how to increase fuel milage?

[protouring70]

OK, the question everyone is asking. Here it is, my wife has an '03 Tahoe and milage is 16mpg. And guess what gas is high. Guess you knew that already huh. So what can i do to help get more mpg out of this thing. I hear of changing filters or the Tornado but do they work. are there any other options?
Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Brent

[Bill Howell]

Don't waste your money. You are probably getting as good as it is going to do. Just try and get her/you to preplan your trips abit more than you have in the past. Things like stopping at the grocery store on the way home instead of driving home and then driving back to the store will help. Gas prices are up and up to stay, however if you really do the math, it is not cheaper to trade for better mileage car. You know the drill, the dealers will convince you that your car is worthless because it doesn't get 50mpg. Then they will overcharge you for their unit.
Everyone is going to have to adjust their budget to compensate for this new issue.
To date myself, I can remember adding water injection to my 73 Ford F-100 to try and help the mileage back when gas went to 50 cents from 32cents. We thought the world was ending and rationing was common. About all that did was foul the plugs, not much you could do with the rearend ratio of a 70's pickup, just had to live with 8 mpg.

[Travis B]

Getting air in and out of engine easier and more effiecent will increase mileage(exhaust, air intake, filters)! I have a 89 OBS swb and I am in the process of trying to make it more effiecent!

I am not sure about the tornado??? maybe someone else will chime in here!

[JLM]

Keeping the tires at the correct pressure will help. Try reducing your speed to 5mph under the speed limit. Keeping the vehicle in a good state of tune is your best bet.

The best thing you can do though is simply limit driving all together. Make 1 large trip to the grocery store per month and eat in more often instead of eating out regularly.

I used to drive in excess of 1500 miles per month simply because I enjoy driving. Now however I put less than 900 miles per month on my car. I went from needing to fill up once a week to needing to fill up once every 2 weeks. This is really what has helped me out.

The last thing I can really think of is to make sure you actually "fill" your tank when you do need to. I've got a couple friends that only put in 10-15 dolalrs each time they fill up. SO what ends up happening is they fill up more frequently, but fuel prices continue to climb. They would have spent less money just filling the entire tank to begin with at the lower cost at that time.

[MarkM66]

Tell her to drive it like there is an egg between her foot and the gas pedal.

If the vehicle has an on demand milage calculator, watch that and adjust your driving accordingly. Watching one of those really make you realize how much gas you use just by accelerating.

Slowing that brick on wheels down some on the highway will help.

Maybe try putting an extra 5psi in the tires. But I don't think there's anything else that will make much of a difference.

Synthetic diff lube might help a little, and even if it helps a little, it will pay for itself over time. A thinner sythetic oil could help too.

[astroracer]

I put a Jacobs Electronic Ignition, Edelbrock Midlength headers and a good exhaust on my '95 and realized a significant mileage increase. It just depends on where you want to spend your money and how long it takes to actually "see" the savings. The grand I spent on the upgrades will buy a lot of gas over a couple of years...
Mark

[CAMAROBOY69]

I just dont drive as much. We seriously ride our bikes to the store on occasion. Now for woodward this weekend I wont drive all day. Just a little here and there. Thats my budget plan. ONce I hit the lotto then I will drive every single day. I just drive my stupid Saturn more than the Camaro. Thats the only way I save.
One thing that did save me tons of money in gas was the 6 speed tranny in my Camaro. HUGE difference! Best investment ever. I doubled my gas mileage.

[wantahertzdonut]

The tornado has been proven ineffective time and again. The only gains you see are due to most people installing them and then driving less hard, so of course your mileage will increase. But you can do that without the tornado.

Keep the thing in tune, get "P" rated tires instead of "LT" if you can, (less aggressive tread on the P's), and don't take it over 65 on the highway. Group your trips like everyone else has mentioned too. It'll save you time in addition to money.

[JLM]

Was just thinking of a few more things that could help.

Try not to use the AC. That little nicety really degrades engine performance and fuel economy. That probably won't be so much of an issue as we're starting to get into the fall, but if possible, drive with the windows open. This has less of an affect on fuel economy than using the AC does. Also set the cruise control if the situation is appropriate. Like it was pointed out earlier, acceleration (even minimal) is a very large drain on fuel. By keeping the vehicle in as smooth of a running pattern as possible you maximize fuel economy.

Being a Tahoe I'm assuming this is a family car. You may want to look at all the stuff you have on and in the car. Less weight means you don't have to use as much power and thus as much fuel. If' you've got a bunch of stuff in and on the car that doesn't need to be there, take it out.

Also a lot of people are brainwashed into thinking their cars need to run on "the good stuff" Put the lowest octane fuel in the car that you can without it pinging. Putting higher octane fuel in a car not tuned for that amount of octane will actually hurt fuel mileage.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Brent,

I can't really comment on how to save mileage, other than what these guys have said, but being a fellow tahoe owner, I feel your pain. I only get 13mpg on the hwy, if I'm lucky.

[JLM]

Brent,

I can't really comment on how to save mileage, other than what these guys have said, but being a fellow tahoe owner, I feel your pain. I only get 13mpg on the hwy, if I'm lucky.

The horrible part about it is that if every guidelines that was suggested above was utilized at the exact same time over the stretch of a couple month it would still probably only amount to a mile or 2 in added fuel economy.

But I guess if you figure a 1 mpg increase on an 18 gallon tank, that's an extra 18 miles. Figure if you fill up 3 times per month that's 54 extra miles on the same amount of gas. So it starts to slowly add up. figure it takes 3 gallons to travel that 54 miles so you have to purchase 3 gallans less. at 2.50 per gallon you've saved yourself $7.50 in a months time. Kind of depressing isn't it?

[Ralph LoGrasso]

The horrible part about it is that if every guidelines that was suggested above was utilized at the exact same time over the stretch of a couple month it would still probably only amount to a mile or 2 in added fuel economy.

But I guess if you figure a 1 mpg increase on an 18 gallon tank, that's an extra 18 miles. Figure if you fill up 3 times per month that's 54 extra miles on the same amount of gas. So it starts to slowly add up. figure it takes 3 gallons to travel that 54 miles so you have to purchase 3 gallans less. at 2.50 per gallon you've saved yourself $7.50 in a months time. Kind of depressing isn't it?

Very. Especially when you're spending $200+ a month on gas.

[vanzuuk1]

I was going to use the egg on the gas pedal line.

one small issue is idling.I dont let my cars sit and idle, I just drive gently as it warms up, and i kill the ignition as i come to a stop.If the cars running in park your getting o mpg.

[malihoochie]

Siphon from your neighbors


j/k

[nancejd]

I remember watching a segment on mythbusters about the AC thing, and their testing showed that there was about a zero difference in mpg driving with thte windows down vs the AC, of course that was at speeds over 40mph, so in stop and go it might still make a difference.

[JLM]

I remember watching a segment on mythbusters about the AC thing, and their testing showed that there was about a zero difference in mpg driving with thte windows down vs the AC, of course that was at speeds over 40mph, so in stop and go it might still make a difference.

I saw that episode as well. When hooked up to the computer reading mph based on the amoutn of air coming through the mass air the readings were the same. HOWEVER do you remember the actual road test. The expedition with the windows down cruised for over an hour longer than the expedition with the AC on.

[KacyZ28]

I remember watching a segment on mythbusters about the AC thing, and their testing showed that there was about a zero difference in mpg driving with thte windows down vs the AC, of course that was at speeds over 40mph, so in stop and go it might still make a difference.

but what kinda car did they test this on.the hp robbed from a 350 isnt nowhere near noticed like it is on my 2.2 beretta that can get 30-39 mpg depending on how i drive it

[JLM]

but what kinda car did they test this on.the hp robbed from a 350 isnt nowhere near noticed like it is on my 2.2 beretta that can get 30-39 mpg depending on how i drive it

They tested it on a 2 Ford Expeditions.

[nancejd]

Yeah, I do remember that (at least now I do). Come to think of it, the fuel used readout on my Silverado reads less that the amount of gas I actually used. I bet it is directly proportional to the speed you're driving.

[CamaroAJ]

i'm getting 22mpg out of my crew cab duramax :icon996: . a few years back i had some mag that they tested a few driving habbits, they found that getting on the gas to get up to speed used less gas than slowly getting up to speed. so i guess try to hual ass to 63-65 and hit the cruse. also hoes only get about 15-17mpg, my dad has a avalanch and thats all he gets too. you could get a programer and lean out the fuel trim a little bit, but nothing too much. don't wanna run'er too lean.