have caddy, need tips :)
 

Hi guys, I need some tips for eeking more MPG out of my car. I have an 05 caddy cts 3.6L with the 6 speed manual transmission. I have a suburban route to work and back, about 5 miles each way, I drive to work, home for lunch, then back for the PM session 5 days per week and one trip for the Saturday morning session. There's a brief section of 55mph but most is 45 with 6 stoplights that you never make ;)

I've had the car for about a year, I've wanted a manual transmission car for 25 years and finally got one :) I love the comfy seats, quiet smooth ride, nice stereo, dual climate control. You know, all of the comfy things most caddy's have. It's pretty fast too, the thing digs hard with the RPM's get around 3K. But I'm not a fast driver, I wouldn't mind going to the track someday to learn how to drive fast but I like to be a smooth driver.

Anyway, I'm getting 21-23mpg on this loop. I'm happy with it but if there is a way to get more I'd like to try it. It seems best when I shift early and keep the rpm's low, I drop it into 6th at 40mph every chance I get. I like to roll along in neutral. I try to go easy towards reds or what I think are "soon to be reds". I can make some corners in 4th gear (hold on!) I accelerate pretty slowly, I try to keep in a tall enough gear so I'm not quite lugging. I bundle up in the winter and usually only turn on the ventilation when the windows fog (it's in a garage so it's above freezing even in winter when I start out). I do like my AC in the summer (used it today in fact..) ....hey it's a luxury car, OK? :)

So any general tips you've got I'd appreciate. I've got some specific questions....

-accelerating...I've read sometimes brisk acceleration is better, is this something you have to try and see or is it true (or false?). I've read things like "75% throttle" but I'd be doing 0-60 in 8 seconds with that, especially if I let the rpm's get a little higher.

-tires..I've got bridgestone Turanza's at 30 psi because that's what it says on the door but the tire says max pressure 51 psi. Can I take'em up to 51psi? I don't want to make the car uncontrollable....but what is the deal with PSI anyway?

It's a 255hp 3510 pound car with a coefficient of drag of 0.31. EPA ratings are 15/24 with combined rating of 18

Thanks for the comments guys :)

Joe

I hear these things do WONDERS for gas mileage.

Best mod for MPGs

Typically, peak engine efficiency happens at low RPMs and heavy throttle. Opening the throttle plate, by itself, improves efficiency, but if you press the gas pedal too hard, the ECU enriches the fuel mixture and quickly eliminates your savings. My Subaru (2.2L 5MT) experienced quite leisurely acceleration and relatively good gas mileage when I used 85% throttle and upshifted at 2000 RPM.

Tires: it's safe to go up to the sidewall max pressure. The ride is harsher and noisier, but I think you'll like 51psi anyway.

+1

Ride around with that mod for a few weeks, and you'll gain an appreciation for DWL, frontal area reduction, route selection, methods for shortening and combining trips... it's great. Some people have also managed a permanent weight reduction as a result of Madison's suggestion.

So you're saying keep the rpm's low but give the gas pedal a decent push when accelerating?

I commuted by bike 47 times in 2008 for about 620 miles, only managed 5X in 2009 (switched jobs) but your right, the bicycle is the greatest thing ever for getting to work. Except for all of the damn cars. I liked it better when gas was 4$ per gallon!

Soon I'll be able to post pictures but I'm 100% with you. Just finished the Ironman in New Zealand and I'm keenly aware of my frontal area :)


I hope going to New Zealand for a triathlon doesn't get me kicked off of the ecomodder site.... :)

How many days out of the year do you work?

I've never ridden when gas was high, I just recently (6 months ago) got my bike.

It was 9 days every 2 weeks then, it's 6 days a week now. I should try to ride the bike in a few times per week now. But I really like driving my car! I got in a bit over 3400 miles training last year, seems like some should be getting to and from work :)

I find thot they get yau there foster if yau dant wander.:D

I have found that slow acceleratrion does not seem to help that much with milage. Really fast acceleration hurts milage (because you turn the engine up to high rpm) so finding the happy medium betwixt keeping it in low milage while accelerating for longer and getting into the no acceleration high milage mode sooner. To help with knowing that data is key. Get yourself an mpguino or scan guage if your car does not have instantanious and trip mpg readouts.