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Old 01-10-2017, 01:55 PM   #19 (permalink)
redpoint5
Human Environmentalist
 
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oregon
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Acura TSX - '06 Acura TSX
90 day: 24.19 mpg (US)

Lafawnda - '01 Honda CBR600 F4i
90 day: 47.32 mpg (US)

Big Yeller - '98 Dodge Ram 2500 base
90 day: 21.82 mpg (US)

Prius Plug-in - '12 Toyota Prius Plug-in
90 day: 57.64 mpg (US)

Mazda CX-5 - '17 Mazda CX-5 Touring
90 day: 26.68 mpg (US)

Chevy ZR-2 - '03 Chevrolet S10 ZR2
90 day: 17.14 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ALS View Post
Tossed in a bottle of Techron to clean out the crap and switched to Shell a top tier gas. After two or three tanks my mileage jumped back up to what I was getting with straight gas before we were forced into E10.

I'm not a fan of pulling wipers off or spare tires out of the car. Obvious on the wipers if they were detrimental on aero Toyota would have made design mods. The airflow over the car is not affected by the windshield wipers in fact the base of the windshield is a high pressure area. Same with rear wiper due to being inline with the airflow over the car has minimal effect on fuel mileage. To the point it probably couldn't be measured accurately between installed and eliminated.

Yes if you get a nail in a tire a can of tire repair foam will work until you can get the tire repaired. What if you puncture the sidewall? You're waiting for a tow truck.

I've driven over one million miles and I've twice had sidewall punctures. Both times I ran over something in the road and it cut through the sidewall on the edge of the tread.
Even if your mileage improved by switching to Shell (which I highly doubt was attributable to that), you'll never make back their outrageous pricing in fuel savings. I've seen them charge 70 cents more per gallon than an Arco across the street (also a TopTier certified station, as well as Costco).

Fuel comes from the same refiners, and it's highly regulated in the US. There isn't much variation, just like Clorox bleach isn't any better than generic bleach. It mostly comes down to marketing.

I agree that wiper removal isn't likely to have a measurable affect, but I removed the rear one since it takes 5 minutes, and I never use it anyhow. It just doesn't snow here often enough for me to need it (and I have a backup camera).

I'd be curious to know the percentage of tires that have irreparable sidewall damage vs punctures through the tread. I've had over a dozen flats, and all were repairable with a plug kit in less time than it would take to remove a wheel. Perhaps I'm lucky. No matter anyhow; my car didn't come with a spare. The trend of eliminating the spare will grow more popular over time as a way for manufacturers to save money and reduce overall weight.
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