Better Gas Mileage

Geico266

Geico266

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
19,136
Location
Husker Nation, NE
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Display name:
Geico
....in your vehicles.

My new truck has tire pressure monitoring. What I have noticed is as the weather gets colder, less pressure in the tires 3-5 PSI. Air it up and my computer shows 1-2 better MPG. :D

Geico's tip of the day. :rolleyes:
 
Sac Arrow say Geico have good tip.

Sac Arrow think fire good invention too. Fire make dinosour nice and tasty.
 
I just through the vette in 6th, cruse 85+mph and through the bird to the hippies driving the hybrids :yes:
 
If you have one of them old fangled cars with manually tensioned belts, try lowering the tension a bit. Ideally just on the verge of belt squeal.

Gains you about 1-2 mpg, at least it did on my car.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
If you have one of them old fangled cars with manually tensioned belts, try lowering the tension a bit. Ideally just on the verge of belt squeal.

Gains you about 1-2 mpg, at least it did on my car.
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If it did, you have a component that needs replacing. People usually make up "1-2 MPG" as something small. But it's not small. It's 5% on a small car, 10% on an SUV or pickup. And it corresponds to 10s of HP, or a few kilowatts of heat. It's not plausible, or your components would get burning-hot to the touch. Think hairdryer element (that.s 1.5 kW).

You should keep your belts just tight enough to not slip so you don't wreck your components. Especially the air conditioning compressor.
 
MAKG1 said:
If it did, you have a component that needs replacing. People usually make up "1-2 MPG" as something small. But it's not small. It's 5% on a small car, 10% on an SUV or pickup. And it corresponds to 10s of HP, or a few kilowatts of heat. It's not plausible, or your components would get burning-hot to the touch. Think hairdryer element (that.s 1.5 kW).

You should keep your belts just tight enough to not slip so you don't wreck your components. Especially the air conditioning compressor.
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Or they were just too tight, which they were. Common issue.

Too tight = more wear on bearings, yes. All components still good, so I'll keep on driving. :)
 
Personally I think I will save a lot more gas driving small fuel-efficient vehicles than Geico will ever save by keeping his tires full. That said, very little bit helps.
 
steingar said:
Personally I think I will save a lot more gas driving small fuel-efficient vehicles than Geico will ever save by keeping his tires full. That said, very little bit helps.
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Yes, but small, fuel-efficient vehicles suck to drive.

So I'd rather take the car I want to drive, and make it more efficient.
 
Geico266 said:
....in your vehicles.
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That's not getting better mileage. That's getting what it should get if the operator would keep the air pressure maintenance up. That's like saying the engine operates better when you put the spark plugs in the cylinders.

Watch the hundreds of thousands of cars around you every day while driving short distances in the city. Half the people in the country are driving around on flat tires.
 
You know what is really disappointing, is the Smart Car. That thing SHOULD get 45-50 mpg for it's size and weight. But it doesn't, the people I know that drive them report mid 30's.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a Honda Elite scooter for in-town riding. Those things get about 100 mpg.
 
Sac Arrow said:
You know what is really disappointing, is the Smart Car. That thing SHOULD get 45-50 mpg for it's size and weight. But it doesn't, the people I know that drive them report mid 30's.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a Honda Elite scooter for in-town riding. Those things get about 100 mpg.
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The Smart car is kind of a joke in the industry, it costs as much as much larger cars that get equivelant gas mileage. :dunno: If it was $10-12K I think it would be fine, but it's not and for the same money you can get a Ford Fiesta or even a Focus and get the same or better mileage. :yes: I use Ford because that's what I am familiar with, I am sure there are plenty of others. :D
 
Geico266 said:
....in your vehicles.

My new truck has tire pressure monitoring. What I have noticed is as the weather gets colder, less pressure in the tires 3-5 PSI. Air it up and my computer shows 1-2 better MPG. :D

Geico's tip of the day. :rolleyes:
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Not using fuel contaminated with ethanol will increase fuel economy by around 10%.
 
Bob Noel said:
Not using fuel contaminated with ethanol will increase fuel economy by around 10%.
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BUT what about the children!! :mad2::mad2: Or whatever our politicians say when they waste our money to cost us more money!:mad2:
Let's see we pay to subsidize the corn industry which drives up the price of corn, and the cost for gas which lowers the MPG's on our vehicles while raising the price of corn and therefore raising the price of meats for consumers. It's probably the closest to a total lose/lose as congress has ever come up with!:dunno:
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Yes, but small, fuel-efficient vehicles suck to drive.
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Says you in complete and utter ignorance. My little convertible was a blast to drive, I still miss it. And it got great gas mileage. Our old Tercel, similar. Very tossable little car with lots of spunk coming off a manual transmission.
 
steingar said:
Says you in complete and utter ignorance. My little convertible was a blast to drive, I still miss it. And it got great gas mileage. Our old Tercel, similar. Very tossable little car with lots of spunk coming off a manual transmission.
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I would bet I've driven more cars than you, and harder, of all different types. Plus, that was said partly tongue-in-cheek.

Personally, I've never found a small and efficient car that I liked enough to buy. Sure, the Miata and turbo Mini were fun in their way. So was the Alfa Romeo spider. But ultimately the little 4 bangers were not my style at all. Insufficient power, blows over in a stiff wind, and I've never found an I4 that was visceral enough for my tastes. I'm happy with the 25 highway I get from my 450 HP twin turbo hot rod that also gets 21-22 on my commuting cycle.

Not ignorance, personal preference.
 
What about that new little Fiat-thing, whatever it's called. Anybody have any experience with that? My experience with Italian cars in general has been... they aren't Toyotas, maintenance wise.
 
steingar said:
Says you in complete and utter ignorance. My little convertible was a blast to drive, I still miss it. And it got great gas mileage. Our old Tercel, similar. Very tossable little car with lots of spunk coming off a manual transmission.
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Your tercel?? Man I can handle those types of cars, there just very tinny and those little engines rev their brains out to even go at hwy speeds.

I recently needed a one way rental car to pick up my plane. Rented a Toyota Corolla, crusing around 75-80 that stupid little car was running at 3,000rpm!!

Figured I got about 28mpg or so with that peanut sized tin engine revving at Mach 1.

My personal car on the other hand, a C7 vette, lays down over 400hp, six speed stick, fiberglass body riding on a aluminum frame. The car will cruse at 80+mph doing HALF the revolutions of that "economy" Corolla and getting a solid 30mpg.

It's not ethanol or little **** ant engines, or hybrids that will save fuel, it's just good engneering.
 
NineThreeKilo said:
Rented a Toyota Corolla, crusing around 75-80 that stupid little car was running at 3,000rpm!!
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In my manual 5-speed Corolla I get close to 80 mph at 3000 rpm in the 5-th gear.
In my fun-drive, lots of extra power/acceleration and torque manual 5-speed BMW Z3 with 3.0L engine I get about 74 mph at 3000 rpm, so the revs are similar.
I get 42 mpg highway in my no-hybrid Corolla (my commute car), about 30 mpg highway in my Z3.
 
I drive a VW daily. Those things like to wind WWWAAAYYYY up. The sweet spot is well over 3000 RPM.

That's just how you get power out of a small engine. Power = displacement*RPM (times a few other things). Wind it up twice as fast, and you need half the engine to get the same power.

The little Toyota 4bangers really work nice up there. I used to have a Corolla with a 4A-FE 1.6L that I'd wind up to the redline daily. It would get 40 MPG on the highway at 80 MPH, and this was with 1995 (OBD-I) technology. But Toyota automatic transmissions aren't very good -- lossy and sluggish. I had a stick....
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Or they were just too tight, which they were. Common issue.

Too tight = more wear on bearings, yes. All components still good, so I'll keep on driving. :)
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While proper tension is a good thing, MakG1 is correct, there's just no way overly tightened accessory drive belts could account for 1-2 mpg unless you were idling the whole time.
 
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049.jpg
 
I flew the CT up to Eureka to see the kids. The trip takes 5.5 hours by car and burns 12 gallons. In the CT it was 2 hours and 8 gallons.
 
steingar said:
Personally I think I will save a lot more gas driving small fuel-efficient vehicles than Geico will ever save by keeping his tires full. That said, very little bit helps.
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Try hauling 5.5 tons of gravel in a 2 ton trailer with a Prius. :mad2::mad2::mad2:

No, I am not kidding. :no:
 
NineThreeKilo - nice photo, I assume then that you could get even higher MPG going 70 mph in the 6-th gear?
 
The Sierra truck I had actually got better fuel economy at 80+ mph then it did between 65-80.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I would bet I've driven more cars than you, and harder, of all different types. Plus, that was said partly tongue-in-cheek.
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No offense Ted, but I honestly doubt that. I've been on planet Earth a wee bit longer.

Ted DuPuis said:
Personally, I've never found a small and efficient car that I liked enough to buy. Sure, the Miata and turbo Mini were fun in their way. So was the Alfa Romeo spider. But ultimately the little 4 bangers were not my style at all. Insufficient power, blows over in a stiff wind, and I've never found an I4 that was visceral enough for my tastes. I'm happy with the 25 highway I get from my 450 HP twin turbo hot rod that also gets 21-22 on my commuting cycle.

Not ignorance, personal preference.
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Anyone who can't have fun in an Alpha Romeo has trouble having fun, says me. I took your post as a venal insult against my favorite little car. I guess I'm still a bit emotional.
 
Geico266 said:
Try hauling 5.5 tons of gravel in a 2 ton trailer with a Prius. :mad2::mad2::mad2:

No, I am not kidding. :no:
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Perhaps, but I bet you don't do that hauling every day. I get the same argument from my buddy who have the land yacht, but most trips it's just him and no cargo.

Had a truck for a decade. It was really great when I needed a truck, and I hauled a half ton of this and that on several occasions. But the rest of the time it was just me or me and Mrs. Steingar, and the thing sucked. Drove like a truck (but it was a Nissan, so it never broke down ever) Got rid of it when I bought the fun car.

I need a truck that bad these days I rent one, or better yet hire someone to do the hauling. I'm now getting too old for that kind of thing, and have always been far too lazy.
 
Sac Arrow said:
You know what is really disappointing, is the Smart Car. That thing SHOULD get 45-50 mpg for it's size and weight. But it doesn't, the people I know that drive them report mid 30's.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a Honda Elite scooter for in-town riding. Those things get about 100 mpg.
Click to expand...

That is the problem with the alcohol in our gas, the Smart on gas I drove in Europe got 55mpg and the TDI one got 72mpg.
 
steingar said:
No offense Ted, but I honestly doubt that. I've been on planet Earth a wee bit longer.
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And your point? I've also got more flying hours than you and flown more planes. You're the one who's typically pointed out I don't do anything casually.

Prior to the aviation world I was in the car world. I lost count somewhere around 30, but I've owned a lot of vehicles (both 2 and 4-wheeled, mostly 4). I also worked as a mechanic at several shops, which exposed me to a few dozen more. Then we'll add in the common "Hey Ted, can you drive my car? It's making a funny noise."

Anyone who can't have fun in an Alpha Romeo has trouble having fun, says me. I took your post as a venal insult against my favorite little car. I guess I'm still a bit emotional.
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Good for you, glad you liked your car. That's what really matters, since I don't have to drive it.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
And your point? I've also got more flying hours than you and flown more planes. You're the one who's typically pointed out I don't do anything casually.

Prior to the aviation world I was in the car world. I lost count somewhere around 30, but I've owned a lot of vehicles (both 2 and 4-wheeled, mostly 4). I also worked as a mechanic at several shops, which exposed me to a few dozen more. Then we'll add in the common "Hey Ted, can you drive my car? It's making a funny noise."
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Oh boy, a pi$$ing contest! Why not! You have way more flying hours than me, truly. You probably have way more than 99% of GA pilots for whom flying isn't a primary occupation. And yes, you've no doubt flown way more types than me, since the number of different airplanes I've flown could be totaled on the fingers of one hand.

But I was the designated driver for years and years, have driven more than one car "that made a funny noise", Have owned more than few, etc... Have rented cars for many trips big and small, University motor pool and all that. And I doubt very, very strongly you've owned or ridden more bikes than me, few have. And yes, when I was younger I drove as many different cars as I could just so I could win dumb little pi$$ing contests like this.
 
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