Gas saving tips

[MAKG]

That's obviously an "accidental repair." You would have had the same result if you put a new paper filter in there.

20 MPG on the freeway is normal. 12-13 MPG is broken.

 

[wa2be]

Ehh.. soon as I can I'm gonna find an early 90's civic...
Keep it as my dd.

My brother just picked up a '95 Suzuki Swift. It's nothing pretty to look at, but he's getting 41mpg (as compared to 13 in his Dodge Ram 4x4). He said that during his search for this car he discovered that most people are asking up to $500 over blue book because the demand is through the roof for any used econo cars right now. Something to keep in mind when shopping for a new daily driver........

 

[nomad2081]

just an idea

how about a light weight fly wheel and pullies. ive been saving up too do that myself

and the k&N cold air intake is really the way to go. i get about 25 mpg all city driving. another thing that helps out alot is cost where ever you can not sit there with your foot on the gas all the time.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

anything that reduces rotational weight (eg. wheels, tires, fywheel/clutch, ect) will improve economy...as well as freeing up some power when the skinny pedal does go down.

no aftermarket intake system is going to improve mileage. your stock intake is already a true cold air system and is sufficient for your engines needs. on top of that, most trucks came with a pre-heater setup which brings the engine up to temp faster...and a warm engine is more efficient.

even if the K&N did somehow flow more, more air in means more fuel in...so that wouldnt help economy.

 

[sonyes]

The space shuttle is a VERY dangerous vehicle, having had demonstrated failure rates worse than 1 catastrophic event per 100 flights.

It wouldn't have mattered what propellant was in challenger's tanks. When the SRB seal failed it was over. If I recall the range safety officer made an even larger explosion when he had to terminate the flight.

When you factor in all the extra gear needed to keep the liquid hydrogen in liquid form any gained efficacy is longgggg gone.

 

[Dar70]

If some of you are going to the trouble of getting little cars to save gas, why not just get a nice 4 cyl. Ranger???? If you really like driving one,wouldnt it be better driving the 4 cyl. instead of no Ranger at all. Yes, you wont have 4x4 and yes its about 60hp weaker but it absolutely has to be better tan driving little econo cars. Im having a blast with mine and it can be modded to look more sportier.

After driving my sisters leased 4x4 a few years ago and my 2.3l 4 cyl. Its not much of a big difference. Really if gas matter that much to you, why should horsepower mean anything at all???...no matter what you drive.

 

[wa2be]

Howdy ppl, just trying to get some gas saving mods that i can do? with gas going up and getting boned in the butt as the gas evaporates out of my tank i would hate to be driving a toyota prius next year. any ideas?

As an experiment, I tried slowing down on my daily commute by 10 mph (from 75 to 65). My truck has been averaging around 17.2 to 17.5 at 75 mph. The reduction in speed has boosted my mpg to over 21 now! That equates to something like $25 per month in savings. Gotta be the easiest way to improve your fuel economy.

 

[AllanD]

That's obviously an "accidental repair." You would have had the same result if you put a new paper filter in there.

20 MPG on the freeway is normal. 12-13 MPG is broken.

my 4.10 geared 4.0 4x4 supercab gets 19-20mpg in "local" driving
and 21-22mph on the highway.

I agree, "accidental repair"

eric, you need to think of it in terms of energy. energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it takes X amount of energy to cool an engine under given conditions. it doesnt matter if the energy comes directly from the water pump pulley or directly from the alternator pulley. your doing the same amount of work either way.

I'll add to yuor comments.

To generate sufficient airflow through the radiator takes "X" ammount of work.
to do that DIRECTLY with a mechanical fan is "cheaper"
in terms of energy cost than an electric fan.
Because with an electric fan you must first take
mechanical energy and convert it to electrical energy,
THERE IS A LOSS HERE, then moved to the battery (where there is a further charging loss, then extracted to power the fan.

The only potential place for savings is that the electric fan doesn't run AT ALL until it's control circuitry (temp switch and relay) turn it on.
And the mechanical fan with a viscous clutch are spun
at partial power (with some wasted as heat) at the fan clutch.

Now everyone is going to point at that and scream at the top of their lungs "See I told ya!", here comes the bitch slap for being stupid... at PART throttle cruising operation the airflow through the radiator is already moving so the clutch doesn't actually slip all that much..., remember it's about the fan FORCING the air to move that requires power. if there is no "force" required (the air is already moving) the fan "windmills" to a greater degree...

Electric fans only sae with they claim to "save" at high rpm.

Anyne here who has ever driven with a fan clutch that has siezed, LOCKED-UP-SOLID knows that on upshifts the thing really howls, but in highway cruise you either barely notice it or don't notice it at all....

Frankly to avoid melting an engine I'd rather have a little too much cooling than not enough because if you fry your engine
the mileage that needs to be considered is that of the tow truck that tows you home.


AD