New here - 2008 VW Jetta 2.5L

[haskie]

Hey everyone!

I've been lurking on here for a while, figured I'd at least start to post some numbers. - interested in mods anyone has done to one of these... I drive too fast and get below epa currently...

more about the jetta:
2.5L 5 cyl Manual 5 speed
about to hit 100k
no roof racks or wings
zero mods... dealer maintained
2nd transmission... first one decided to chuck the diff pin thru the housing (I was going along at ~35mph and wham)

looking for mpg pointers - maybe I'm just in the wrong vehicle? I'm not attached to it at all, just need a good DD... and I like to go fast

[cbaber]

Welcome!

Speed is going to kill your fuel economy. First thing, slow down. You will find that most of us don't go over 60 mph on the highway very often. You have to decide which is more important, saving money on gas or saving 5 minutes of driving. There are a lot of driving techniques you can practice to increase your fuel economy. But to maximize the effectiveness of those techniques you need some instrumentation like an Ultragauge or Scangauge.

[haskie]

Originally Posted by cbaber

Welcome!

Speed is going to kill your fuel economy. First thing, slow down. You will find that most of us don't go over 60 mph on the highway very often. You have to decide which is more important, saving money on gas or saving 5 minutes of driving. There are a lot of driving techniques you can practice to increase your fuel economy. But to maximize the effectiveness of those techniques you need some instrumentation like an Ultragauge or Scangauge.

yeah I figured that was the biggest one - I'll be working on slowing down... I saw the page on the Scangauge and @ the price ($150)!! the ultra gauge looks better because of the price ($60), but what's the difference? is the scan gauge really that much better?

[UltArc]

Several threads on SC vs UG. I prefer the SG, even for the price. I drive speed limit on the highway, OR draft the fastest semi on the road - Ohio turnpike, they go from 65-75, occasionally up to 80.

Pump up the tires, and check out the 65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com if you want to keep your vehicle. Using just 10% of 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com will easily bump your MPG by >10%.

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by haskie

looking for mpg pointers - maybe I'm just in the wrong vehicle? I'm not attached to it at all, just need a good DD... and I like to go fast

type basjoos into the search engine ^

[haskie]

Originally Posted by UltArc

Several threads on SC vs UG. I prefer the SG, even for the price. I drive speed limit on the highway, OR draft the fastest semi on the road - Ohio turnpike, they go from 65-75, occasionally up to 80.

Pump up the tires, and check out the ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php]65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com if you want to keep your vehicle. Using just 10% of ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php]100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com will easily bump your MPG by >10%.

hmm I'll need to do more research I guess. Why do YOU prefer the SG over the UG? have you tried both?

Pump up the tires... I will research that one too. the 65+ was a good read, and so was the 100+, thanks

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

type basjoos into the search engine ^

Good God. I just got done reading most of the "how to drop your cd..." thread... wow. He's definitely shown it can be done! maybe I should get a civic instead of this heavy vw...

[Daox]

Welcome to the site!

The biggest gains are always from driving technique. Mods can help a lot if you get wild like basjoos, but driving technique is really the easiest way. It shouldn't be that hard to increase your mileage to 30% above EPA without any mods.

I'll outline my favorite techniques:
- driving without brakes
- timing lights
- slowing down

Those three things alone should be able to get you well above EPA rating.

The SG or UG will definitely help you see what you're doing that is good/bad. Either will pay for themselves pretty quickly. If you're saving 30% on fuel, you're effectively chopping over $1/gallon off the price of gas. How long does it take you to go through 150 gallons? If you fill up once a week and each fill is around 15 gallons thats only 10 weeks for the more expensive SGII.

Personally, I also prefer the SGII. It is a bit more flexible (especially for hybrids). The UG is a Chinese knockoff with no technical support. Linear Logic is an US based company that tries to keep as much of its components and assembly here in the US. I've talked with the owner of the company a few times, and he is a great guy. The support is WONDERFUL if you ever have any issues. Its just a good company to support IMO and that alone is worth it. To be honest, I haven't actually used a UG, but I've read about the issues of both the SG and UG here on the forums. The SG seems to have virtually no problems where the UG does occasionally have some quirks. The plusses for the UG is that it is much cheaper, and it also can show 6 gauges at once vs the SG's 4.

[cbaber]

I'll second the ScanGauge. The Ultragauge is a better value, but for some reason I like the Scangauge. I like how the buttons are on the front so I can quickly configure the gauges. The size and shape is perfect for my dash mounting location. The backlight changes color to fit the rest of the lights on your dash. The communication cord mounts in the back or side so you can hide the installation. You can daisy chain multiple Scangauges together to gain more information.

[haskie]

Originally Posted by Daox

Welcome to the site!

The biggest gains are always from driving technique. Mods can help a lot if you get wild like basjoos, but driving technique is really the easiest way. It shouldn't be that hard to increase your mileage to 30% above EPA without any mods.

I'll outline my favorite techniques:
- driving without brakes
- timing lights
- slowing down

Those three things alone should be able to get you well above EPA rating.

The SG or UG will definitely help you see what you're doing that is good/bad. Either will pay for themselves pretty quickly. If you're saving 30% on fuel, you're effectively chopping over $1/gallon off the price of gas. How long does it take you to go through 150 gallons? If you fill up once a week and each fill is around 15 gallons thats only 10 weeks for the more expensive SGII.

Personally, I also prefer the SGII. It is a bit more flexible (especially for hybrids). The UG is a Chinese knockoff with no technical support. Linear Logic is an US based company that tries to keep as much of its components and assembly here in the US. I've talked with the owner of the company a few times, and he is a great guy. The support is WONDERFUL if you ever have any issues. Its just a good company to support IMO and that alone is worth it. To be honest, I haven't actually used a UG, but I've read about the issues of both the SG and UG here on the forums. The SG seems to have virtually no problems where the UG does occasionally have some quirks. The plusses for the UG is that it is much cheaper, and it also can show 6 gauges at once vs the SG's 4.

Originally Posted by cbaber

I'll second the ScanGauge. The Ultragauge is a better value, but for some reason I like the Scangauge. I like how the buttons are on the front so I can quickly configure the gauges. The size and shape is perfect for my dash mounting location. The backlight changes color to fit the rest of the lights on your dash. The communication cord mounts in the back or side so you can hide the installation. You can daisy chain multiple Scangauges together to gain more information.

Hey thanks for the info guys. I'm gonna hold off on the scangauge for a while until I can figure out what it is I actually want/need. I do have an arduino kit kicking around that I never did anything with (old xmas present from my kid brother the uber geek), heck maybe I can finally put that to good use. idk. but the USA made thing doesn't sway me - my current car is German, and yours is Japanese... let's not talk about where things were made

anyways, I've already tried changing my driving habbits, and I think I'm doing good! I'm glad my car is a manual, and I like to neutral coast - already tried adding some pulse and glide (keeping the engine on tho) might have to look into the kill switch thing... would that be through the obdII connector as well? more research ensues!

[haskie]

so HOLY CRAp! I just filled up after the first tank of trying P&G and DWL, and wow I got 418.8 miles out of one tank! compare that to the tank previous, (driving like an asshat) where I usually got around 350 miles - it started feeling really weird after I hit around 360 and kinda was itching for a fill up but didn't need it... then I hit 400... what a trip. I got almost another whole commute to work and back (not quite but almost)