[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Roger Jolley

Greetings. I am new here. I found this forum by googling aveo gas mileage. i own a 2005 aveo and also want to improve the mileage. if you just bought a new 2009 aveo, it may interest you to know that i have had my 2005 for 5 years with no problems except one small one. the door lock cylinders fell down into the front doors. the dealer fixed them under warranty, and said that the setscrews that held them in were loose or missing. no other problems. the gas mileage is the only dissappointment to me, but it is not too bad, i just want to improve it. i am currently a student and drive 100 miles round trip to school each day.

Nice to meet you. I have read reports from many Aveo owners saying these cars are reliable, at least the newer ones. Most of the reviews of 'professional' critics are negative, but many of their complaints seem unfounded. So far I have no problems, but time will tell.

so far, the only thing i have done is to buy tires one size larger than original equipment and to run 40 lbs of air in them. my car came with 14 inch tires. some or all of the newer ones come with 15 inch tires i believe.

The tires that came with our new car are Kumhos. Kumhos are not all bad, some are very good - but the ones on the car got a lousy rating from Tire Rack. When they wear out I'll get better tires.

next on the list is a belly pan/front spoiler. i am going to use sheetmetal from washing machines. not the white "case" of the washer, but the back of the washer, which is a thinner, gold or brown- colored sheetmetal piece which is lighter but i think strong enough. i repair appliances, and have a couple of these metal pieces to try. i will try several ideas until i feel i have made some improvement in the mileage.

I know the sheet metal you refer to. You may not find a piece large enough for it, however. Also, as I recall it is of a heavier weight than the aluminum trim material I used. I have seen no improvement in mileage whatsoever after having installed the grill blocks and the front belly pan. But the driving we do is entirely "city". We're currently averaging 22.5 MPG - and that's with a scan gauge and rather conservative driving.

Since the car gets good FE in highway travel, I think the drawback is with the automatic 4-speed. At speeds under 40 MPH it's apparently not getting good FE while in the lower gears, no matter how gradually you accelerate. I told my wife that if she's on a major road to try to get it up to 40 MPH as smoothly and quickly as possible, and try to keep the speed at 40 to keep it in high gear.