2 easy ways to get better mpg

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blkmagnum22s

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Location
fort wayne
2004 Lse 108,xxx miles


I have a lead foot so driving around town the cluster read 15.7 mpg.

1. Seafoam
I didn't put it through a vacuum line or the oil but I put one full can in a full tank. By the end of the tank the cluster read 17.2.

2. Egr
I broke off part of the plastic trying to take the hose off so I had to replace it. The mpg on the cluster after this read 20. Also, when I first bought the car, on start up it would idle at 1700 rpm for about 20 seconds then go down. I thought it was normal. After changing this it no longer idles that high on start up.



Hope this helps someone
 
blkmagnum22s said:
Also, when I first bought the car, on start up it would idle at 1700 rpm for about 20 seconds then go down. I thought it was normal. After changing this it no longer idles that high on start up.
Click to expand...

This is actually normal. It gets the engine into closed-loop much sooner, reducing emissions.
 
I have always gotten about 20MPG on both my 01 (178K) and now my 06 (58K). Of course thats mixed driving, but mainly city
 
Ok, Ive been doing some searching about this seafoam stuff on the site. I think Ill give it a try but, can someone take a picture of the hose to use for sucking the stuff up? I really dont wanna mess that up... lol
 
According to the MPG calulator in mine, I'm getting between 24 & 25 MPG. I do mostly interstate driving with mine.
 
25-26 MPG here. 80% hwy, 20% city. It's all in how you drive :)
 
Drafting lol

Paying attention to whats happening ahead of you allows you to let off the gas pedal sooner whether its for traffic lights or other cars.

Adjust routes around traffic. Mileage plummets in stop and go so a few extra miles to avoid this may cost less overall. Adjust your commute time if possible.

Slower take offs (within reason). Try to get in the highest gear possible without speeding.

Use slow gradual adjustments and use just enough gas to keep momentum up or prevent dropping down to 4th/ out of lockup.

Keep it under 70. Make sure all the plastic pieces around the nose are secured in place.

Keep windows up and using the a/c when its hot. If you can turn off the A/C light in the winter without fogging up, then do so.

Proper alignment and tire pressures

General maintenance; oil, air filter, fuel filter, etc... coils

Good gas. If you can get a week out of half a tank, then just get what you need so you're not hauling all that extra around. At 6 lbs/ gal, half a tank saves you 54 lbs.

Expect a drop on extremely hot and humid days and also on very cold days.

Clean any unneeded crap out of the car to save weight.

It would be nice if SCT was capable of alternating deactivated cylinders. I suspect we could see 30+ MPG's highway with such a feature.
 
How about lean cruise? EFI Live, which is what I use on my Silverado, has an option to engage lean cruise which can let me go as lean at 18 to 1 under low load cruising, which means less fuel per mile. If the computer is in lean cruise mode and detects a problem,or if the load picks up, it kicks back to the standard fuel/air ratio. Does SCT have the option to do this? I think EFI Live allows it because it was developed by Australians, and lean cruise is allowed there but it's not supposed to be allowed here because of emissions. Honda is supposed to be coming out with a US-allowed lean cruise but I've not heard much about it lately.
 
Just took my own advice above for 100% of my 40 mile commute (sometimes the urge to punch it is unbearable). About 5 of those miles are back roads with 6 traffic lights. Granted, I hit 4 of them green today, I mustered 27.0 MPG on the trip (as high as 27.4 on highway). It was 75 degrees with 88% humidity and traffic was moderate, but consistently moving. I got 27.8 one other time going back home but it was at night (much cooler) with no traffic. My car is lowered with 3.31 final ratio. I likely could have done better if I slowed down from 70 on the first half of the trip. 60-65 will yield best results, and those 5mph makes a big difference. The drive is far from flat so I try to average round trip to account for altitude changes.

edit: I actually had a bad inner tie rod on the driver side. I think I can improve on this!
 
I went searching for an old MPG thread and stumbled upon my own previous reply. Today the stars aligned as far as traffic and I got 30.8 MPG over 34 miles (all highway). I have been trying for a few months to break 30, usually only getting 27 to 28 on good days. I did have a 29.8 in the mix as well. My speed was 55-65 mph. There are long hills up and down but the overall elevation drop is about 250 feet. It was cool, 65 to 70F and felt like low humidity. I had just under 3/4 tank of fuel. I also had 2 separate highway merges. This time its my lower control arm bushings that are gone but it didn't seem to matter much. 238K miles.

I know there were other posters in the past who had what seemed were wild claims for economy, and yes, some of them were very short distances or didn't disclose how long the sample actually was. However, it seems there could be some truth to them.
 
02LincLS said:
I went searching for an old MPG thread and stumbled upon my own previous reply. Today the stars aligned as far as traffic and I got 30.8 MPG over 34 miles (all highway). I have been trying for a few months to break 30, usually only getting 27 to 28 on good days. I did have a 29.8 in the mix as well. My speed was 55-65 mph. There are long hills up and down but the overall elevation drop is about 250 feet. It was cool, 65 to 70F and felt like low humidity. I had just under 3/4 tank of fuel. I also had 2 separate highway merges. This time its my lower control arm bushings that are gone but it didn't seem to matter much. 238K miles.

I know there were other posters in the past who had what seemed were wild claims for economy, and yes, some of them were very short distances or didn't disclose how long the sample actually was. However, it seems there could be some truth to them.
Click to expand...

The key was your speed. See what happens when you're doing 75-80..... My 535i will get 30+ consistently at 80+...
 
Pete 2004 LS V-6 said:
Yes and that sux on a cold engine.
Click to expand...

Why do you say that?
Engine's wear more on cold start because all the metal parts aren't yet the right size (due to thermal expansion). The sooner they get to operating temperature, the less wear there will be...
 
You can take out the spare tire... and the engine covers. And coast to red lights or off ramps. And keep the tank at a quarter... And have little windshield washer. You don't really need two kidneys, and I think shaving the beard will save weight. Oh and jeans, man they are heavy! Windshield wipers increase the drag, you can take those off and save more weight while gaining MPG's and decreasing your drag; talk about killing two birds with one stone.
 
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