[ATaylorRacing]

On my 96 Geo 3 banger NO simple mods to the motor made any improvement at all on mpg or even 1/4 mile ETs. When bought the base timing was already bumped up 2 degrees so I never messed with that. A borrowed K & N made the car get WORSE mpgs, and no AF made it worse yet! The only things that I did that made it get better mpg AND run quicker in the 1/4 mile was to remove 140 lbs, make headlight covers (did not have the newer aero lights on it, and make a grill block. I used this car to deliver rim/tire packages that I deliver and every 100 lbs was worth a full mpg at 55-60 mph. I never tested the aero mods difference, but they made the top speed raise from only 81 to a decent 89! The aero mods did not make the 19.90 at 65 mph 1/4 mile times improve. The 140 lbs DID make a difference...once added back on the 19.9 ETs fell to miserable 20.5s and the car was not allowed to race since the track had a 19.99 minlike most NHRA tracks do. The stick shift series I race in changed their low end cut off to 17.99...that and the fact that the wife refused to ride in it AND the 95 Neon has AC and 4 doors is the reason I sold the Geo last fall. The guy that bought it drives 240-280 miles per day for his job...his F150 was using a full tank of gas a day and the Geo gets three times the mpgs....he called to say he was saving about $150 every three days now and it MUST be even more savings now with gas going through the roof. BTW, my wifes 12-14 mpg in town minivan was replaced with a (so far) 42-53 mpg Prius...basically the mpg difference from the van to the Prius is paying for all of the payments except for about $50. If prices keep going up the mpg difference between the two will make the Prius pay for itself!