of research and concluded that the 1.5 tune with nozzles is likely the best combo for obtaining fuel mileage.

As others have noted in MANY threads- READ UP! Yeah, it's a jumble, but, believe me, if you spend the time you'll figure it out; just don't make hasty decisions.

My stock 400K car gets over 800 km per tank, my 360K car with a stage II cam and malone 1.5 tune and nozzles, gets 650 km a tank.

Pgawanab69 said:

Thanks for the response. I did get an email today from a Malone tech. He recommended the 1.5 with upgraded nozzles also. Pretty much stated the Eco tune was just an inexpensive tune that might gain 1-3 mpg.

My car is all stock as far as I know. I am getting 43 mpg driving 170 miles daily, most all of it highway, driving 65-80 mph. Not bad for an auto I'd say. I'd like to squeeze a few more mpg if possible though. I'll have to price nozzles and go from there. Thanks guys.

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It will take a long time to recover the cost of a Malone (or any other) tune if the only reason you're doing it is to gain 1-3MPG.

It would take me 9 months of driving to recover the $150 spent on an Eco tune, if in fact I gained 3 mpg. Several other small issues have come up with the car recently that have made that extra $150 disappear.

Oilerlord said:

It will take a long time to recover the cost of a Malone (or any other) tune if the only reason you're doing it is to gain 1-3MPG.

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I think most people realize that the return on investment with this stuff just doesn't add up...but then again...that was never the point.
For some people, MPG is a hobby all on it's own...same as adding more HP, or spending money on style (rims, etc).
It's really just each owner's preference.

turbovan+tdi said:

My stock 400K car gets over 800 km per tank...

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If I'm doing all highway driving, I can hit 800 km at the 1/2 tank mark...that's a vented tank of course, but an otherwise stock 5spd ALH car with 300k kms on it. I get over 1200 km on every tank...and I'll get a little over 1300 km if I'm doing a lot of hwy driving.

However, I just installed new DLC520 nozzles on freshly balanced injectors last weekend, so we'll see if there's any MPG improvements with them.

My car is working pretty well as it is...I think any gains at this point will be minimal at best...but I'm always optimistic.

I did a lot of reading on the ECO Tune for the ALH...reviews are few and far between. The darn things are pretty efficient just the way they came from Germany...or Brazil...or Mexico...whatever...lol.

JMTCW,
Rem

Rembrant said:

If I'm doing all highway driving, I can hit 800 km at the 1/2 tank mark...that's a vented tank of course, but an otherwise stock 5spd ALH car with 300k kms on it. I get over 1200 km on every tank...and I'll get a little over 1300 km if I'm doing a lot of hwy driving.

However, I just installed new DLC520 nozzles on freshly balanced injectors last weekend, so we'll see if there's any MPG improvements with them.

My car is working pretty well as it is...I think any gains at this point will be minimal at best...but I'm always optimistic.

I did a lot of reading on the ECO Tune for the ALH...reviews are few and far between. The darn things are pretty efficient just the way they came from Germany...or Brazil...or Mexico...whatever...lol.

JMTCW,
Rem

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I'd love to hit over 1000km's but then I'd have to shift gears, lol. I am pretty happy getting 800+ per tank,

Jeez, I got 1467KM on my last tank before it was totaled. BEW Golf 5 spd. Should think 1000KM on a ALH, even auto, is doable.

Jason

SilverGhost said:

Jeez, I got 1467KM on my last tank before it was totaled. BEW Golf 5 spd. Should think 1000KM on a ALH, even auto, is doable.

Jason

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I think its possible to get a 1000 but you'd have to drive uber slow and have all your ducks in a row. Maybe with a ventectomy it would be possible!

I've had the Malone Eco-tune since Jan of this year on my '03 ALH. Bought the Flashzilla from the Malone site and the tune from AA Rodriguez. Reason for getting it, I deleted the egr system earlier and wanted to rid the CEL, so I decided on the eco-tune with egr delete option for a few bucks more. Still running my original clutch at 400,000km I didn't want to stress that out prematurly with a stage 1 tune.
The eco-tune doesn't add any more power. What I did notice is that on my one way commute of 823km half of it in the Rockies it now takes 40 liters consistantly to top up the tank. That in cold winter driving 110 to 120 kph. Prior to the tune, it used 44 liters on a consistant basis.
Since spring that same commute uses 38 liters on a consistant basis whereas prior to the tune 41 liters was the usual fill on summertime fuel, same driving conditons.
Nothing really significant. Here I only save 3 or 4 bucks topping my tank back up after a one way commute.
I did notice that there is no black smoke anymore after a start from a stop at wide open throttle to 4500 rpm in 1st gear.
Thats my experience. If I were to do it all over again, I'd get the stage 1 if anything just for some extra power in the mountains.

Just recorded 52.5mpg on a stage 2 tune w/DLC520s" 639 miles on 12.178 gal. Second best tank (since owning- 10/2014). And this was with a LOT of heavy right-foot and some crappy traffic for the second half of a tank. I was planning on driving fairly conservatively but things came up and I derailed the effort: I figured that since I blew my opportunity that I'd just as well really blow it. That last fill, however, was at a different pump (didn't have access to it that time so I went with another one); I'm now back to filling with my regular pump (with this fill up).

I have a feeling that I'll be able to knock off 55mpg with this setup. And with the stage 2 I've got ample power to not be concerned with hills (or passing/merging).