8 miles to the gallon

[Jake940T]

Hello, new here. Nice to meet you all

I own a 1995 Volvo 940 turbo wagon, and when I first got it a year ago I was averaging 8mpg (3.4km/L) pure city driving. I changed my driving habits and now I usually maintain 15mpg (6.4km/L), almost double but not quite good enough.

So, I'm here to learn clever ways to improve my mileage, particularly through aerodynamics because the car has a .33cd and I'm going to be doing a lot of highway driving soon. Where to begin?

[ecomodded]

welcome to the forum, your fuel economy is very low, low enough.
I would suggest that you give the car a full tune-up and put max sidewall pressure in the tires also remove the roof racks, For starters.

[larrybuck]

Soak up your mind with the 100, and the 65 tips.

Read all here you can find the time for.

A front airdam, and some mirror reduction size would help.

OH! WELCOME!!!!!

[GRU]

hmmm, is there anything wrong with the car? even city driving you should get 20mpg if you're driving smarter, because even if you drive like you want to waste as much fuel as possible 8mpg sounds impossible unless the car needs some tlc.

[Jake940T]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have any roof racks and my tires are inflated past the recommended level. I think my low mileage is due to me making frequent short trips during which my engine runs cold.

[Smokeduv]

High MPG are achieved on highway, if you are driving in the city and make lots of stops and/or you don't go too far, then 15 mpg is not too bad. When you take it to the highway you will see improvements, i hope so.

[euromodder]

Welcome to ecomodder.

Originally Posted by Jake940T

I own a 1995 Volvo 940 turbo wagon, and when I first got it a year ago I was averaging 8mpg (3.4km/L) pure city driving. I changed my driving habits and now I usually maintain 15mpg (6.4km/L), almost double but not quite good enough.

You've almost halved your fuel consumption.
That's a lot already.
Then again, even 15 mpg when driven more considerately is still low for that kind of car.

If you do lots of miles, you might consider replacing it with a new or new-to-you car that burns a lot less fuel.
If you get something that does 30mpg or more, the economics can quickly work in your favor, despite the initial outlay.

So, I'm here to learn clever ways to improve my mileage, particularly through aerodynamics because the car has a .33cd and I'm going to be doing a lot of highway driving soon. Where to begin?

It's not only the aerodynamics - 0.33 actually ain't too bad for a wagon, mine is 10 years younger but not that much more aerodynamic (0.31 or 0.32 IIRC).

Driving on the highway should automatically improve upon your usual cold / short trip mileage.

Keep your speed a bit lower - like 60 mph or even below if you don't do so already.