How to get amazing fuel economy

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[carkhz316]

Just a few things/ my .02

 

1. Good, but may very well wear the center of your tires sooner.

2. Lot of people are going to say to never ever run less than premium. You're probably safe with a L67 under the "no boost" condition, but I don't think it can be considered with a top-swapped (like mine) L36 or anything with extensive mods.

3. Yes, slow down. That is true.

4. Do not draft a truck driver. I still drive truck part-time when I'm not busy at the body shop, as this is a sure-fire to piss off a truck driver. It is unsafe and annoying because we can't see you behind us. If you insist on drafting, don't be surprised if they start messing with you. i.e. brake check.

5. Yes, cheapest gas works.

6. And ya, avoiding jack-rabbit starts and stops is a good idea.

 

All things considered, I think you should be getting better mileage. I just took a trip in my top-swapped Monte Carlo, and I averaged 70mph, and pulled just over 32mpg.

[jeremy]

I've been doing a lot of driving lately. I drive to Indianapolis at least 4x a week now. It's almost 200 miles round trip for me. With the price of gas, I HAD to find a way to become more efficient. I was spending $40 a day to get to Indy and averaging about 22mpg doing 80mph on the interstate.

 

200 miles/22mpg = ~9 gallons

9 x $4.40 = $40

That's $640 a MONTH!

 

So here's what I did:

1. Put air in the tires. I'm running 38psi

2. Run regular gas. Yes, that's right. On my L67. It's ok to drive as long as YOU DON'T BUILD BOOST EVER!

3. Slow down. I was driving at 80mph. Now I leave early and drive 65 - 70mph.

4. Draft. Today I drafted a semi going 72mph and a tour bus doing 75mph. I follow at about 1.5 car lengths.

5. Find cheap gas! I looked online this morning for the cheapest gas on my route. I paid $3.84 a gallon.

6. Avoid the brake pedal in town. Namely, if you know you're going to catch the next light... just cruise. Braking is wasted energy.

 

Today I averaged 30.2 mpg on regular gas.

200 miles/30.2mpg = ~6.6 gallons

6.6 x $3.84 = $25

That's $400 a month.

 

That saves me $240 A MONTH!

 

Your mpg seems poor for doing all that stuff After a tune my '99gtp always averaged ~31-32mpg on the highway running 75-80mph and around 34-35mpg @65mph.

 

And fwiw you would get better mpg running premium than you will running regular.

[virtuetovice]

This is pretty much how I normally drive. I've also figured out that SeaFoam DOES in fact improve gas mileage if done right. Another thing I do if I'm in no hurry is coast up inclines until I'm about 10 mph under the limit. Then SLOWLY get back up to speed. Coasting down inclines helps a lot too.

 

Although recently, my car's gas mileage has dropped considerably. I think her o2 sensor is on its way out.

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[Jonpro03]

And fwiw you would get better mpg running premium than you will running regular.

 

Er? how do ya figure?

[xtremerevolution]

I've been doing a lot of driving lately. I drive to Indianapolis at least 4x a week now. It's almost 200 miles round trip for me. With the price of gas, I HAD to find a way to become more efficient. I was spending $40 a day to get to Indy and averaging about 22mpg doing 80mph on the interstate.

 

200 miles/22mpg = ~9 gallons

9 x $4.40 = $40

That's $640 a MONTH!

 

So here's what I did:

1. Put air in the tires. I'm running 38psi

2. Run regular gas. Yes, that's right. On my L67. It's ok to drive as long as YOU DON'T BUILD BOOST EVER!

3. Slow down. I was driving at 80mph. Now I leave early and drive 65 - 70mph.

4. Draft. Today I drafted a semi going 72mph and a tour bus doing 75mph. I follow at about 1.5 car lengths.

5. Find cheap gas! I looked online this morning for the cheapest gas on my route. I paid $3.84 a gallon.

6. Avoid the brake pedal in town. Namely, if you know you're going to catch the next light... just cruise. Braking is wasted energy.

 

Today I averaged 30.2 mpg on regular gas.

200 miles/30.2mpg = ~6.6 gallons

6.6 x $3.84 = $25

That's $400 a month.

 

That saves me $240 A MONTH!

 

Jon, you are notorious for having terrible tunes and this doesn't appear to be an exception. See Jeremy's post below. My fuel economy is a LOT better than 22mpg on my modded L67, and on my stock 2000 Regal GS as well.

 

You shouldn't put more air in your tires than what is recommended by the manufacturer. The money you save on slight fuel economy increase will be negated by the fact that your tires will wear unevenly and more quickly, and need to be replaced sooner. Tires are not cheap. Granted, if your tires are low, they need to be filled to the correct pressure, but not over the correct pressure.

 

You do get worse gas mileage running regular than premium on high compression engines. The L67 and my old Bonneville GXP will run the low octane spark table with pulled timing and the fuel economy will drop significantly when lower octane fuel is detected. Significant enough to be worth paying the extra 4-5% to get premium. The drop in fuel economy is worse than 4-5%, I can guarantee you.

 

Cheap gas is just that; cheap. Granted, price shopping is great, but I can feel a difference in how all of my cars have run when I buy truly cheap gas (speedway, arco, etc.) over the Shell or Phillips/66 I usually buy.

 

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

 

Not to mention the fact that it sludges up my engine, allows carbon to build up, and contributes to a plethora of other problems. I don't buy cheap gas. Its simply not worth it.

 

30.2mpg is a good highway fuel economy for an L67, but 22mpg at 80mph indicates there are other issues.

 

Your mpg seems poor for doing all that stuff After a tune my '99gtp always averaged ~31-32mpg on the highway running 75-80mph and around 34-35mpg @65mph.

 

And fwiw you would get better mpg running premium than you will running regular.

 

What he said.

[carkhz316]

I'm also topswapped

d'oh. I didn't see that in your sig til now.

[xtremerevolution]

Er? how do ya figure?

 

See my post. Spark tables.

 

Being top swapped is even more of a reason to run premium. That's the equivalent of dropping 1-2 pulley sizes, and you still run 87 octane? Sorry, but that's one piece of advice you need to keep to yourself. Go to clubgp and tell them all they should be running 87 octane with top swapped 3800's that have higher compression than factory L67's and see how many people flame you or laugh at you. Keep it to yourself because its terrible advice to be giving to others.

[virtuetovice]

[GOT2B GM]

Why the drama?

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[Night Fury]

Oh dear god.

 

Glad I have the festiva that easily pulls off 40 in town and is faster than most of the W's I have owned

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[BXX]

Want a vert:lol::lol:

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[88red4cyl]

Honestly, if somebody offered me a 4 banger or 60* car for this GTP, I'd probably take it.

 

I've got a 95 Lumina...

[mra32]

My ~14.5 second AWD wagon gets 23 in town and 25 on the highway doing 80ish. I dont dare run anything under 93 octane. I'm skurred of assplosion. MPG threads help convince me I made the right choice.

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[94 olds vert]

38.3 mpg is pretty good. Slowing down does have an effect on fuel economy.

[runt]

You haz low coolant.

[Euro]

Those DICs are never accurate!

[Jonpro03]

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Edited May 18, 2011 by Jonpro03

[urbex]

You want to know how to get even better fuel economy? Ride a bike!!!!!

[xtremerevolution]

Why the drama?

 

No drama here. No need to start any either.

 

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