Using the "Engine Load" number from OBDII...

[GasSavers_root]

I just got a scangaugeII, and the most interesting feature to me is the engine load information it reports (LOD) as well as the throttle position (TPS)

somehow the ECU calculates the percentage of available power being used, from the fuel / air ratio, the intake temp, the RPM, the throttle sensor and so on.

I understand the general technique is to use full throttle at low RPMs with early shift points, but I would like to go a step beyond, perhaps figuring out the LOW cutoff on the RPM range, and how to quickly discover it from the information available.

Now, I can setup a long long set of experiments to figure which combination of throttle inputs and the shift points will yield the best MPG results, but I am wondering if anyone has come up with rules of thumbs that can teach me the techniques using the following ScanGauge information:

Throttle position -- TPS
Engine load -- LOD

Please point me to any info that will help me make sense of this extra information available to me.

(car info -- 2005 mazda3 2.3L, 2000 toyota MR2 1.8L, both MT)