Hi guys, I need some tips for eeking more MPG out of my car. I have an 05 caddy cts 3.6L with the 6 speed manual transmission. I have a suburban route to work and back, about 5 miles each way, I drive to work, home for lunch, then back for the PM session 5 days per week and one trip for the Saturday morning session. There's a brief section of 55mph but most is 45 with 6 stoplights that you never make
I've had the car for about a year, I've wanted a manual transmission car for 25 years and finally got one
I love the comfy seats, quiet smooth ride, nice stereo, dual climate control. You know, all of the comfy things most caddy's have. It's pretty fast too, the thing digs hard with the RPM's get around 3K. But I'm not a fast driver, I wouldn't mind going to the track someday to learn how to drive fast but I like to be a smooth driver.
Anyway, I'm getting 21-23mpg on this loop. I'm happy with it but if there is a way to get more I'd like to try it. It seems best when I shift early and keep the rpm's low, I drop it into 6th at 40mph every chance I get. I like to roll along in neutral. I try to go easy towards reds or what I think are "soon to be reds". I can make some corners in 4th gear (hold on!) I accelerate pretty slowly, I try to keep in a tall enough gear so I'm not quite lugging. I bundle up in the winter and usually only turn on the ventilation when the windows fog (it's in a garage so it's above freezing even in winter when I start out). I do like my AC in the summer (used it today in fact..) ....hey it's a luxury car, OK?
So any general tips you've got I'd appreciate. I've got some specific questions....
-accelerating...I've read sometimes brisk acceleration is better, is this something you have to try and see or is it true (or false?). I've read things like "75% throttle" but I'd be doing 0-60 in 8 seconds with that, especially if I let the rpm's get a little higher.
-tires..I've got bridgestone Turanza's at 30 psi because that's what it says on the door but the tire says max pressure 51 psi. Can I take'em up to 51psi? I don't want to make the car uncontrollable....but what is the deal with PSI anyway?
It's a 255hp 3510 pound car with a coefficient of drag of 0.31. EPA ratings are 15/24 with combined rating of 18
Thanks for the comments guys
Joe