Aloha!

[chickmagnt311]

Hi,

Newb here. I've been in to hypermiling for many years now, mostly due to the fact that I'm cheap, and I like to stretch my dollar. On the other hand, however, I'm not afraid to spend a bit of time and money to try a product or fabricate something to improve my mileage. My cars are as follows: 2008 Lexus IS250 (I don't play with that, mostly the wife drives) and I also have a 97 f150 4x4 w/5.4 v8. Not the most economical thing for a daily driver, but A. It's paid off, B. The a/c works well (when the wife rides in it), C. I like mud, camping, beach, and hunting, not to mention I'm the token friend with a truck, lol, and most importantly, D. I fear big change. I average 17-20 mpg on the Lexus (Hawaii traffics sucks bad-was 22-26 in Vegas, and as much as 29 on long drives). The truck averages around 13.7-14.4 mpg. I drive grandpa style. Netted me +2mpg. try not to go over 2000 rpm and try to keep a constant speed, etc. I change the oil in the beast every 5000 miles with cheap costco oil. (run royal purple synthetic in the lexus) I use the cheap oil, as the truck has a bit of miles on her 130,000, and uses about a quart every 1000-1500 miles. I change the oil filter at about 2500 miles-as dictated by my mpgs' dropping below 13.7mpg. I had a 1 micron bypass filter installed for about 3000, miles, but as i was tending to a leaky fitting, I overtorqued the fitting and cracked the filter housing.

I'm into modifications. It started with an intake, did the chip thing, but the chip I had was negated by the fact I needed to pump 91 octane into it. All maintenance is up to date, new coilpacks and plugs, new bearings and bushings, bypassed heater core (don't need heat in Hawaii). Recently tried coroplast to smooth out the underbody, but that tank netted me 12.5 mpg. I'll have to re-visit that again, and see how I can improve on what I did. Thinking about sealing up the grille a bit too, to see what that will net me.

Someday I may post pics, but I'm that guy that's worried about big brother looking at me.

[Frank Lee]

Probably had a bad tank because of winter!

[MetroMPG]

I have to admit I chuckled when I read "frugal" and "14 MPG daily driver" in the same paragraph. I guess it's all relative!

I'm sure you've done the math on other vehicle options. How much are you driving the truck in a year?

Welcome to the forum!

[chickmagnt311]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I have to admit I chuckled when I read "frugal" and "14 MPG daily driver" in the same paragraph. I guess it's all relative!

I'm sure you've done the math on other vehicle options. How much are you driving the truck in a year?

Welcome to the forum!

Yeah, it is a bit of a contradiction. My trip to work is 38 miles r/t, about 230-260 miles a week. I know I could save with a more efficient vehicle, but can't really afford another vehicle right now-Wife just started her master's program last semester, and I start taking 5 classes a semester (and work f/t) next month. We're trying to not take out any student loans either.

Don't know if they have winter blend over here-Heard on the radio this morning "It will be a bit chilly today with only a high of 83," lol.

[Daox]

Unless you "need" (and I put that in quotes because 99% of the population doesn't actually need) a truck, edmunds values your truck at around $3200. I'm sure you could find another vehicle for that price around. You could instantly double and quite possibly triple your mileage.

Not to be offensive, but it would be financially dumb not to consider a different vehicle. Lets run the numbers to show ya. Say wanted to keep the truck even, and you buy a corolla or civic or something for $3k. You're currently spending about $61 and change per week just to fuel the truck (about $3000 a year!). In the corolla assuming 40 mpg you would be spending $21, a $40 per WEEK savings! Monthly that is a $160 savings. Yearly that comes out to $2080 (assuming gas prices of $3.50). In a year and half the car has already paid for itself. If you sold the truck, it would pay for itself instantly. Those are pretty big numbers IMO.

[chickmagnt311]

You're absolutely right, the amount of times I need a truck are not really that much. I'm much more relaxed driving a truck than a car, as I typically drive slow and take my time with the truck, and drive like a dick when I drive small cars. Must be a kick back to my Supra/drifting days. The bottom line is I enjoy driving the truck. It's reliable, as I'd drive it across the country (and I did when I was living in Vegas working field service). I may consider picking up another TDI come tax time (lots of write-offs this year!).

[Frank Lee]

That sure seems like an impulse you could reprogram without too much difficulty.

[chickmagnt311]

Soo, a quick update, Just started school today and realized parking was not only crappy, but rather expensive too. Did a bit of research, and found I am able to get a bus pass for all of $30 for 5 months (Student rate). I'm gonna try to incorporate this into my work schedule-at least when I work during the week. Should save me 30 miles r/t-still will have to drive about 10 miles r/t to the express bus stop (otherwise it's a 2 hour bus ride each way on top of a 12 hr workday). The weekends, however, the bus doesn't provide as frequent service to the industrial area which I work, so I'll still have to drive. All-in-all, should save me $140-200 a month. Still not bringing my mpg's up, but definitely brings down the miles driven. And on top of it, I can catch an hour's snooze on the way to and from work.

[Frank Lee]

Ah yes, college parking... reminds me of the bad old days.

They oversold the parking permits i.e. if there were 1000 parking spaces they'd sell 1200 permits. So you'd buy the stupid permit and still oftentimes have no place to park. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me... I only bought the permit once and after that took to parking on the streets. Yeah, then they declared no street parking for like a two mile radius of campus so I got lots of "portaging" in, then got to where I didn't even drive, I bicycled the 8 miles. Well my legs were in great shape and I saved a lot of $ on gas!

[chickmagnt311]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Ah yes, college parking... reminds me of the bad old days.

They oversold the parking permits i.e. if there were 1000 parking spaces they'd sell 1200 permits. So you'd buy the stupid permit and still oftentimes have no place to park. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me... I only bought the permit once and after that took to parking on the streets. Yeah, then they declared no street parking for like a two mile radius of campus so I got lots of "portaging" in, then got to where I didn't even drive, I bicycled the 8 miles. Well my legs were in great shape and I saved a lot of $ on gas!

It's even worse here, they'll sell 1200 permits for 1000 spaces, and if you don't have a permit, you can pay a daily rate to park (if you can find one).

On a side note, after looking through my account, my bus pass was free-well I was charged for it whether I use it or not.