Aspire fuel mileage

[TominMO]

Just took a trip in my Aspire (Bruce). On the first leg I was driving east on I-70 for 360 miles, with a strong tail wind, and drafting behind semis. Average speed was between 60 - 65 MPH.

I got 46.75 MPG on that tank. Stock motor, 5-speed, 185/70x13 tires @ 40 PSI. Car was full of stuff.

On my first Aspire test run at 60 MPH I got 48.25 MPG. But that was over a short distance. It was intended as a sort of baseline, and was not exactly real-world. http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ghlight=aspire

Saw a Smart car on the hwy, behind a semi. Made the Aspire look huge!

[loknlode]

4 dr. 5 speed - 36/40mpg

2 door auto - 27mpg. just got this one and haven't looked into plugs, wires, etc. so I hope to do 30/32 but that may not be do-able.

I will be looking to go with 15" wheels which will help on the highway which is about 3/4 of my driving. if a grill block and side ground effect will help I may try those but I won't sacrafice looks and the wheel skirts with all due respect guys looks a little "off" to put it as nicely as I know how. lol.

if mpg is an ultimate goal then the most cost effective way MAY be ? looking into a diesel swap or as simple as retro fitting a K&N filter, going with a header and a 2" exhaust. I removed the cat. converter already.

I already sacraficed the mpg's going with the auto but I'm tired of shifting.

if you do highway driving mostly I'd think upgrading to the 1.8 bp engine would help also as the engine wouldn't be working as hard at higher speeds.
don't know if thats the case here, but I used to have a v8 that got better mpg's than the straight 6 that was originally in the truck.

[TominMO]

4 dr. 5 speed - 36/40mpg

2 door auto - 27mpg. just got this one and haven't looked into plugs, wires, etc. so I hope to do 30/32 but that may not be do-able.

I will be looking to go with 15" wheels which will help on the highway which is about 3/4 of my driving. if a grill block and side ground effect will help I may try those but I won't sacrafice looks and the wheel skirts with all due respect guys looks a little "off" to put it as nicely as I know how. lol.

if mpg is an ultimate goal then the most cost effective way MAY be ? looking into a diesel swap or as simple as retro fitting a K&N filter, going with a header and a 2" exhaust. I removed the cat. converter already.

I already sacraficed the mpg's going with the auto but I'm tired of shifting.

if you do highway driving mostly I'd think upgrading to the 1.8 bp engine would help also as the engine wouldn't be working as hard at higher speeds.
don't know if thats the case here, but I used to have a v8 that got better mpg's than the straight 6 that was originally in the truck.

Taller tires will of course help on the hwy, as you say. The BP will hurt. Less displacement = better MPG. The BP sucks in more air simply due to its larger displacement, and the air/fuel ratio will be about the same as for the B3 or any other normally-tuned car, so more air = more gas too.

[Britstiva]

DANG!! My Aspire is only getting 32MPG!!! It's a 5 spd. WHY am I not getting high 30's low 40's?! *UGH!*