New Aveo owner - doing OK, looking to improve

[homeworkhome53]

First post

I bought a 2007 Aveo, demo with 5200 miles on it about 5 weeks ago. New car warrantee and $9500 out the door, I am happy with the car, mpg is right at 35 here in the middle of a Michigan winter. I drive it easy, 55, rpms 2500, all rural highway, seldom traffic, no hills, 26 miles to work. I'm thinking there may be some room for improvement. I have, removed rear and passenger seat as unneeded weight, aired the tires to 44psi, max, blocked the lower air ducting with no effect on temps. It does seem the it could use a 5th gear that would lower the highway rpm without really impacting it's usfullness as a daily work drive. This is this vehicle's only purpose. Any ideas on ways to go with improvements. This seem a good use for my time and might save some too. Thank You
homeworkhome53

[Daox]

Welcome to the site. You should probably start your own introduction thread.

If your a big highway driver, aeromods are the way to go.

[MetroMPG]

Welcome, homeworkhome. Great username - pretty much sums it up.

(Hope you don't mind I moved your post to the "Intro" forum.)

Glad to hear of an Aveo owner doing reasonably well, efficiency wise. Certainly the 55 mph max speed is the key there.

My top recommendation for most new people is: get instrumentation (in your case a ScanGauge). Not cheap, but it'll pay for itself, guaranteed, and you can move it from car to car, or sell it and recoup most of the price once you've used it to wring the most from yourself and your car.

[H4MM3R]

Welcome to the community!

[LibbyMetro]

I had a yellow aveo 5 door, as a rental car on my honeymoon, and it was a neat little ride, ample power for a lil 4 banger, i drove it pretty hard and still got mid 30's for mpg, its so little but it seems like it has a decent amount of room on the inside, good luck to you!

[RH77]

Welcome to EM

The Aveo-5 is a practical, efficient runabout. I've rented a few of them (all automatics, some sedans). My Brother bought one a few years ago and loves it.

I completely agree about the gearing. The mileage would certainly improve with bringing the revs down on the highway. It really needs a manual gearbox.

Enjoy the site, and best FE to ya...

RH77

[DifferentPointofView]

yea, bring the rpms down to about 2k at 60 would be reasonable. 2k at 70 or more would be great. You could definitly bump up to mid to upper 40's, and maybe even 50's.

If your not in a hurry and would like to just cruise and enjoy the weather since spring is coming (really enjoyable. and peaceful to do this) driving even slower than 55 will help immensely. I usually drive 46-50 where the torque converter locks up, and wring out the mpg's, enjoy the peace, and everything else in between. When does it shift to last gear anyway? (speed wise)

Welcome to the site!

[homeworkhome53]

Differentpointofveiw- Mine is a manual trans and at 55 it is turning 2500 rpms but at 60 the engine is just beginning to sound like it's working at about 2750-2800. I don't find driving 55 a problem as there is little traffic and I just crank up the classical music an let the trees (mostly national forest) drift by and it's a lot easier to avoid all the deer at that speed at night (rotating shift work) and only adds about 5 mins to the drive and it's great for relaxing after work. Each tank has gotten a little better as I try different things. I started at 32.5 mpg and the last tank, yesterday was 36.2. I'd like to set a goal of 40 mpg for now and am looking at a scan gauge. I have kept a log from the first tank. Thanks to you all for the welcome and the ideas. I can see the challenge in this with all the variables, I like that.

homeworkhome53

[DifferentPointofView]

ah! 5 speed can get you mucho better mpg's. You can control the shifts and engine off coast is easier too.

2800 is a lot more wear on the engine at 60mph than if you had it low. I do 2k at 70, and that's stock gearing. You'll need to get those down, both for better mpg's and better engine life. swap out 5th for a taller gear and let'er fly!

I'm assuming it has a tach?

[homeworkhome53]

I would love to swap 5th for more ecofriendly gear, but I'm not much of a gearhead and don't know what it would entail. I know that this car is called a Kalos in other parts of the world and is available with other engines an maybe other transmissions but don't know if a direct swap for another gear is available or if another more favorable gear can be made at a reasonable price or a price that could be recouped through fuel savings. Yes, it has a tach. Any ideas.

homeworkhome53