Howdy from Georgia!
 

I have liked small cars as long as I've driven, but last summer's gas prices were the thing that got me thinking about mileage in a more serious way...I currently drive a 1989 Ford Festiva with a 4-speed tranny and get a typical combo mileage of 42 MPG. I'm hoping to find lots of ways to improve that number here and, from what I've seen, I'm gonna learn a bunch!

Other cars I have in the family: 2007 Chevy Aveo, 2006 Mazda 3

The Aveo has been a bit of a disappointment in the mileage catagory...the best we've gotten is around 39 MPG, but I have seen folks doing much worse.

The Mazda has been a great car and the wife loves it...best mileage we've gotten in it is 37.4 on a trip to Florida...the wife normally gets around 30, but she's the heavy foot in the family!

Welcome to EcoModder! Glad to have you, :)

Hello Sparky and welcome on-board.

Do you already use any eco-driving technique ?
You have a complete list of efficient techniques in the 100+ hypermiling / ecodriving tips to increase gas mileage - EcoModder.com document accessible from top of every page.

Do you plan any mod ?
You have a complete list of efficient mods in the 60+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com document accessible from top of every page.

To begin with, try to inflate your tires near max sidewall and to coast in neutral.

Also create your cars in the garage and fill-up their fuel logs. This is an excellent tool to see how much you improve and to motivate yourself.

Have fun,

Denis.

Interesting fleet! Welcome to the site.

Thanks, guys! I have visited this site before after reading a post from bhazard at the Ford Festiva site...after reading the 100 Tips for Increasing Mileage, I began employing as many as were practical, However, the Aveo is my usual go-to-work car because I carpool and it has 4 doors, and I reckon the extra weight of other passengers will keep my mileage a little lower than it could be...also, I have a bit more traffic in the Aveo due to the time I must drive to work.

Funny, although I do use the coasting technique as much as I can, I never considered actually turning the engine off...of course, this is impractical in the Aveo due to traffic, but in the Festiva, which gets most of its miles on the weekends, I am starting to do some of that if NOBODY is anywhere close...safety is paramount! It will be interesting to see if that helps at all.

I do keep a fuel log and will soon be trying to find a Scangauge that will work with an '89 Festiva...

Thanks again for the welcome!

The MPGuino is the instrumentation of choice for pre-1996 cars. Sort of a DIY ScanGauge.

Thank you, Captain Slow! That's gotta be one of the funniest handles I've seen! :)