Breaking 40mpg hwy

[Awd180]

My 96 Saab 900s is still trying, I had it off the road for the last month or so because of a coolant leak. But now the subaru has a really bad wheel bearing, so I have to wait till it's fixed. Anyway, the proof



The problem is it still eats coolant, I shouldn't be getting this mileage, where is the coolant going. I've checked the plugs several times after driving and attempting stop leak, no matter what they look white. Towards the mileage as you can see highway is great, however if I reset the display from a stop I may barely see 28-29mpg. I can average between 33-35mpg. I'm considering getting the leak permanently fixed but it's a 7-800$ job, the subaru is more reliable but also needs the same $$ for work.

Edit/notes: This is highway average, this trip was ~15miles highway, on the ride home I hit 40 again but it slowly dropped to 35-36 (head wind). Also the picture was taken at the first light after exiting the highway, ~.5 miles. A few other notes, this is a 2.3L DOHC with 226k miles on it.

[Jasen]

Any white steam or excess water out the tail pipe?

[RedDevil]

Did you check the radiator? My Civic lost two rads in its life from stone denting. I am a LGB advocate now
The second leak revealed itself when the mechanic held a piece of cardboard in front of the rad with the engine running. A minuscule water jet gave it a wet spot.

Anyway, 40 mpg for that car is great!
Hope it is not just caused by a lack of coolant, so it drops if you fix that.
Running a hot engine helps FE, but you'd want to be able to control it (maybe a future mod? )

[pgfpro]

How much coolant is it losing???

[sheepdog 44]

I've had that same exact car. It was a miracle that i got 30mpg average in the summer. 28mpg normal driving, I think 23mpg winter. How in the world did you manage it! Mine was an automatic though...

Mine also lost coolant. Everything died completely on my car all at once.

[Awd180]

Lawn and garden side skirts offered the most increase and driving habit. I'm loosing about a quart every 50-60 miles, I know it was leaking from the block but I've noticed some coolant on the radiator. Thanks guys, I haven't really had any saturation under the car for a while so the block leak is partially fixed.