Newbie notes on how to get better mileage

[bobmutch]

1. Unbelt the alternator and AC and use a battery pack with 110v charging.

2. Improving Aerodynamics (Cd 26): remove mirrors, lower vechile, boat tail, front air dam, radio antenna delete, flat hub caps, rear wheel fairings, skirt brackets, front and back belly pans.

3. Hypermiling: Pulse & powered down glide, power down glide to stops, min braking, drive lower speed w/ impeading traffic, park to min reverse, avoid full stops (20% less gas when starting from 5mph), speed up for hills, glide down hills, ridge riding in rain, avoid bottom hill stops, drive when warmest, turn lights off during day, keep seat warmer/air heat/radio/high beams/left night light off.

4. Reduce weight of vehicle: remove junk in trunk.

5. Reduce electic consumption.

6. Reduce Motor Use: disconnect AC, change motor rad fan to electric fan.

7. Turbo charged gives 20% better fuel economy.
money.cnn.com/2010/11/02/autos/gas_engine_improvements/

8. Low rolling resistance tires with high tire presure.
Approximately 5–15% of the fuel consumed by a typical car is used to overcome rolling resistance.

9. Service your wheel bearings lubed, differential and transmission for lower rolling resistance. Make sure you are using low friction bearings and lubricants.

10. Makes sure you car has no brake drag.

11. Add an oxidizer to your fuel.

12. Get vehicle alignment to reduce rolling resistance.

13. Check and repack drive wheel bearings.

14. Get used tires? Depending on the type of tire, rolling resistance can be reduced nearly 20% or more in a tire that is fully worn (2/32-inch remaining tread depth).
tirereview.com/Article/72012/rolling_resistance_what_really_makes_a_tire_fuelef ficient.aspx

15. Use block heater in the winter.

16. Discounnect alternator and use deep cycle battery pack that can be charged by 110v plugin.

17. Convert exhaust and block heat into electric power to charge battery pack on Hybrids.

18. Use generator applied to drive train to slow vechile.

19. Electric water pump.

20. Use TEG generators to charge battery.

[RobertSmalls]

Hi, Bob, and welcome.

How far down this to-do list are you?

Many of these modifications are on the list of 65+ proven mods, most of them are sound advice, but a few of them are questionable or of marginal benefit. I don't think anyone here has managed to pull off #17-20 yet.

#7: The benefit of turbocharging is that it allows you to reduce displacement. Swapping out an old V8 and swapping in a new turbo four would provide a nice FE boost, but just adding a turbo to the V8 would not.

#11: I use ethanol. It doesn't help the mpg.

[Frank Lee]

Probably more user friendly to have one all-inclusive list (the one at the header).

[bobmutch]

@RobertSmalls

>>>How far down this to-do list are you?

Mostly just doing hypermiling for now. Working on buying a Honda Insight.

[Weather Spotter]

keep on trying, you will get better the longer you try

[bobmutch]

@Weather Spotter

Well I typically get under 250km per $20 (20l) but this tank I got 303km with extreem hypermiling. I won't want to S/G like this all the time. I would love to see some kind of a cruise control that will S/G.

I will need to run my Volvo out of fuel and then put in 10l and see how far I get with that to really know how well I am doing.

I am trying to also balance safety and hypermiling.

[Weather Spotter]

Good idea safty should be first mpg second.

[pete c]

Originally Posted by bobmutch

@Weather Spotter

Well I typically get under 250km per $20 (20l) but this tank I got 303km with extreem hypermiling. I won't want to S/G like this all the time. I would love to see some kind of a cruise control that will S/G.

I will need to run my Volvo out of fuel and then put in 10l and see how far I get with that to really know how well I am doing.

I am trying to also balance safety and hypermiling.

Sounds like you are also trying to kill your fuel pump. Purposely running a FI engine out of gas is not a really smart thing to do.

I realize this is an old thread. Came upon it doing a search for something else.

[Frank Lee]

My 19 year old F150 has dual tanks, each with an electric fuel pump. Many times over the years I've run one tank dry, to the point where the engine stalls from lack of fuel and the CEL comes on, then I switch to the other tank. The pickup still has the factory pumps.

Not that running the pumps to "dry" is something I recommend, but evidently it doesn't lead to instant death and destruction either.