mpg

[fredo2121]

I have an 1989 festiva with a rebuild engine about 2 years ago with the carburetor rebuilt as well. I have been tracking my mileage for about a year now and average 29mpg with mixed street/highway driving. I keep my tire pressure at the proper psi. My question is if 29mpg is a good average for my car/year because i see people talk about 40+mpg.....

[MTec007]

it could be your driving habbits, it could be a bad sensor.. i cant think of the name but there is a sensor, that if its bad it will waste fuel.

all of my driving is 60mph or lower, sometimes i lead foot it. my wife drives about the same as me, we both try to shift at 2300rpms most of the time. i avg per tank 45mpg during the warmer months.

[deathegg]

That seems a bit low for a carb'd Festy IMO. My '88 (carb, 4-speed) gets an average of about 34-35, with with just a little highway miles. It used to be better, but hey, it's an '88, and most everything, including the clutch is original.

How do you drive? Leadfoot and jackrabbit starts, etc? Or more on the tame side?

[Pu241]

Welll might be simple as the difference between an ATX and a manual.
As you didn't tell us which tranny you have, I will assume you have an ATX because 29 MPG would be about right for the 3 spd automatic.

[neanderpaul]

Not with a carb it isnt auto. I find that carbed festys with unusually bad gas mileage are unusually quick for a festiva.

[kartracer46]

Not with a carb it isnt auto. I find that carbed festys with unusually bad gas mileage are unusually quick for a festiva.

Oddly enough, that is how mine works. Crappy fuel economy, but it runs super. I can "when I want to" pull away from a light "without speed shifting" and out pull most v-6 / automatic cars that are being driven normally. I have never really timed it, but it gets up to speed really well for it's age and mileage.

I ususally shift 1to2 @ 25mph, 2to3 @ 35mph, 3to4 @ 45mph and 4to 5 @ 55mph. I usually try to keep the RPM's around 2500 or less when possible. I admit, I get a spirited foot every once in a while, but I try to drive mine fairly normal. I have thought about hooking up a vacuum economy meter and seeing just how close or far off I am, I may then I can let you know were "the sweet spot is in my carby engine."

[bhazard]

25 in 1st? I'm in 5th by then lol. Of course I have b6t torque on my side...

[Roboskittle]

Just for comparison my 4 door Aspire with auto trans gets about 30 with the A/C running and that is mostly in town driving back and forth to work. Some highway here and there but not much.

[Pu241]

Not with a carb it isnt auto.

Agreed, if it's still OEM.
With all the swapping engines and tranny's that have been done to cars and then sold, we can't be sure we are still dealing with OEM equipment.

[neanderpaul]

When running hard I run a stock man trans festiva to 25, 45, 75 in 1,2,and 3.

[todd00]

my 88lx that is carbed averages about 40 city/highway so i think 29 is low.

have you checked the timing? when i first got the 88 the timing was off and i was getting crappy mileage due to that.

[freshtiva]

my 88lx that is carbed averages about 40 city/highway so i think 29 is low.

have you checked the timing? when i first got the 88 the timing was off and i was getting crappy mileage due to that.

Your LX is a five speed isnt it ? Thats a big plus for MPG. 30MPG is about right for an auto.

[jesteratc]

My 4 speed 88 L gets 41 in the city, if i shift below 2500. But realistically, 33, 34 in city. Spirited driving.
71,000 miles, all original. Except the horn....

[fredo2121]

no its is manual with about 160K. I once had to remove a small canister that sat on the left side(passenger) of the car connected to the carb by what seems to be a vacuum line but could never replace it. the dealer said the part isnt made anymore and ive lost misplaced it since.