I had a bunch of free time and a full tank of fuel this afternoon so I figured I would go on a 140 mile trip up the interstate. and back home to see what kind of MPG I'm getting with the new engine scanner allowing me to watch my fuel economy. Using some rather unsafe techniques I was able to go from 29 MPG highway EPA to 47.5 MPG actual with 10 miles of city driving included.
These are the things I did to get 47.5 MPG:
- Use scanner with Torque app to watch instant and average MPG
- Chose a slow moving vehicle to follow (52 mph semi-truck)
- Drafted a car length and a half behind
- Chose gears that gave the best fuel economy(Not fifth all the time as I figured)
- DRL off 50%(until it got dark)
- Turned music down
- Emptied the extra set of wheels/tires and parts from the Golf
- Tire pressure at 45 PSI
I think the best thing you can do to get better gas mileage would be to buy the Bluetooth scanner on Amazon/Ebay/whatever and download the Torque app. Not only does it tell you what is wrong with your vehicle but it can clear codes, tell you your engine specs, FUEL ECONOMY, best shift points for economy, etc.
The next best thing every economical driver should do is choose a slow vehicle and draft it. When I was about 5 or 6 car lengths behind the semi I was still getting 6 MPG higher than my usual so it is not necessary to follow at an unsafe proximity like I did to get better MPG..
I'm excited to get into the modding aspect of this to have a more aerodynamic car to coast longer while engine is off and use less fuel to get to speed.