Thread: Increase the gas mileage...what works for you and your ride?

I went with a 6-cylinder sports car vs. an 8-cylinder one. I can drive like a bat outta hell and still average 20 mpg in all-around driving. It's the right match for me as I've never been able to comprehend V-8 gas mileage. And, here's a big thumbs up for Mobil 1!



/Mark

I haven't done any highway driving, but will tell you that my $$ didn't buy much. With the programmer and cold air kit I now average 14 mpg for my local driving. I have yet to see how it will do for the highway. I also noticed that the gas station I use just switched to 10% ethanol & I think I filled up with the stuff. I understand that blended gasoline does not give you as good of mileage, so I'll fill up on the real stuff (getting harder to find) over the weekend as I am pretty sure that this current tank has the blended stuff.

I've been using ten percent ethanol as long as I can remember. I'll have to check into that fuel mileage thing. That's interesting. For my part, I'd ride the motorcycle more. I put 93 bucks in my truck on a Thursday. It was empty the following Monday. In two weeks I'll have saved enough money to buy a warm jacket, after filling up for 11 bucks with the bike. Or I could just continue to be cold...which isn't really that bad of a tradeoff for food and shelter. OTOH, it might be colder where you live.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I haven't done any highway driving, but will tell you that my $$ didn't buy much. With the programmer and cold air kit I now average 14 mpg for my local driving. I have yet to see how it will do for the highway. I also noticed that the gas station I use just switched to 10% ethanol & I think I filled up with the stuff. I understand that blended gasoline does not give you as good of mileage, so I'll fill up on the real stuff (getting harder to find) over the weekend as I am pretty sure that this current tank has the blended stuff.

They have been forcing this crap on us for years now in NY,and your right, it dos'nt get the same mileage,I'm pretty sure that I heard on TV that there are over 30 different blends for different parts of the country. They say thats one of the reasons for the high prices.

I'd think twice about either turbocharging or supercharging. Both will increase your power by increasing compression and will require that you buy a higher octane fuel. If you're stuck buying premium then you may save fuel, but you won't save any money.

What I've heard about propane is that it has a higher octane rating than regular gasoline, but less energy, so your mileage will drop. Of course, if the propane is cheap enough you'll still save money. I know a lot of fleets use propane and I have never heard of engine wear increasing because of that. I'm not saying that it's not true, but I think the only thing added to fuel is detergent. As far as I know, oil is what lubricates the engine.

Originally Posted by joesixpack

I'd think twice about either turbocharging or supercharging. Both will increase your power by increasing compression and will require that you buy a higher octane fuel. If you're stuck buying premium then you may save fuel, but you won't save any money.

What I've heard about propane is that it has a higher octane rating than regular gasoline, but less energy, so your mileage will drop. Of course, if the propane is cheap enough you'll still save money. I know a lot of fleets use propane and I have never heard of engine wear increasing because of that. I'm not saying that it's not true, but I think the only thing added to fuel is detergent. As far as I know, oil is what lubricates the engine.

Propane as a motor fuel is a waste of time. Mileage SUCKS due to fewer BTU's per cylinder charge. Prices aren't that great anymore either. Worst part is that with today's engines, a propane system has to have another computer to fool the main computer into thinking the engine is running on gas. Also if the engine has direct injection, the injectors have to be turned off or they will hammer themselves to death due to no fuel going though them.

Reason I know about all this is because where I work, WE BELIEVE IN CLEAN AIR NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT COSTS THE TAXPAYER!!

Our F-150's all had dual fuel capabilities and we HAD to burn 100% propane or get yelled at. Pretty near every one of them with propane system took a large dump around 100K miles. The propanes systems just quit, shorted out, went nuts, etc etc. Then we had to get the damn things "waivered" to release us from burning propane that they wouldn't run on. Remember, this is state gov't we're dealing with.

When my truck ran OK on propane, a 24USG tank would run it 180-200 miles. Another down side is that it costs right at thousand bucks to get one tuned up because they have to remove the propane system to get to the coils and plugs and then re-install it.

It is easier on the engine and valves. The oil doesn't really get dirty because it burns so clean. In the "old days" we used to change the filter every 5K miles and just add a quart of oil.

Our latest fleet purchase is from Government Motors rather than Ford. They're buying gas engines again and you guessed it, rigging the damn things up for propane.

THE TAXPAYER DESERVES CLEAN AIR!! (no matter what it cost 'em, they'll never know.)

I hate to say it but driving semi-close to a larger-than-you vehicle makes a big difference to me. However it is easy to find a bigger vehicle then my honda del sol . Don't drive too close too it or it gets dangerous. You don't need to be right up on the other vehicle to gain the benefits of drafting; just be fairly close. My del sol gets 34 mpg and i drive about 70 miles a day. I did the cost/benefit on getting a 82 mpg motorcycle and it only saved me about $80 in gas if I used it 4 days a week. This wouldn't even pay for the bike. Also, make sure you have the proper tire pressure on all 4 tires. You could go as far as to get thinner wheels/tires which would make a huge impact but who likes the look of thin wimpy tires?

I was in this same spot last year with my Xterra. I love the truck and I just got it last march but 17 mpg highway was saddening. I put in an intake manifold spacer, tune, air intake mods and all in all it did make a difference. But barely any.

Expect for the mods to pay themselves off in no less then a year or two. The biggest difference is less gas when accelerating and stopping less and coasting more. A supercharger or turbo would be the biggest increases to power and mileage but also the largest upfront cost. So it's tough but I learned to live with it.

Sadly 3 months after getting my Xterra I got a job where I drive over 2000 miles a month so I bought a Chevy cruze and yeah it's paying for itself.

Fortunately for me, weather is getting nice & I can fire up the two wheeler to make it to work as long as I look at the forecast.

Well, here's my summary of it all after playing with different speeds and the additions of the K&N cold air kit, Hypertech programmer (set for 87 octane), and Flowmaster exhaust. The summary is that having a big SUV, combined with AWD, 6.0 liter engine, and running the A/C...average MPG local driving & keeping the speed under 65 mph is 13.5 mpg and highway between 65-70mph is 15 mpg. Basically my thoughts on saving some $ was a bust. I have a better sounding truck with more power. This is the first 6.0 engine that I have owned and it seems that no matter what you do to it, it loves fuel. I could have bought a LOT of fuel for what I added to it. So, in summary what works for a GM 5.3 v-8 does NOT work for a GM 6.0.

Now I am looking into a way to be able to turn from a AWD to a switchable 4wd...