Please use this forum for everything you want to know or share about MPG

[spdrcr5]

This is a forum we just added because of the high cost of fuel over the last year. Everyone has been wanting to know various tricks to help improve their fuel economy. Please share whatever things you have tried whether they did or didn't work. Try to back up your findings with some solid evidence so that people don't get into arguments, plus it will benefit everyone much sooner. :)

Hope you like this forum, we'll try to come up with similar ideas down the road.

[soia76]

this is a GREAT thread I just wish it was full of suggestions already....
So far I am driving it very conservatively and really using the MPG gauge to get a feel for how to get the best MPG...i am only two tanks of gas in and getting around 25 MPG on mostly stop and go roads...

[Serj22]

Always drive downhill!

J/k

I've always used first-second on my auto when leaving a stop sign, and then into drive when up to speed, helps a little, wouldn't be noticable on a mpg chart. Also, I like to manually measure fuel even if I did have an MPG meter. Fill it all the way to the neck, let it go to zero, measure gallons you pumped (rather than what the car has) and divide miles. Then do it a few more times to see what the real numbers are.

Also, NO ONE buy a "vortex" air intake thing, a magnetic spark plug rail, fuel octane boosters, performance chips (especially the oens that give you 50 extra HP) and anything else you can think of off E-bay that sounds too good to be true. I will direct you to this:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1802932.html
They actually did tests on all that "fuel saver" stuff. Go through all the pages, they covered pretty much all of them. One of them lit the truck on fire, and the others just blocked HP.

[fillsteak]

I have kept relatively detailed information on my mileage over the years... first starting before the V, twos cars prior, with a pad of paper and a pen. It has now evolved to include a calculator and excel.

Anyways, my hints and tips for increasing mpg (generally speaking):

Drive the speed limit. I don't care what it is, the faster and more crazy you drive (changing lanes and all that crap), the more you are pushing the V and the worse your mileage will be.

Drive more highway. My work driving has changed from 60 miles of highway driving and 2 miles of city to 5 miles of highway and 2 miles of city. My mileage has dropped significantly due to the change in % of highway/city driving.

Don't spend money on crap. See other posts in this thread and on this forum about "fuel savers" and junk like that. If you are going to waste money, send it to me.

Draft behind other vehicles on the road. Mythbusters and various forums support this idea BUT acknowledge the risks and dangers in tailgating.

Hints and tips for decreasing mpg (again, generally speaking):

Increase performance of the car. For the most part, anything that increases performance adds more power to your vehicle. Adding more power means more energy will be consumed at a given point. Energy, in this case, is fuel and electricity.

Drive like a ricer. You know it! A japanese car does not mean you are a ricer so don't drive/act like one. It is an SUV after all...

For the most part, just drive safely and normally. You won't be able to do anything within normal means to drastically increase your avg mpg from 25 to say 30 over an entire year. You can, however, become a crazy driver and decrease your mpg from 25 to 20 in a year if you are a bat out of hell and only drive uphill in SF.

[CRVtec]

one important but often not thought about fact is the weight that the car is carrying.
Take out what you don't need from your boot or elsewhere, and remove your sparewheel, and carry just inflatable tyre fluid if you get a puncture. I removed my sparewheel, and noticed 2 MPG more per gallon! You'll see the difference on from your next fill-up if you're monitoring!