rider toyota paseo driver, suggestions for better mpg.

[scorch]

Hi Everyone, due to a acl injury im forced to leave my 77mpg ninja 250 and start commuting in a car. I have a toyota paseo from 1995, and i get about 32 mpg.

I was hoping to get better mpg, i usually take city streets that are low speed to work. the car is automatic, stock. i have been reading on hyper miling techniques and am going to start using that.

is the paseo a good car for getting high mpg. What would be the highest expected from this car if it is rated at 28mpg and 36 highway?

Thank you very much, look forward to seeing how i can improve.

unfortunatly i dont have a scan gauge, car is too old to use it.

[Daox]

Hello scorch.

The Paseo is a decent car for mileage if you are willing to try with it. Unfortunately, the automatic transmission is going to significantly hinder your attempts at getting some great mileage out of it.

I was able to achieve the mileage I did in my Paseo primarily by the use of pulse and glide which you can't really do with an automatic transmission.

If I were you, I'd focus on avoiding brake use primarily. Then, I'd look into modifying the trans so that you can lock up the torque converter on command. If you were able to do that, you could pulse and glide in neutral (not engine off) which would give you some pretty good mileage.

BTW, your car is rated for 25 city, 30 highway.

[scorch]

My second tank on the paseo. and i got 37 mpg. Actually 36.99, but i rounded up.

Too bad i have a automatic transmission.

[scorch]

This is up from 32 mpg, i think id be super happy with 40mpg since that is the mpg my bmw r1100rs gets.


I heard using acetone in the gas helps alot? is this true?

im riding pretty gently, but not holding up people. i take mostly small city streets to work. Alot of is city driving.

I got my tires inflated high, the max on the tire sidewall.

The car is in good mechnical condition, and i think id like to know if there are things i could do more. I have regular oil, i might switch to low weight oil in the next oil change.

[California98Civic]

I don't think there is much support for acetone as a strategy. But an airdam under the front bumper will help. So will blocking off the front grills prudently. If you are doing a lot of stop/go, then reduce weight.

[scorch]

i might do an airdam. Probably an easy way is to use duct tape. My car is silver so it should blend pretty well. ugh

Actually that wont work. What materials would you suggest to use for the front bumper building?

[scorch]

Currently i have 185 tires, would going down to a thinner tire size improve the mpg as well?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by scorch

Currently i have 185 tires, would going down to a thinner tire size improve the mpg as well?

there are lots of factors in tire changes. Wait until you must have new tires, then do the research. Otherwise, the cost of new tires purchased prematurely will eat-up any fuel savings.

Originally Posted by scorch

i might do an airdam. Probably an easy way is to use duct tape. My car is silver so it should blend pretty well. ugh

Actually that wont work. What materials would you suggest to use for the front bumper building?

Cheap and easy and quite stealthy: black lawn edging attached under the bumper cover with screws. Done well it looks pretty much OEM, noticed only by the trained eyes as a funky add-on.

[elhigh]

Hey Scorch,

Going from high 70s to middle 30s must be quite a jolt. Then again, Maryland in January isn't a bad time to be riding inside a cage, so I call that a wash.

As you've already seen you can make a big difference to the car's yield just with how you drive. And you've already noted that the automatic hampers the car's flexibility and potential quite a bit.

Spending a lot of time in stop-and-go traffic means aero improvements don't help you much. The time spent idling at lights and pushing harder on the gas to get back up to speed add a lot, too.

Examine your usual route and see if there's a different one, one that keeps your car motoring along just above the torque convertor lockup threshold. Modest speeds in top gear with the TC locked up are the butter zone, and if you have to add distance to spend more time there, it still may be enough of an improvement to reduce your overall fuel consumption. It also means your average speed will go up, further into the range where aero improvements can make an improvement and reduce your consumption even further.

[dirtydave]

Welcome from south Baltimore!