Better Gas Mileage

Wheaty214

Wheaty214

Active member
What are modifications for cars that help with fuel economy? Intakes, chips, whatever, tell me what has worked for you guys! And I'm not going to drive more reserved, where's the fun in that. +K for helpful comments like usual.
 
Tips that help:

Remove weight in car.

Take off ski rack. (known to reduce mileage from 15% to 25%)

Firmer Tire Pressure.

Shift under 3k.

Higher octane fuel burns better.

all the stuff you listed is pretty much bullshit for fuel economy.

 
Slam it to the ground (makes it more aerodynamic, increasing fuel economy)Slap a wing on that bitch (makes the car go faster without using more gas... don't ask me how it works, it just does)Tinted windows (believe it or not, light waves from the sun can slow your car down as much as 5mph)Bigger rims (makes every revolution take the car farther, using less fuel)
by using all of the things listed above, my 1992 Civic burns almost no fuel.

 
False on the Cai. unless you tune for the air/fuel mixture it ends up giving you worse fuel economy.
 
i lost

But, roof racks kill you. With my roof box, i got 27-28mpg at 65 and 25-26mpg at 85 and without i was getting 31-32mpg at 80-85.
 
These things do not all change fuel economy that much to be worth the effort. All the fuel does (in the form of an air/fuel mixture) is provide the explosion that turns each piston. Taking off a ski rack is not going to change the amount of fuel used. It would take something like towing a boat vs. not towing a boat to cause a noticable fuel difference.
 
You're fucking high. No ski rack = less frctions = easier for pistons to fire = lower rpms = less gas.
 
Granted it highly depends upon the type of car, and tunes will help with all this. But a higher octane rating means the fuel were burn easier and have a great energy input output ration, therefore it requires less fuel to make the pistons fire. aka better fuel economy....

But most cars are meant to run on low low octane fuel. and at higher elevations it wont do as much, since there is not enough air in the atmosphere to help burn that fuel at the right mixture therefore it runs rich.
 
I cleaned my fuel injectors with something similar and the difference in fuel economy was almost zero, I actually got less.
 
Raise tire pressure, get a better flowing air filter, use synthetic oil, and most importantly, don't drive like a douche.
 
Yeah for sure, I mean if you're driving reserved all the time where the RPM's are never really going over 3000, you're going to get better gas mileage than someone is revving the engine a ton, accelerating quickly, just in general driving their car hard. I drive somewhere in the middle. I usually maintain a constant speed when I can, I do speed a lot, and I don't whip it around corners and quickly accelerate to the speed I want. My car being a 96 Subaru, I don't have much power so I just slowly accelerate to the desired speed. The way you drive definitely has a huge impact on your fuel economy, but most people do not drive to get better gas mileage.
 
1. Sell current car.

2. Buy a Smart ForTwo coupé pulse 40kW cdi

3. Enjoy 71,27 Miles per gallon

4. Profit.

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This is what I do. My friends tell me all the time that I drive like a Grandpa. But my tricks are to cost into as many turns as possible. For the routes I take on a regular basis I know exactly when to let off the gas so that I don't have to use my brakes. Only downside to this is you can't be in a hurry to go anywhere.
 
This is a common fallacy, Cold air intakes only give you better mileage at Wide-Open-Throttle, so if you're driving a racecar go ahead. If you're not, you're kind of wasting your money
 
1. drive a manual

2. shift under 3k rpms

3. no roof racks, etc.

4. change out spark plugs and wires

5. run a can of sea foam through it

6. clean out/change airfilter

7. oil change

8. good tires, proper air pressure

9. take out extra weight

10. dont give fat people rides

11. leave earlier and cruise at 65

thats all i got.
 
i think it can easily add a lot more than 15 miles per tank..

specially if you're commuting 30 to 50 miles each way.
 
If you do this, you better be in the far right lane and out of the way of all traffic actually driving the speed limit. I fucking hate people who drive 65 on the highway to "increase fuel mileage."
 
Automatic transmitions have gotten so good, the majority get better millage than manuals these days. Also, when I was driving my 03 wrx wagon with a rocket box on top, I got almost the exact same millage with it on as with it off, between 300 and 315 miles a tank. Use a fuel system cleaner whenever get your oil changed doesn't hurt though
 
No shit you are gonna get the same gas mileage with a rocketbox on top vs without on a wrx, cause you have a turbo and probably accelerate aggressive and drive balls out frequently which always will produce the same gas mileage.
 
Lots of dis-information in this thread.

One I have the biggest problem with is premium fuel. You will not get better fuel economy on premium fuel. Higher octane fuels are meant for cars that have higher compression. The increase in octane keeps the fuel from igniting before the spark plug ignites it. If you run premium fuel in your car made for 87 octane, you're waiting your money.

Also, a less restrictive intake and exhaust can net you some mpg's. an engine is basically a big air pump, the easier it can move air, the easier it can work too move the air.

With that said, an intake and exhaust might net you a 2 mpg increase on the highway if you're lucky, but by the time you buy an exhaust and intake the rate of return for that extra mpg is going to take a while.
 
depending on the car and how well its running shifting under 3k can eventually gum up your intake. Use dry gas or octane booster once a month, change your fuel filter when your supposed to. Change your oil on time or sooner. Clean oil=less resistance, less resistance=better mileage
 
sigh. Why would i wait on my money? And if you move air faster in your "big air pump" where does the greater amount of fuel come from to compensate for it? No where... you have to tune for it. Also a "less restrictive exhaust," totally depends. Do not straight pipe your car with a 3.5" exhaust, you will lose back pressure and your car will have shit for power and will get way worse gas mileage. Do some research as to what is the best header back exhaust size, there is a reason manufactures put certain size exhaust systems on cars.

Please stop spitting your own disinformation.

Also let me correct my statement since most people cannot derive what I was trying to say. Put the recommended octane in your car, you are not saving money by putting the lowest octane in your car, when it will ignite better under higher octane. Too high of octane is not bad for you car, just a possible waist of money. Too low of octane is bad.
 
I have actually never heard this. Please explain more how that would happen. Do you have info backing this statement?
 
If your car doesn't have a good ratio of fuel to air (very common at altitude). or Its running a little rich. Maybe you have a little misfire or a dirty air filter or your timing isn't perfect. This can all contribute to carbon build up in general. Revving a little higher will help reduce carbon by combusting the fuel a little more. Essentially shifting lower will save gas, I just find at least where I live that if i shift at or around 3 k I have to clean my intake and Idle control a lot less often because my car doesn't run right up here.
 
also if your engine is fairly high compression your rings and valves seal better at higher rpms. I'm not ganna go digging for proof or whatever to back this up. I've been wrenching on my own shit for years and I know this from experience.
 
kinda makes sense. I believe you. but cleaning your air filter often is always good, so saving gas by not revving high and cleaning your filter often still would be better. Correct? High rpms do seal better as you said, but a constant high rate of rpm's is not the best.
 
You don't need to tune for an intake an exhaust.

If I remember right, most cars at wide open throttle use about 80% capacity of the injector. There are a lot of factors that go into timing and ignition, ambient air temp, air density, load, etc...Car's have a base tune that engineers with tape on their glasses figure out with algorithms. Then there are the long term and short term fuel trims. They factor in the outside variables and using the base tune adjust the fuel and air mixture for the best performance.

If you open up the airways of the intake and exhaust, the computer will be able to adapt using the short and long term fuel trims. Most cars are actually rich from the factory at WOT to keep the engine on the cooler side. Guys that really know what they are doing with tuning can piggyback the car's PCM with a fuel controller and either richen the mixture if needed or lean it out at WOT.

Guess I'll stop with my dis-information though because I have no idea what I'm talking about.
 
Wait wait... piggybacking... aka tuning. Jesus christ you are saying the same thing. Stock ecus can only adapt to a point, tuning your car for altitude and all components is always better for your car. no matter what.
 
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