Hello all!

[lateralus819]

Good evening. Been lurking here for a while, figured I'd sign up and learn a thing or two!

I'm 24, from upstate NY. Been kind of obsessed with squeezing the most MPG out of my cars as possible.

It started with my 97 Plymouth neon. EPA combined was 25, I was managing to squeeze 40mpg out of it easy! It was so fun too.

I then upgraded to a 97 F-150 i inherited from my father and well, 13MPG was not cutting it. So June of 2011 i bought a new (to me) car!

It's a 2008 Suzuki sx4 sedan sport (trim packages etc, 17" wheels, better suspension) . 2.0L 5 speed manual gearbox. It's a blast, I've heard numerous reports on the SX4 forums that it's mileage is TERRIBLE. Well I'm out to prove them wrong!

Since i first got it I've always gotten OVER the EPA est. I've played with minor hypermiling before and have seen as high as 40 (couldn't maintain long enough) to 36/37MPG sustained. Typically, the most I've seen from a tank is 320 miles before fill up (13.2Gallon tank, usually put 10 gallons to fill it). Also, not much "interstate" traveled, more of really straight farm country roads!

On to the good stuff though, every weekend i drive 300 miles to pick up my son from Mass. This past weekend I said what the hell and tried my best to see what it could do. Lo and behold I nailed 40MPG but the kicker is I've maintained 40mpg now for 270 miles. I've got 270 miles down and STILL have over half a tank left. I'm starting to get the itch now..

So this leaves me with some questions?

Where should i start in order to see some gains (mods specifically)

I've been shutting the car off at long lights and coasting in neutral a lot as well as maintaining a speed at which i can keep my MPG meter the highest. So my cruising speeds can be anywhere from 30 to 60MPH with great MPG's.

Hi !

I'm newbie here. Happy to be members of the forum.
I hope we will have great time here. and I'll try to contribute to forum develop more.
I'm positively looking forward to the forum and its members,
hope all will guide, share and help me to increase my knowledge. Nice to meet you..

[larrybuck]

Welcome! Have you tried bumping up your tire psi.? A partial grille block might be easy to do. Build yourself a front airdam. Can you omit a passenger mirror, and may be downsize the drivers side one?

Plenty of info here. Read the 65, and 100 tips.

If your accel. pedal linkage is fairly soft, consider driving in your socks w a very small
pillow under your right heel FOR those long weekend drives.

The sensitivity will help you to drive smoother!

[lateralus819]

Originally Posted by larrybuck

Welcome! Have you tried bumping up your tire psi.? A partial grille block might be easy to do. Build yourself a front airdam. Can you omit a passenger mirror, and may be downsize the drivers side one?

Plenty of info here. Read the 65, and 100 tips.

If your accel. pedal linkage is fairly soft, consider driving in your socks w a very small
pillow under your right heel FOR those long weekend drives.

The sensitivity will help you to drive smoother!

My car is fairly new, rather not remove parts just yet. Tires are at sidewall max of 49psi. The 40mpgs was achieved at 35 psi so well see. What does a grill block/air dam do? Also, i think ive mastered my foot pedal i can guess fairly accurately what my mpg meter is reading. Thanks.