what mpg do you get at

[MiltonHavoc]

I bought an auto Festiva because it was close,cheap, and ready to buy. If I had to travel for one , just that alone would have eaten up my budget, not to mention renting a car/truck/trailer.
That's not to say I don't like standard. I would much prefer if she(Pepper) was,but I'm happy with her(minus all the problems she's having).

Yes, there are many variables. But I just wanted to get a range/mode baseline of what the mpg' were at today's highway speeds.

[nitrofarm]

Good post Nitrofarm!
Now what toe settings do you use and are you using OEM suspension and tires or what?

I'm running 1/16th toe out, but for gas mileage obviously you should run perfectly straight.But I like to have a little toe out.My Camber is zero and I have stock Aspire springs."Poly" bushings on the front mount &"Poly" on the LCR as well. Toe Tires & Wheels make the biggest difference for my gas mileage.Right now I have Blizzack's & they are really a HIGH DRAG tire. Even if a take it easy (65-70mph) its hard to squeeze a 38mpg out of them. And then if I drive them hard at 75 it goes down to the lower 30's. Not to mention the BMW rims I have them on weigh 5 lbs more than stock 13" steelies.Oh,and the Blizzacks are VERY SQUIRMMY over 65mph. Buuuut snow tires aren't an option for a car that gets driven as much as this one in the Great Lakes area.

I bought an auto Festiva because it was close,cheap, and ready to buy. If I had to travel for one , just that alone would have eaten up my budget, not to mention renting a car/truck/trailer.
That's not to say I don't like standard. I would much prefer if she(Pepper) was,but I'm happy with her(minus all the problems she's having).

Yes, there are many variables. But I just wanted to get a range/mode baseline of what the mpg' were at today's highway speeds.

Milton I should be able to get at least 32 mpg at all times with your Festy and 32-35 should be the norm. But since your in CO I don't know your elevation and its difficult to compare. But my ATX Aspire gets 30 mpg all day long at 75 with smooth hard tires and no Toe. If we really baby her, we can get 35.
All of my results are on cars that have initial timing setting of 12 deg BTDC. And engines with excellent compression & no blow buy. Oh yeah,also I run synthetic engine oil & ATX FLUID in the tranny. In the summer months I'll switch to gear oil in the MTX.

[MiltonHavoc]

Blowby. On my car. I'm trying to eliminate all the little possibilities before I blame it on the actual head and rings. But I have an aspire head to swap on if need be. I am planing to ultimately go to a b6 in the auto with a rear turbo and then find a five speed to do a built turbo b3 in. I'm going across country to the east coast in my festy leaving Sunday. So wish me luck lol.

[nitrofarm]

Blowby. On my car. I'm trying to eliminate all the little possibilities before I blame it on the actual head and rings. But I have an aspire head to swap on if need be. I am planing to ultimately go to a b6 in the auto with a rear turbo and then find a five speed to do a built turbo b3 in. I'm going across country to the east coast in my festy leaving Sunday. So wish me luck lol.

Well Good luck then! Have fun & be safe,long trips are always good for checking MPG's!

[Banana Bonanza]

I will say this again. Automatics should only be for the disabled and elderly. I think every state should require you take your driver's test in a manual, certainly would help keep idiots off the road.

Amen Brother Ben....

Bugs me to no end that there are no manual transmission full size pickups unless you pony up for fancy super duty expensive diesels with six speed. Some of us really want a heavy duty granny gear 4 or 5 spd in a half ton work truck. Heavy duty granny manual tranny hasnt been offered in half ton since late 80s. And whats with all the 4 door pickups with short box. Do people just buy them to show others they are so wealthy they dont actually need a REAL pickup? Look like a sedan missing its trunk lid to me. Not only are manual trannys history, but single cab pickups with 8ft bed seem to be history too. At least they are extremely rare on dealer lots. Heck if I didnt really need a pickup bed, better to get full size SUV or van and pull a trailer on occasions you actually need to haul something.

[nitrofarm]

^ All right then,thanks for sharing. That-

[mikeyjd]

40-41 mpg in the winter so far for my 92 5speed L. I just recently did a grill block, side mirrors delete, passenger side wiper delete and antenna delete to see if i could squeeze out a couple more mpg's. I'm also looking into getting a block heater for my morning 13 mile work commute which should help a little bit. My goal in the end is 50mpg and should be doable in the summer with a little extra psi in the tires and the right driving style.

[Prafeston]

Can you get the drivers wiper to swoop all the way across or does it just do your side? How does it affect the visibility in the rain?

[kumalaba]

about 30 @ 70mph b6 sohc late model 5 speed

[Lannis]

Each tank of gas is a 400-mile mix of highway, city, and back roads. 43 MPG in the red '93 L beater, and 41 MPG in the yellow '90 L+ nice one ....

I'm driving the L+ 1900 miles to Denver Colorado in a few weeks, I'll see how she does slicing through the prevailing west winds at 75 mph!

Lannis

[nitrofarm]

Aspire mpg

Ok it was 34 deg. last night and drizzling and on my "Monthly Inspections Route" I traveled 160 miles and stopped at 13 houses. I'm usually at each house about 3-5 minutes and never kill the motor.The only thing wrong with the car is I have some annoying tire vibs at 70. My top speed was 80 on the GPS but I would guess my avg speed to be @ 60 mph. I had about 75 lbs of tools in the trunk.My front Toe is set at 1/4 deg toe OUT. Anyway I clicked of a solid 41mpg in my 94 Spire with a Festy gear box. The car rides way too high in the air,so next is coil overs and custom front Fascia. I'm pretty confident under ideal weather conditions I can get solid 45mpg's if I stayed on the highway @ 70-75mph. I have a more "ideal" route to run tonight (more rural area) and will cover @ 200-250 miles with 40 stops. Its not gonna be raining so I wont be blasting the defrost as much.So I'm hoping to get a little better. But its still gonna be cold,I'm sucking a lot of heat off the engine to keep my buns warm. But I'll let y'all know how she does. Reminds me.......gotta check tire psi B4 departure.Car feels great though! Gotta warning ticket from the sheriff yesterday 68 in a 55 drool. He was very friendly and I actually sensed he like my "Egg". Its really hard to keep it under 65 on a flat grade,it just wants to keep creeping towards 70. And that's where he got me,a wide open 2 mile stretch surrounded by Mint & Corn fields. Thank God for merciful Sheriff's in Jefferson County. Milwaukee & Waukesha County Sheriff's don't even blink an eye. They just hand you the ticket and say"Slow Down".ps I dont Baby this engine at all and usually shift 1-2nd gears above 5K and into 3rd @ 4 rpm,so I'm really happy with this so far.

[TorqueEffect]

Even with my increased ride height from uncut Rio struts, and rear coil boosters, slight oil burning from leaky valve seals, I still manage 40MPG roughly with mixed driving.
160 miles on 4 gallons (When gauge reads E, usually means 1 gallon is left in the tank, so 4 gallons gives me half a tank.)

I can't fill my tank over halfway atm, leak has got much worse, but now I know why I was getting below 40MPG before the leak noticeably affected my gas mileage.
Seriously, the last complete fillup I did before I realized the leak was real bad, I only got around 80 miles on the first half of the tank, that is abysmal.

[Bert]

Amen Brother Ben....

Bugs me to no end that there are no manual transmission full size pickups unless you pony up for fancy super duty expensive diesels with six speed. Some of us really want a heavy duty granny gear 4 or 5 spd in a half ton work truck. Heavy duty granny manual tranny hasnt been offered in half ton since late 80s. And whats with all the 4 door pickups with short box. Do people just buy them to show others they are so wealthy they dont actually need a REAL pickup? Look like a sedan missing its trunk lid to me. Not only are manual trannys history, but single cab pickups with 8ft bed seem to be history too. At least they are extremely rare on dealer lots. Heck if I didnt really need a pickup bed, better to get full size SUV or van and pull a trailer on occasions you actually need to haul something.

I was not at all amused upon discovering that domestic pickups are no longer available with manual transmissions (since about 2008). Of course nowadays an 8 foot bed is just as much a novelty as are easy-clean rubber floor coverings too. Apparently manuals were discontinued because emission devices cannot control the spike in gases that occur in between shifts. Needless to say I will not be purchasing a newer truck anytime soon and already have plans afoot to keep my 5 speed long bed 86 F150 going for at least another decade.
By the way Miltonhavoc; if your mileage really sucks, check to see if the Cat is blocked and also try changing the O2 sensor.

[MiltonHavoc]

Well on the trip b4 I left I did oil change, plugs, wires, seafoam, new tyres, and gapped the plugs aggressively. I was getting awesome mpgs. I made it from Colorado to St.Louis on 2 1/2 tanks of gas..maybe 3. Got to wv drove around a bit. Went from WV to Allentown PA on about a tank. Picked up a passenger and that kinda killed it. Now I'm back in CO and its all crappy again. Plus I have a massive oil leak somewhere. Well it doesn't gush out but after being full for a week I went to do an oil change and had less than a quart....scary!
Its time to retire the b3 for a complete rebuild and drop in a b6 for the time being.

[rmoltis]

Makes me wonder why people payed more to get the Auto for less gas mileage when they bought these new.
Oh that is right! More women bought these cars then men, and most women would rather have the automatic even if it meant almost a 10MPG difference in gas mileage.
Now this may cause me to be single forever, but any girlfriend of mine is going to learn how to drive a stick, because there is no way I am buying a car with an automatic, EVER! (Unless it is a Festy, but it wouldn't keep the automatic for long.)

I will never understand this lazy country we live in where everyone buys a car with an automatic. Nowadays manufactures don't even give you a manual option for most cars, and if they do, dealers hardly carry them.
Guess how many manual Ford Fusions the Ford dealer had on their lot when my folks went to look at some? Two, but none of the ones they had fit what my parents were looking for so they had to get theirs special ordered.

I will say this again. Automatics should only be for the disabled and elderly. I think every state should require you take your driver's test in a manual, certainly would help keep idiots off the road.

You know as much as I agree with you about manual cars being superior.
The newer automatic cars are better designed than they used to be.
The torque converters are smaller and more efficient.
My gf has a 08 Toyota corolla that she has had new and its auto.
And even though I prefer manual this car isn't that bad.
When we drove on across state trips it got up to 36 mpg at between 70-90mph
It has a 1.8l dohc variable valve technology that nets it %100 volumetric efficiency and its heavier.
And my aspire would avg 34-36mpg and only gets %85 volumetric efficiency with a 1.3l and less heavy vehicle.
Technology is bringing newer automatics better power and efficiency you'd be suprised
I still prefer a manual anyday though.