where im at so far, and how

[Brian03cav]

just joined up today, its good to be here
thought i'd share my progress so far.

bought my car about 2 months ago, 2003 cavalier base, 5-speed. it had just over 90,000 when i got it. i was told it was used by a girl in college, for commuting, meaning it had an easy enough life, all highway miles. my motor feels very very smooth, as if a much lower mile car.

at 94,000 i did a little tune up. i changed the oil to gtx high mileage (i dont know what the dealer i bought it from had in there). i also went to change the paper filter, as it was black and very dirty, while at pep boys i noticed they were getting rid of their fram air hog stock, and picked one of those up instead for cheaper then a paper filter! so i put that in.

another thing i did was spark plugs. i read they should be replaced at about 100k, so i figured why not now. they didnt have the mid grade (or mid price) plugs in store, just cheapo champions, or bosch platinum +4s. i was going to get the ngks, but they didnt have any. so i thought why not the boschs should last the life of the car, or at least to 200k.

now for the mileage....when i first purchased the car i was running about 28, while driving around the town i live in. i was also driving the car not very well, accelerating fast and such (im comming from a mustang gt and a focus 2.3, so im use to spirited driving). after i switched from that i was up to 30-33 mixed highway and city.

after the tune up, i've been seeing even greater numbers. i think the plugs helped more then anything, as the ones in there were pretty "beat up". i was up to 36-38 mixed, mostly highway (with traffic).

now after reading tips here and such, and after tune up, im in the high 30s mixed, and low 40's all highway! and the high way driving isnt all at 55 or 60, even though im trying to be better. much better in fact, im trying to limit my highway rpm to at or under 2500 (unless more is needed). im also shifting at or before 3,000 rpm while in town. and limiting A/C use.

just thought i'd share where im at so far, and now i have 96,000 miles on the car. i expect my scangauge 2 to be here mid week, as i just ordered it. so i hope for even better, perhaps mid 40s, upper 40s, or a dream, 50s.

everyone here really seems to know their stuff, so i'll keep reading and learning

Brian

[azraelswrd]

Funny you should mention plugs. For my Scion, they recommend changing them every 30K miles for emission controls

[Funny]

Did someone say Funny?
Good job on the first steps to hypermiling. When you get your Scangauge DO NOT trust the Trip MPG. You have to calibrate the consumption, and that usually takes about two to three tanks worth to get accurate. As far as the instant MPG is concerned, that will get corrected with the calibration as well, but it can be used as a guideline for better efficiency. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[SVOboy]

Sounds like you're doing well so far! I really try to empasize that even if you don't wanna be nuts, you can still make huge increases, like you have.