Twacked

Im wondering if there is a sensible way to increase gas mileage without sacrificing my cars dependability.

400fanboy

You can mess with the tires you have on the car. Harder\eco tires will reduce the rolling resistance and fuel consumption.

The only other meaningful change is how you, the driver, drive. The faster you travel, the more power is needed to push through the air. And all else being equal, engines are most efficient at relatively high throttle openings reasonably close to their peak torque. "reading the road ahead" so you don't waste gas accelerating to a read light. Things like that.

dwoods801

They can become less efficient while the mileage is stacking up. Get a good bottle of fuel injector cleaner to add to your gas tank. Check the air filter, change the oils and use a thinner oil, maybe a 5w20, make sure the spark plugs are fresh, You should replace the upstream O2 sensor on both banks, clean you air filter and MAF sensor,. Confirm the lower engine panel is installed. This will help with aerodynamics, along with Keeping a good coat of wax on the paint, and the tires should be inflated up to 45psi, this should ensure peak efficiency without causing any issues with performance or reliability.

400fanboy

Oh course, maintenance items, those are good. Add the coolant temp sensor to that list too. Has a huge effect on mpg if it's giving bad data to the car.

I would recommend against running thinner oil though... And I don't think having wax on the car makes any difference. If anything, making it smoother is actually worse - golf ***** have the dimples which make them slipperier. I remember MythBusters made a car out of the same dimples and got improved MPG.

I will also add that engines just become less efficient as they age. Rings and seals and valves get ever so slightly out of spec and this tolerance adds up over time.

Stroock639

changing the driving style will make the biggest difference here, these cars can actually be fairly efficient if you maximize coasting opportunities and accelerate gently enough that the torque converter stays locked (above 40 mph)

other than that make sure there's no unnecessary weight in the trunk, use the a/c as little as possible, get eco focused tires (ecopia, etc...), and do your best to avoid traffic... i would not switch to a thinner oil nor would i overinflate the tires, however make sure they're at at least 30+ psi

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

as already mentioned, take care of the easy (and expected) stuff like maintenance and tire pressures. i too would not mess with oil weights.

i think stroock hit a good point: unnecessary weight! remove that and the engine has less to move = increased efficiency. if you felt comfortable enough, run w/o a spare tire/jack, back seats, etc - only you can go as far as you'd like hypermiling. to me having AAA with no spare/jack still falls under "sensible" . removing the rear seats crosses the line.

400fanboy

But what if you run out of fuel, and then a lorry driver needs a gearbox?

Stroock639

you're very funny men hahaha

also love that TG has done challenges where the goal is to avoid running out of fuel, and where the goal is to run out of fuel as quickly as possible to avoid driving through chernobyl