All the best ideas for getting the best miles per gallon

[SWUtah]

obvious that gas prices are going up so I thought it might be a good idea to update all the best ideas for getting better mpg out of our gas hogs.

what are your ideas and what do you think it does for the mpg?

 

[macneill]

Uhhh... don't armor it and keep the stock tire size for sure

If you go to a bigger tire, 40+ psi in the tires and keep it 60 and under. Saves me over a 1/3 tank on the highway.

Works for me! Then again I only drive less than 6K on both the 60 and 100 combined!

 

[mobi-arc]

Swap wheels and tires with my ten-speed bicycle.

 

[macneill]

Then again, my 60 is far worse for an inline 6!

 

[bluecruiser]

keep cruiser in garage for the fun trips....pickup used Corolla for driving to work duty....look goofy, but you know the cruiser is at home

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Ride your bike to work. Seriously.

 

[LandCruisers4Life]

I think we should march on Washington and demand the price of gasoline be decreased to $1.00 / Gal or less...

If we're going to be killing off our sons over in Iraq, we might as well do it right and bomb them back to the caveman days, and take the oil for ourselves and cut the gas prices.

That's my two cents

 

[Dandon]

Ride your bike to work. Seriously.

That would be funny with 30 km from home to work, and three children :bigggrin:

Seriously, there are several standard procedures for keeping optimal mpg.

-Use your car only when you really need to.
-Drive at a speed as constant as possible.
- On downhills, use engine as a brake. In that situation, fuel consumption is zero.
-Avoid stop-and-go by anticipating and keeping your distance.
-Remove unnecessary roof racks, CB antenna, etc.
-Keep tire pressure high (within allowed limits)
-Shift gears asap. Keep ECT PWR button off.
-Keep oil clean and at proper level.
-Dont leave engine running on idle for more than 2 minutes.
-Remove unnecessary weight from car (e.g. recovery gear, while not on the trail)
Etc.

You can summarize most of this in: use your common sense.

 

[gearguywb]

Unfortunately 100's were and are never going to be known for their fuel efficiency....that's not the reason that you buy one.

 

[uzj100]

1. Keep Air filter clean
2. Clean Throttle body plate
3. Try not to idle. If you are sitting longer than 30 seconds, turn the vehicle off
4. Remove unnecessary weight - 3rd row seats
5. Drive slow, try to keep it below 90 mph (just kidding) - 70 and below will return much better fuel economy. This is hard on the daily commute, so many Tahoes to race, so I use cruise control as much as possible.

 

[macneill]

30km? What's that? Less than 10 miles?

I ride 9 miles each way into Manhattan most days of the week.

That would be funny with 30 km from home to work, and three children :bigggrin:

 

[Dandon]

1 mile = 1.6 km. Hence, 30 km= 18.75 mi. But remember the 3 children

Besides, I admire you. Seriously.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

30km? What's that? Less than 10 miles?

I ride 9 miles each way into Manhattan most days of the week.

That is gutsy.

I ride 14 miles each way. Takes roughly 50 minutes. I have commuted as far as 32 miles each way, but that was a killer. It's how I justify driving a Land Cruiser the rest of the time.

New this week: Son has decided he will join the "uncool" kids and ride his bike to high school. It's only 2 1/2 miles.

 

[macneill]

Takes me about 45 minutes on the Fixie. The toughest part is crossing the bridge with the crosswinds and the uphill to the apex!

That is gutsy.

I ride 14 miles each way. Takes roughly 50 minutes. I have commuted as far as 32 miles each way, but that was a killer. It's how I justify driving a Land Cruiser the rest of the time.

New this week: Son has decided he will join the "uncool" kids and ride his bike to high school. It's only 2 1/2 miles.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Guy in my local club is a fuel efficiency nut. He spent some time figuring out the best economy for his 80. His #1 factor was highway speed, keeping it at 55 vs. 75 was a huge difference, like 16mpg vs. 11.

 

[blinkinlights]

Hold on...gas mileage? What's that? I have my LC100 which gets about the same mileage as my Avalanche, which is going back to chevy on a lease return. If that's too much, I can use my 79 Jeep J20 which has a 200 litre tank that costs me $258 to fill and it makes the LC look like a hibrid. If that craps out, I can go to my 87 Jeep Grand Wagoneer with the 450hp 401 which just about needs to be driven no farther than a mile from a gas station at any given time or I'll get stranded without fuel.

Hey, we live in Alberta and have the same attitude that I've ridiculed smokers as having...when gas gets to $2.00/litre, I'll get a fuel efficient car...or maybe $2.50/litre...or make that $3.00/litre...on second thought, I'd rather have one of my testicles removed that drive a hibrid.

Keep the pedal to the floor and then maybe you'll be able to coast into the nearest gas station....can't get any better gas mileage than coasting when you've run out of gas.

Greg

 

[2000 LX 470]

Guy in my local club is a fuel efficiency nut. He spent some time figuring out the best economy for his 80. His #1 factor was highway speed, keeping it at 55 vs. 75 was a huge difference, like 16mpg vs. 11.

Just got back from a beach trip. My 2000 LX has 135K on it, and I recently had the belt/water pump and plugs done right when I bought it at 129K. Was my first opportunity to do a long term check. Ranged from 16-16.7 mpg when cruising 75 on cruise control. Pretty happy I suppose. It's stock. Just two kids and what felt like a thousand pounds of gear, but prob 200-300 lbs. But I'll tell you this: I've never enjoyed a road trip more. Even with the somewhat high miles, it was an absolute dream to drive. Sure, $250ish in gas for the trip, so we did one long trip instead of two long weekends this year. Works out fine...

 

[Jim_Chow]

1) Stock sized tires, properly inflated.
2) Remove roof rail cross bars or push to the rear as far as possible.
3) Acclerate gently, coast to stop lights.
4) Do not exceed 70mph. Fuel economy tanks beyond that. I got 18.4mpg yesterday w/ the cruise on 70mph from Quartzite to Tucson.
5) Keep the vehicle maintained well. I find I get the best fuel economy using 5w40 synthetic. Keep air filter clean.
6) Make sure front wheel bearings are properly lubed & torqued. Toyota tech overtorqued mine before (discovered this when installing new rotors). After I properly torqued them, the fuel economy increased by 1.5 mpg right off the bat.
7) If you live in So. CA, you are screwed, as the gas has fewer BTU's, and there are traffic lights like every 100 ft.

Best way to save $$ on gas is to drive a 4-cylinder car as the DD and save the 100 for fun trips on the weekend.

 

[slimbuddha]

If you are driving the beast, then all the normal stuff like keeping up maintenance, tire pressure, removing unnecessary items to stay lighter.

Even stock, these are not going to win any Green awards, so if you are doing this, and still feeling the pinch, the only other way to minimize $ spend on gas is to reduce the amount of gas you use.

get a bus pass... seriously, here in town they are like $28 a month. They even have High Speed internet on the commuter shuttles. I would if I had to commute. Otherwise get a more fuel efficient vehicle to drive on the commutes.

 

[hoser]

30km? What's that? Less than 10 miles?

I ride 9 miles each way into Manhattan most days of the week.

Last week a bike messenger in my neighborhood collided with a pick-up truck. The messenger was not wearing a helmet, surprising for somebody who rode that much in the city. Anyway, it was a fatal accident with head trauma. Careful out there, Mac.

As for MPG, I just changed two of my O2 sensors and switched to OW-40. I'll report back after a few tanks... but this could take a couple of months or so.