11 mpg to 15 mpg is it possible mostly on driving style and small mods? - Page 5 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

strider3700 · 04-24-2010, 12:52 PM

Well I've now had two fillups since doing the brake job In regular driving I went from averaging 10.81 mpg over 5 fillups to averaging 12.16 over 2 fillups if this stays consistent that works out to roughly an 11% increase and at the same time I got much better/safer braking. The pay back on that assuming prices remain the same is 7727 miles or roughly 2 years of driving at my current rate.

At the moment I don't have the money to replace the shocks which need done but I've heard that I will get a bit better mileage from them working better. Can anyone confirm this?

Also I still have the hangers for attaching a slide in camper sticking out under the truck. I'll remove them soonish and that should clean air flow up a bit. Maybe compensate for the steps I added so my wife could get in it.

The other thing I did part way through the last tank was I noticed 1 vacume hose disconnected and blocked under the hood. I put it back on and I found a larger line running the the charcoal canister disconnected and blocked. Someone in the past had been trying to remove the smog equipment without actually totally removing it. Reconnecting it resulted in no noticable difference powerwise and the mileage change was so small it could be one or two more stop signs vs the last trip.

sc2dave · 04-24-2010, 06:17 PM

Get rid of that spare mounted up front.

strider3700 · 04-24-2010, 07:31 PM

done before I even got the truck insured for the year. horrible looking and couldn't have been good on the mileage.

strider3700 · 05-02-2010, 02:33 AM

ok I did another fill up earlier in the week before a road trip. 13.55 mpg. that was typical around town with some highway driving. after the road trip I still haven't filled up because I still haven't finished the first tank never mind gotten into the back tank. If the front ran empty on startup I'd still be at 13.66 mpg I did go back and have the rear brakes adjusted after a break in period so they are definitely tighter now. That may cost me some for awhile. I know there is a bunch of people on here horrified to hear this but I'm over joyed at 13.66 mpg. THat's a 21% increase. No mods/no real special driving style. I may make this 15 mpg yet

Christ · 05-02-2010, 11:10 AM

Not horrified to hear it at all... You make the mileage you make, and chances are, for the larger percentage of us, it's either not feasible, or not fiscally advantageous to buy a new car or truck that would get better fuel economy.

We're not all here just for the saving the environment war... some of us are still concerned about our pockets, and conserving the best we can with what we already have.

Besides, if you buy a new car, you're already in the hole, both monetarily and environmentally. Hard to break even on the environmental side!

Part of the reason I always get used cars... besides - new car = new car headaches. Old car = fix it, run it into the ground, get another one. No headache, there.

orange4boy · 05-02-2010, 02:49 PM

Good work. When I started I was getting 17mpg in my van now I average 30. That's a hell of a lot more gas saved than someone going from 30-50 mpg. It's all good.

Keep it up!

Adding to what Christ is saying, it's much better to keep an older car running efficiently than buy a new one and create more junk. A car is a tool. I don't throw away my dewalt drill because it's a bit scuffed and dented, The scuffs and dents are it's proud history of good work. I keep it going till it really dies and I can't fix it anymore, then I mourn that great drill.

Christ · 05-02-2010, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Good work. When I started I was getting 17mpg in my van now I average 30. That's a hell of a lot more gas saved than someone going from 30-50 mpg. It's all good.

Keep it up!

Adding to what Christ is saying, it's much better to keep an older car running efficiently than buy a new one and create more junk. A car is a tool. I don't throw away my dewalt drill because it's a bit scuffed and dented, The scuffs and dents are it's proud history of good work. I keep it going till it really dies and I can't fix it anymore, then I mourn that great drill.

...just before using it for parts when the next one breaks. :P

Adding to "your car is a tool". I compretery agree. This is exactly why I don't polish up my ride, keep it clean, etc... I fix it, and run it till it breaks, then fix it again. The fix is ALWAYS more economical than a new car (except sometimes in my case, for certain reasons), even if the cost of the fix exceeds the "value" of the car.

This is the dumbest concept I've ever heard, if not off topic for this thread... to keep it poignant, it doesn't matter what the value of the car you're fixing is - it matters whether the fix costs more than it will cost to replace that car.

Besides, whens the last time you saw someone adding chrome accessories to a circular saw?

strider3700 · 05-02-2010, 04:08 PM

I agree that a vehicle is a tool but I do clean them. I also clean my tools. in the case of the vehicles regular outside washing helps keep the rust at bay. It also lets me take 2 minutes to hit scrapes/dings with some spraypaint to keep the rust out. Rust is the end of almost every vehicle up here.

When it comes to tools a good cleaning/oiling extends their life. Good garden tools will outlast me so long as I oil the handles to keep them from drying out and prevent the heads from rusting. Same for handtools. Power tools usually burn out motors if/when they clog with dust. clean them and replace the brushes and most will last decades. Cordless almost always die from the batteries wearing out.

as for chrome accessories it really depends on what it is for. I added steps so my wife can easily climb into the truck. I'm considering adding a winch since I've found a fair number of times it would be useful. I won't be adding a shiny roll bar or shiny plastic balls to the trailer hitch though

strider3700 · 05-09-2010, 02:08 AM

13.996 probably 70% highway. They adjusted the rear brakes tightening them up and I'm sure making them drag just a tiny bit more, we'll see if that affects things much. The big thing is I just added a canopy to the back. going from an empty bed to an effectively squared off end can't help mileage. I'll keep everyone informed as to how that goes. One thing I did notice was it really seemed to glide better/longer then it did before the canopy. That makes zero sense to me but that's definitely what my finely tuned ass said. in the end the numbers won't lie much.