MPG Record ?

[Darin Younce]

Ok , now that I have seen 52 mpg ( atleast on one trip ) I am determined to reach 60 mpg. Anyone one know of a festiva getting 60 mpg or even better. I am thinking of all sorts of things that might help. Some of my ideas might be a bit out of the box but feel free to commit or advise. I am thinking first I could lighten the car even more. Perhaps replacing the front and rear bumper ( inner steel ) with something lighter , possibly remove seats or other items. Next, improve airflow , spoiler, belly pan, ect... Add after market air intake and perhaps a performance chip ( saw one on ebay that was suppose to give you 3 to 7 mpg . Anyway, just rambling .

[GenevaDirt]

scrap the chip add on....total bunk...it is just a diode that does nothing. The other stuff could all help.

[Darin Younce]

Thanks Gen, Sorta thought that, although I did get a program added on my 2001 f 250 that increaseed my milage, but that was a whole different monster. Id say that this 1.3 is at it's threshold of performance concerning fuel consumption . Anyway , I figure
I can tweak it with a common sense approach.

[neanderpaul]

One guy here claimed 60. He's eccentric and may have pulled it off. All the other bests were 49 - 53. The best way to get the best mpg in the 5 speed is to run out a tank at 45 - 50 mph. No AC windows up. Look up hypermiler techniques. Don't use the drive through and a hundred other mileage boosters. The chip is not good. Your other ideas are. Good luck! I expect a full report when you break 53!!

[deathegg]

Yeah, weight reduction would help. I know lots of us here have removed the rear seat for example. Not sure what you would replace the inner bumpers with that would be appreciably lighter and would be cheap to do. Some aero tricks may work, but a Festiva is as square as the box it came in, and not much can be done, unless you get radical about it. You may want to visit Ecomodder.com for aero hints.

My latest big trip (across country two years ago) i got an ave. of 44mpg ('88 festiva, Carb, 4-speed), and that was with the car loaded with just about everything I own, going 70-75 m.p.h. And aero was a big factor in addition to the weight, because the big load in the rear caused the rear to drop, raising the front relative to the rear, instead of a level car.
My top m.p.g was......ready?......57.1 mpg!! Now, that was way back when the car was new, and the national speed limit was 55. But it still counts! And it was with my '88, with a carb and 4-speed. If you have f.i and a 5-speed it's much easier to get good highway mpg's.
I want to get about 48-50 on the cross-country trip home next year. I have some aero mods planned which may help.

[Kraig]

My best tank was 56.67 mpg, my 90 day average is around 52.7 mpg right now. My gas log is on gassavers.org for the world to see... 38,000 miles worth of mileage records and graph. My driving is mostly rural highway and I've been trying for a 60 mpg tank for two years....it's hard to try to coast 37 miles to work in a timely manner! The guys with really high numbers hypermiling do mostly city driving with alot of coasting....

[freshtiva]

I agree with carbonvmax. 53 mpg is my personal best. It was in a five speed driven at 45-50 mph on a straight level road through a river valley. I had to take the road to work for a couple of weeks once. The speed limit was 45. Got 53 mpg out of two tanks full.

[litesong]

Yeah, weight reduction would help.

My top m.p.g was......ready?......57.1 mpg!! Now, that was way back when the car was new, and the national speed limit was 55. But it still counts! And it was with my '88, with a carb and 4-speed. If you have f.i and a 5-speed it's much easier to get good highway mpg's.
I want to get about 48-50 on the cross-country trip home next year. I have some aero mods planned which may help.

Alright, 57.1MPG! I also have the 88 Festiva with the carbed 4 speed that I got 53+MPG on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains with a bunch of camping, camera & travel stuff in the back. For over a decade after that I was only able to get 48 & 49 MPG but I had mountains I traveled to.

Recently, my mechanic had to change the sparkplug wires & a month later he changed the timing belt. These two factors have returned Festiva's youth. Over 4 days with 3 warmups & one trip over a 5500 mountain pass, Festiva got 51.8 MPG. So I think higher can be got. Your 57.1MPG is way high tho.

Altho the backseat is fairly light, take the backseat out. It's just 4 bolts & will store vertical & compactly in the garage, even on top of something else. I'm not a hypermiler & do no mods.

Does someone with the 4speed & carburetor think they can hit 60MPG?

[BigElCat]

My Festiva is a '88 carb'd and 4-speed. It's only averaging 34.3 mpg, and I live in a small town. I commute 12 miles round trip everyday at speeds up to 70 mph. It has a new tune up, new O2 sensor, and the motor is not burning any oil.

I haven't done a compression test on it. The exhaust is open right behind the cat. I'm going to get a new exhaust soon.

34.3 I really want 43 mpg.

[imateo44]

COME TO NORTH DAKOTA!!! haha i made it from Bismarck to Minot (106 miles) did some driving in town Minot... and made it back to Bismarck on a half a tank in my 1992 L 5sp. no please believe that i did have a little bit of wind help at some points in the trip, and yea I have the red rocket completely stripped, as in I have no interior panels, no back seat, only a dash and steering wheel with stock front seats, car is lowered, and have a spoiler on the car.

[getnpsi]

ecomodder has taught me a few things. one was...whatever tire pressure you are running, increase it another 15 percent and watch how far you can coast. coasting is what drives up your mileage. our 12-14 inch tires are so cheap it pays back a lot if they dont last the last few thousand miles if you are saving a whole gallon of gas per tank.

another thing is to figure out ways to get the car to operating temperature as fast as possible. some people block out the grill like members in cold cold weather already know about. i have taken off my windshield wipers, done the jdm style hood mod, and duct taped a lot of the bumper opening off. red tape red bumper you can barely tell on the asipre. one thing i have not done was seal up the underside so there are no large overhangs, no bumps and twists other than whats in my exhaust system. people are saying this is a good measurable gain as well. i am still using the o2 sensor that came with the car, its very stuck...but with my driving style and the tinkering i have done to the aspire i am able to get it to 41 mpg several tanks delivering pizzas. that is a lot of coming to a stop, idling in traffic, car not always warm, and not seeing much straight highway driving. i am sure i can squeeze 50mpg drafting semis and staying under 70mph. a festiva with the roller cam head should get the same or better.

[krbballer]

I also have an 88L 4 speed, and I have been averaging 35 mpg. The last four tanks have been 37 34 35 36. I had one tank at 40 so far. All of that is not really city, but not highway either. More of 10 mins of stop and go, then 15 mins of highway.

[cubstiva1]

two years back i got 41.53 mpg, 358 miles one one tank. that was a longer straighter trip to work. now i'm sure the hat is holding me back. the best i've gotten in the past year has been 34mpg @ 310 miles. i've got a lot more stop and go driving now.

i'd love to get another 5 speed and completely strip it down to a drivers seat and a speed-o-meter on the fire wall. that seems like the way to go. who needs heat or a radio anyway?

[boostmaster]

I'm a newbie here but I think I can squeeze 50 actually shooting more for 55-60mpg. I recently purchased a 88lx 5-speed that does not look as if it has ever had a tune up or brake work, missing exhaust, bald tires, broken radio, and no A/C. Drove up and downhill on the way home- very limited coasting.My calculation before refilling was 46.7mpg. (and this car is rough!) SO, I figure with a little tlc, I should be well over 50mpg when she gets back on the road.

[Jasin]

Another way to increase gas mileage is to use Acetone. I believe it does something to the surface tension of the fuel.
I wouldn't use acetone in a newer engine though, believe it may affect the seals, but an old festiva engine.....