Fuel Economy

[m_holdahl]

I want all of your knowledge on how to decrease fuel consumption eg. engine mods, etc. I got 38 mpg last fill up and i want that to go up. Recently purchased the JC Whitney Fuel Consumption gauge. Any ideas for the interior would be a great help too. (Mine is in BAD shape)

[relentless]

1 passanger window up
2 if rear seat is torn up take it out. less the car has to carry.
3 dont lug the engine. my gf thinks if she put it in 5 at 38 mph it will get better mpg
4 run the right oil for the temp. My dad has the idea to put strait 50 in his old buick and I had to change to 10-30 and he claimed his but dyno says it runs better.
5 check ignition timing. I watch people do all kinds of stuff but they are scared to check or change ignition timing.

Added

6. maybe opening up the rear window to driverside to let the air out of the cab better.
If you want to get extreme!!!!!
7 lower the car catches less air.
8 close off the half of the grill on the passenger side
9 add side skirts like the honda insight
10 lightest wheels and skinny as possible less drag on engine.

[m_holdahl]

3 dont lug the engine. my gf thinks if she put it in 5 at 38 mph it will get better mpg

Thanks for that, was in the same boat as your gf.. ops: what's a good engine speed to run? In 5 going 55 its about 2.3, is this a good reference point?

[relentless]

45 to 55 sounds good to me. Also going up to speed slowing instead of racing up to speed helps out.

I have allway drove mine 70 and did 37 to 40 all the time. I have to go to daytona this weekend maybe and it 360 mile trip. I am going to leave at 6 am and do 60 the whole way and back. shooting for 45 mpg.

[m_holdahl]

generally i don't speed up to limit, hell sometimes i don't even hit the limit . Sides, its hard to jackrabbit when you stay below 2k rpm.

[FestYboy]

keep the revs between 2&3K nothing below or above that. this is where the engine is most efficient. keep the tire pressure up (like 36 psi). replace the spark plugs w/ NEW COPPER type (i prefer AC Delco) DON"T USE PLATINUM!!!! Advance the timing 3* from stock if you want to run 87 oct., more if you run a higher oct. ( i was +10 from stock w/ 93 oct and it never pinged or knocked). Put on a higher flowing muffler (sry, i don't have the part # that i used).

All this netted me an average of 42 mpg around town.

[skeeters_keeper]

if i ever got < 40 mpg i think i would die... i don't understand how so many of you get such sukky milege?
most of it lies in how you drive i would belive, however even knowing that i tend to play hard some... redline (or close) shifts, running around 85mph, etc... and i still get at least 42-43 mpg around town (to school/church/etc)
this past weekend we went from our place in lynchburg VA down to NC, took a lil over 5 hrs each way, got 47mpg on the way down and 44 on the way back. it was raning HARD most of the way on teh way back, and i was pushing aorund 70 to get back faster. on teh way down was goign around 60-65, mild rain half the time. both ways had 3 ppl and luggage.
best i ever got was a trip from PA to VA, 55mph the whole way, folowing my dad in a truck... i got 52mpg, and the car was LOADED. sat at least 3-4" lower in the back b/c of teh extra weight.

so, keep it slow, shift right (dont' bogg the engine, dont rev too high) and keep everything tuned up. should b getting much better milege than you are.

[oxbrain]

My old car got close to 50mpg with the b3, my new one only gets high 30s. So much has to do with the condition of the drive train.

I might also be driving a bit harsher as I'm still used to the b6.

[m_holdahl]

just installed the vacuum gauge. It reads about 20 is this a good vacuum or should it be higher? what can i do to increase my vacuum

[FestYboy]

vacuum should be between 22-18" Hg so you're right in the ballpark, no need to change a thing. theoretically, if you richen the mix and advance the timing a bit, you can increase the vacuum at idle, but there's no need to.

[m_holdahl]

whenever i push the gas pedal the very slightest it will go, my vac gauge drops 10+. Also the needle is really shaky all of the time.

[darkdan]

I got the same thing installed on mine, it shakes most of the time too.

www.auto-rx.com should help your mileage if you have any significant amount of miles on your engine.

[FestYboy]

if the gauge is shaking, you probably have an intermittent misfire (probably running lean or the gap on the plug is set wrong) check your plugs!!!! they are the easiest way to find out what your engine is doing.

[pole120]

Open up the motor a bit...a header and free-flowing exhaust matched with an open element filter. If you have a bit of know-how you can do it all yourself (except for purchasing the header) for relatively low cost.

~Josh

[todd00]

what difference is there in mileage with and w/o the cat converter?
whats the advantage of losing the cat?
how much increase in hp would adding a header give, and what would it do to the mileage?

i know some states do the emissions testing so losing the converter wouldn't be possible i guess. but not here in ioway.