New to ecomodder from the dessert in AZ

[dfregozo]

Hello everyone, I am new to hypermiling. I was driving a 1999 BMW 529 just like every does with stop and go traffic. I had a good job so did not care about gas mileage. I lost that job and the car broke down. Therefore with out a car and a new job that is not paying as much, I used my tax return to get a family car. Since we are expecting a new baby to add to a family of 4, I saw a good deal on a 2002 Ford e150 conversion van with a high top for $2500. However, 13 MPG is not good when my work is 20 miles away. So I used what I had left and found a 1989 Pontiac Lemans GSE with a 5 speed transmission and 2.0L engine for $600 so I got it right away. Because of this I started looking into ways to save on gas. This was in February and I have been using my smartphone to keep a record of my mileage. I started looking at videos on youtube and reading the forums. I am now getting better numbers thanks to you all. I will continue reading the forums and any help is always appreciated.
Thank you all

[dfregozo]

Do you know of any mods I can do to this car to get better mileage? It is not fuel injected so it is not a economical as I would think for the size of car that it is. I'm still getting 31 MPG and it is rated at 25MPG average so I think I'm doing good but any extra always helps. Thank you all.

[GRU]

you're getting great numbers out of that car. You could take it to a good meachanic that can tune the carb but i think it's running good now. do some aero mods like blocking a part of the grill and/or a belly pan if you do mostly highway driving. do regular maintenance and that's about it unless you wanna get extreme with a boat tail

[dfregozo]

I've been reading about blocking the grill on the threads. Is that mod only to keep the engine warm or are there any more benefits?
I just checked the tire pressure and they were at 29PSI and the max pressure is at 44psi so I put more air on them so that should help more and I also started using the pulse and glide technique so we'll see how that goes when I fuel up the car again. I can only check numbers when I fuel up since it does not have an obd2 connection.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by dfregozo

I've been reading about blocking the grill on the threads. Is that mod only to keep the engine warm or are there any more benefits?

It's mainly to reduce drag.
Air going in and thru the engine compartment causes a lot of drag.
A grille block minimizes the air coming in.

I just checked the tire pressure and they were at 29PSI and the max pressure is at 44psi so I put more air on them so that should help more

Keep an eye on tyre wear.
The extra pressure does alter the wear patterns a bit.

Higher pressure actually evened out the wear on my tyres
They were wearing more on the shoulders despite being run at "correct" pressure.

[dfregozo]

has anybody tried the gforce chip?, does it really work?