Hello all EMs.

[Loory]

Great website. I want to improve the FE of my 2007 Pontiac Vibe with autom. transm. I tought those small vehicules were a little better on FE. My other car was a VW Jetta 1.8T (manual) with an Upsolute fuel efficient performance chip and the FE was as good and sometimes better than the
small, weak and light Vibe.
Anyway i really think all small cars with small engines could do at least a little better right out of the dealer.
I'm doing around 35mpg on highway at 60mph, i may be a little optimistic but i would like to reach 45mpg. I don't want to make major mods like body jobs or transm. gearing but maybe with several minor mods and driving habits i could reach this goal maybe more (??).
I just received my new ScanGauge, it will be very helpfull.
Cheer

[thebrad]

Welcome aboard, but I don't really think you have any hope of seeing 45mpg especially with an automatic transmission. I used to own a 2004 Toyota Corolla S (same engine, transmission, chassis - different exterior). Given that you have a Vibe (essentially a Corolla wagon) you are carrying slightly more weight than the sedan.

When I had my Corolla I noticed minimal MPG improvements with a cold air intake (Injen's worked best for me) and light weight rims.

In your case, I'd try over inflating the tires.

Hopefully you can utilize your scan gauge to prove me wrong.

[SVOboy]

Welcome to the site, I'm fairly sure that you can get there with a little bit of work, the SGII will help out a lot!

[Loory]

Hi thebrad and SVOboy, thanks for the welcome.

I know it's now gona be easy to get 45mpg but little by little i may be surprised.

I already increased the tires pressure a bit and i think i will start with the acetone trick, like 3ozs in 10gal of gas, i will see if it is worthwhile.

[MetroMPG]

Salut Loory -

Welcome to the site. The ScanGauge is the perfect place to start. I think you'll be wasting your time with acetone.

If you drive mostly on the highway, reducing your speed, modulating the throttle (called "target driving" or "driving with load" - you'll understand this when you plug in the SG and watch the "instant" MPG), and aerodynamic mods are where you'll find gains. EG: does your car have roof racks? I can't tell from the avatar.

cheers-
Darin

[cfg83]

Loory -

Welcome to EM! Yeah, the auto-tranny will make things tricky, but the round Vibe nose should be amenable to a subtle grill block behind the honeycomb grille. I would spend some time here to see what other Vibe afficionados have done to their cars :

http://www.genvibe.com/

The emphasis will probably be performance, but you should be able to rummage around and find mods that fit MPG needs also.

Unless the Canadian Vibes are different, you must have roof-racks. Here is my "Hot Wheels Kammback" design :



You'd need a HUMUNGUOUS Post-It to make it work for your 1:1 scale Vibe, though, .

CarloSW2

[Loory]

MetroMPG,
Thank you for your thinking on acetone, i'm not so enthousiast about it to say the truth,
it seem like it's not as popular as i tought.
I do 75% of my driving in town and about DWL or "target driving", i don't know what is the most economical speed on my Vibe but in order to not bother the traffic too much, i will have to keep a steady economical speed like not less than about 55mph.
Yes there is a roof rack on it and also a FM antenna and a satelite radio antenna as well.

[Loory]

CFG83,
Thanks for your welcome and the link, i sometime go to the Genvibe site it's a good one.
Good job on your Hotweels POST-IT mod lol ! Would this "flat back" shape mod realy work for better FE, i'm just curious ?
Loo

[Loory]

thebrad
What is the magnitude of the improvement you had with a cold air intake on your corolla ?
Loo

[MetroMPG]

With your 4-cylinder engine, I'm betting the most economical cruising speed is just after your highest gear engages / torque converter locks up. Just guessing, but it's probably fairly close to 75-80 km/h or 50 mph. So if 55 is the minimum you feel you can safely cruise, it's probably not too bad. Your ScanGauge should help you answer that question pretty quickly.