Improving Fuel Mileage

[thomsbrain]

Didn't read this thread, but Fifth Gear tested one of those mileage-oriented CPU reflashes, and it made their economy worse.

 

[kalrith]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, then maintaining your vehicle is a huge one for gas mileage. If your oil, air filter, fuel filter, plugs, wires, etc. are overdue for being changed, then that will quite negatively affect gas mileage. Regular use of FI cleaner (not the snake-oil fuel additives) probably helps too.

 

[olds]

Nobody has asked what type of car it is yet?

What car, Olds?

F150, 4X4, Crew Cab, 5.4 liter V 8.
I had a 7.3 PSD that got 17 MPG. This rig gets 13.
(Yes Jules, I need a truck.)

 

[olds]

How much do you drive a year Olds? Seems that even if you get a 10% increase in fuel economy, it might only equate to $100-200 a year or $1-2 a week. If your budget is that tight, I would suggest giving up the car and spending the money on a gun and a bullet.

I have the gun and bullet. but I am so hard headed and cold blooded that they just bounce off me.

 

[StageLeft]

Basically you have to do what I did, replace your car with a Prius

 

[olds]

Basically you have to do what I did, replace your car with a Prius

I thought about it but the whole idea of having to bat for the other team doesn't appeal to me.

 

[thescreensavers]

I can get better mpg with my foot then the cruise. Got 28mpg in 30 miles not too bad. Co efficient of my car is very good( .27) That .01 off from the ugly Prius take that! so its easy to keep up at 70+ with a bit of throttle.

 

[TraumaRN]

I thought about it but the whole idea of having to bat for the other team doesn't appeal to me.

Well get what I did, Ford Fusion Hybrid

Got 67.9mpg today in 15 miles of city traffic(average speed about 40mph)

 

[alkemyst]

Put up a mast and sail. Only drive with the wind.

and downhill both ways.

 

[v8envy]

Diesel is the only way you're getting better gas mileage out of a crew cab.

 

[LTC8K6]

Diesel is the only way you're getting better gas mileage out of a crew cab.

Yep, he needs a new truck.

 

[StageLeft]

I thought about it but the whole idea of having to bat for the other team doesn't appeal to me.

No joke, we borrowed a huge truck a week back and liked it. I looked a few times this week for an F150 or similar, crew cab (hold the kids), and 4X4. Wouldn't put many miles on it and it would own in the winter. Main problem being up front cost but I could earn my man card back with it in the driveway

 

[BUTCH1]

This is well worth a read:

http://www.volkswagen.de/etc/medial...pps.Par.0008.File.pdf/effizient_unterwegs.pdf

One item from that which I use is, don't keep a full tank of gas if your just driving around town, hauling 10 gallons of gas around means extra weight and since there are gas stations aplenty, why bother?..

 

[SearchMaster]

One item from that which I use is, don't keep a full tank of gas if your just driving around town, hauling 10 gallons of gas around means extra weight and since there are gas stations aplenty, why bother?..

How much difference does that extra ~60 pounds make in fuel economy? That's 2% on a 3000 pound car.

 

[StageLeft]

How much difference does that extra ~60 pounds make in fuel economy? That's 2% on a 3000 pound car.

Would make almost no difference at all, much less than 1%. A great deal of fuel economy is simply overcoming wind resistance and weight is only meaningful when accelerating.

 

[BUTCH1]

Would make almost no difference at all, much less than 1%. A great deal of fuel economy is simply overcoming wind resistance and weight is only meaningful when accelerating.

Well I meant as part of an overall plan to conserve fuel, not as a standalone measure. Almost every fuel savings plan includes reducing weight and 60 lbs is a place to start anyway. While the weight penalty is surely much more meaningful during accelerating it does play a part in fuel consumption during cruising as well. If what your saying were true you could take 2 identical versions of my car except one 700 lbs heavier, tow them with a chain to 60 MPH then release the chain and cruise both for 200 miles without stopping then both cars would consume the same amount of fuel right?..

 

[LTC8K6]

Weight makes no difference once you are cruising, mainly because wind resistance rules at highway speeds.

Mythbusters added several hundred pounds of clay to a Taurus and it made no difference to the cruise fuel economy.

They added the clay so they could dimple the surface of the car like a golf ball, which did improve cruise economy by 10%.

The weight would be a big penalty in town, or in traffic, when you are constantly re-accelerating that extra weight.

 

[Howard]

Weight makes no difference once you are cruising, mainly because wind resistance rules at highway speeds.

Mythbusters added several hundred pounds of clay to a Taurus and it made no difference to the cruise fuel economy.

They added the clay so they could dimple the surface of the car like a golf ball, which did improve cruise economy by 10%.

The weight would be a big penalty in town, or in traffic, when you are constantly re-accelerating that extra weight.

Unless the car has high-efficiency regenerative braking, like the Fusion Hybrid claims to (94%).

 

[RU482]

One item from that which I use is, don't keep a full tank of gas if your just driving around town, hauling 10 gallons of gas around means extra weight and since there are gas stations aplenty, why bother?..

that's assuming time is of no value

 

[l0cke]

Honestly, the best way is to get something that will show you what MPG you are getting. A Scanguage 2 if you have an OBDII car, a MPGunio if you have something earlier.

 

[BUTCH1]

that's assuming time is of no value

True, but it depends on how much one drives, 1/2 tank lasts me 5 days or so..

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.autometer.com/ecometer/

 

[Throckmorton]

No joke, we borrowed a huge truck a week back and liked it. I looked a few times this week for an F150 or similar, crew cab (hold the kids), and 4X4. Wouldn't put many miles on it and it would own in the winter. Main problem being up front cost but I could earn my man card back with it in the driveway

Used pickups are cheap.

 

[Throckmorton]

http://www.autometer.com/ecometer/

That thing is junk. What you want is a Scangauge. But even then, the instant mpg readout only tells you the same thing common sense does. Accelerate slow = less gas. Cruise slow = less gas

 

[ShawnD1]

Accelerate slow = less gas

Not really. If you look at an efficiency curve of a gasoline engine, you'll notice right away that open throttle is more efficient than throttled, and peak efficiency is often up there in the 4000rpm range.

You can't really use that information if you drive a V6. All that will happen is you'll spin the tires a lot and put a lot of stress on everything. If you're driving a ghetto car like a Honda Fit, best effiency would be pedal to the floor until maybe 4500rpm, shift gear, floor it to 4500, shift, floor it, shift. Heavily throttled (cruising) at high rpm is really bad and wide open throttle at low rpm is bad (bogging).