Ditto on the scangauge/ultragauge/something. It will help a ton and pay for itself in a very reasonable amount of time.
However, the car's EPA rating is 21/31. With the cruise set to 60 mph you should be able to beat the EPA rating pretty easy unless you hit a lot of stop and go traffic. I find it relatively easy to beat EPA highway ratings simply by driving conservatively. You will definitely want to continue driving this way, but make sure to check out our
100+ hypermiling tips to get some more ideas on how to improve your driving style. Its not all 'drive like a granny' stuff, and IMO moderate acceleration is better than slow starts assuming you don't use brakes later on.
Mods will definitely help, but I'd try to start beating EPA before doing anything to the car. Its completely doable. It might even be a mechanical issue. Brakes that are hanging up, or a bad O2 sensor can really hurt mileage and don't necessarily cause the check engine light to turn on.
BTW, welcome to the site.
