Getting the most mileage out of your gas.

[ryanprins13]

according to fuelly my mpg is between 26 and 30 with an average of 28. I drive on highway and in the city about 50/50 and I am definitely not an economy driver, I like to have fun a little bit too often
anyways I was just wondering if the way I drive can really make my mpg this bad? I would never guess my mpg was as low as 26 mpg! I've never been over 30 mpg according to fuelly even when I am trying to drive with low rpms. I keep my tire pressure around 34-40psi. is this normal?

Thats very low. What size are your tires?
I get 25us mpg pulling this through decent hills.

And 45 usmpg empty 20/80 city to hy if i drive it hardish in the city and 70-75mph on the hy.
So somethings wrong. I got 30 usmpg once years back when my 02 sensor quit and it was -35c and i removed my exhaust cat back and i spent 2 or 3 hrs bombing around on a frozen lake in 6inches of snow....

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[FestYboy]

OP: "I know there are some gas mileage hawks lurking around here so I was wondering what people are doing to get better mileage from a festiva. I know the basics new o2 sensor, plugs, wires and filters. What else can be done? All suggestions welcome."
Um, OP said "mileage" which I take to mean distance travelled per gallon (or litre) of fuel. Sorry to be so picky.

Yeah yeah :p

Anyone have any thoughts on my posts? Questions?

[ryanprins13]

Yeah yeah [emoji14]

Anyone have any thoughts on my posts? Questions?

Well there isnt really anything cost effective you can do on these cars that way right? Higher compression, dual ignition, fancier spark plugs maybe, running the engine on a different cycle. It burns better at proper operating temperature right? So heating up quicker...

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[FestYboy]

Higher compression isn't all that cost prohibitive, there are several ways to achieve that part, some easier on the wallet than others obviously. Prep and coatings can have a measurable affect. Valve timing changes should be explored, as well as runner tuning on both sides, but this will make a rather peaky power band ( I would shoot for 3k RPM peak unless a different 5th gear ratio was installed).

But in all this, only the first 2 items have a direct correlation to the fuel itself, the others are about charge efficiency.

Really, we need a fuel with a higher BTU value AND an octane level of at least 90 avg. Diesel has the BTUs, but a very low octane level, ethanol has the octane, but crap for BTUs... Maybe J4?, but I haven't researched the octane value or if it even has one.

[TominMO]

Not disputing any ideas for making Festivas inherently more efficient, but I still want to point out that how a person drives is by far the most important determinant for MPGs. My stock B3/5-speed with 155/80-13s got 58.0 MPG @ 55 MPH, steady driving on the hwy on my usual 85-mile test loop. That figure graphed consistently with MPG results at higher and lower speeds, so I know my test procedures were consistent.
45 MPH = 62.5 MPG
55 MPH = 58.0 MPG
60 MPH = 52.5 MPG
It's all about atmospheric resistance and RPM.

I also did a run with Matt D's car, shortly after I bought it, on my road trip down to FL to visit Greg. B3, 5-speed, same tire size, but with Matt's performance head and header*. HP dynoed at ~85 @ the wheels. At 60 MPH over 250 miles of hwy, it got 48 MPG. Compared to the result above @ 60 with the stock motor, with only ~53 WHP. By dropping down to 55 MPH, I could have easily gotten Matt's motor's MPG well into the 50s. Probably about 53 MPG.

As long as the car is functioning properly, i.e. no dragging brakes, a good tuneup, etc, anyone should be able to duplicate my results.

Driving around the city's hwys, 55 MPH is not too slow to be unsafe in traffic, or really piss people off, so I consider that the "sweet spot". I hardly ever do this tho!

Just for fun, when I had a Suby Outback 5-speed, I drove it @ 55 and got 30 MPG. Now I need to test my Kia Rondo.....


* Now in ThisVelologist's Aspire SE! :-)

[fudge]

My car is 92 EFI. 175/60/r13 tires. I have never changed my 02 sensor. So just pick up the $20 part from advance auto and change it out?

[FestYboy]

Do not purchase the Bosch unit, get the NGK/NTK unit.

[ryanprins13]

^+1 i bought a bosch and it dropped me 15mpg. Since then I have just removed 02 sensors from every junkyard festiva i see and have a stash now.
Your tires are pretty close to the right size, within 1%, so thats not doing it.
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[fudge]

dang I stopped at the store and got the bosch on the way home before reading this. the only one they had in stock. so return it and order the right one?

[fudge]

I ordered last the ngk/ntk one off amazon and i will return the bosch one, thanks for the heads up

[FestYboy]

Yessir

[ryanprins13]

Higher compression isn't all that cost prohibitive, there are several ways to achieve that part, some easier on the wallet than others obviously. Prep and coatings can have a measurable affect. Valve timing changes should be explored, as well as runner tuning on both sides, but this will make a rather peaky power band ( I would shoot for 3k RPM peak unless a different 5th gear ratio was installed).

But in all this, only the first 2 items have a direct correlation to the fuel itself, the others are about charge efficiency.

Really, we need a fuel with a higher BTU value AND an octane level of at least 90 avg. Diesel has the BTUs, but a very low octane level, ethanol has the octane, but crap for BTUs... Maybe J4?, but I haven't researched the octane value or if it even has one.

Higher compression isnt cost prohibitive but isnt something you will see returns on from better fuel economy for a very long time.
Coatings- i hear with slick50 you can run the engine without oil, that would reduce pumping losses right?
Getting more out of your fuel is different from changing your fuel... but yes, lots of options when it comes to using less fuel if you do that.



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