Wanting more MPG's!

[Brandort3]

Does anyone have any ideas on what else i can do to get more MPG's without spending a bunch of money?I've already got good plugs and a cold air intake. I have an '03 Vibe GT 6-speed so i skip gears when i'm just cruising around. I make about a 30 mile (each way) commute back and forth to school and am just trying to get the most out of it.Any ideas would be great!

[Old Tele man]

...go visit the ecomodder.com website: http://ecomodder.com/...I was able to get my '09 Vibe 1.8L 4A from 32 mpg up to 40 mpg with some simple "techniques" using a ScanGauge-IIâ„¢ to provide feedback.

[blindman10]

You may want to rethink the CAI if you are going for max MPGs. There doesn't seem to be any definitive answer that applies to ALL vehicles, but it seems that with newer cars, adding a CAI can certainly increase performance but may affect MPGs negatively (or not at all). Because the CAI allows cooler air at a greater volume (less restriction) the computer will compensate and add more fuel to mantain a preset ratio...essentially negating the 'benefits' of the CAI and possibly increasing fuel consumption.Thats my take on it at least...do a search over on ecomodder and there are countless threads about this idea. Seems like it may be vehicle specific so you may have to find what works best for your Vibe in your climate!Happy modding!

[Brandort3]

From what i've found, the CAI gets me about 2 more mpg and adds about ten or so horses to the motor. Not a whole lot, but it came with the car so i'm not complaining to much. i'm averaging about 30-31 right now. i'd like to get it more about 36 or37. Thanks for the input though!

[cptnsolo77]

Your on the right track. I bumped my tire pressure to 37 PSI, installed a drop in K&N & changed my plugs to NGKs most recently. I saw an immediate increase when I changed my plugs. Use cruse whenever possible. Good luck.

[Capt.Vibe]

I'm not sure how bad the winters are in Indiana but running a CAI in the freezing cold isn't a good idea and will cost you MPG for sure. In the winter you'll be sucking air that is too cold, especially in the mornings which will then cause the engine to remain in open loop much longer than with the stock airbox. The colder it gets, the more time the engine needs to warm up, the greater your MPG's will drop.Also don't forget the possibility of freezing of your cone/filter. There is a lot of moisture in winter which can soak your cone and if it's cold enough it can actually freeze. This is very common here in Quebec but again it'll all depend on how cold your weather is. Personally, I'd run the stock air cleaner until spring. Other things you can do besides the already mentioned plugs/filters/tuneup......Block the rad or the front grill with cardboard. Leave a only a small opening. Again, this will depend on how cold your weather gets. I do this on all my cars from Dec-Mar to keep as much freezing air out of the engine as possible.Install a group v synthetic oil. Red Line 5W20 works great and will last 6-12 months depending on your mileage. Find gas with as little ethanol in it as possible if you can. Try different brands and keep track of the mileage you get. My Vibe is happy with 87 octane from ESSO. I get about 40-50Km more per tank compared to other brands. Possibly has less ethanol.Increase tires 36-40PSI depending on how harsh a ride you can live with.I would not go over 40 and would recommend 35 and less if you are driving in a snowstorm.Shift at max 2500 as much as you can. Avoid hard stabs at the throttle. Stay off the gas as much as you can. Anticipate traffic and keep a good distance. Drive on highways as much as possible on cruise if you have it. Stay out of the way of folks in a rush, keep to the right lane at all times when driving for fuel economy.

[tpollauf]

Other than the few mechanical changes already offered, the biggest influence would be BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION That too has been mentioned and sometimes can't be done depending on all other traffic around you BUT try it anyways. I proved it two summers ago on the way back from the GenVibe Indy meet where I drove 55-60mph the whole way back to Toledo and got an impressive 37mpg from the GT's 2.4L engine It was after midnight so there was not much traffic to get in my way

[KITT222]

The greatest modification for MPGs, is adjusting the nut behind the wheel. Quote, originally posted by Capt.Vibe »Block the rad or the front grill with cardboard. Leave a only a small opening. Again, this will depend on how cold your weather gets. I do this on all my cars from Dec-Mar to keep as much freezing air out of the engine as possible.I agree with this. I also block my upper grille year-round. The engine operates perfectly, and less air is going into the engine bay!I recommend an engine block heater for the impending cold months. Mine helps me plenty. But going into the winter don't expect anything too high. Winter blend gas is less efficient than summer blend.

[ponta2147]

Quote, originally posted by Capt.Vibe »I'm not sure how bad the winters are in Indiana but running a CAI in the freezing cold isn't a good idea and will cost you MPG for sure. In the winter you'll be sucking air that is too cold, especially in the mornings which will then cause the engine to remain in open loop much longer than with the stock airbox. The colder it gets, the more time the engine needs to warm up, the greater your MPG's will drop.First time I've ever heard a good explanation for why my MPG drops significantly in the winter. Good to know!

[Persephone]

Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 »First time I've ever heard a good explanation for why my MPG drops significantly in the winter. Good to know!AGREEED!! I thought it was just fighting against the cold and heating my cold fingeez. X3

[Old Tele man]

...colder weather also means it takes longer for the engine oil to warm-up to normal operating temperature, so the engine computer has to compensate for the "thicker-than-molasses" oil viscosity by keeping the air-fuel ratio "richer" than normal, which is *why* the engine has to stay out of "closed-loop" operation during colder weather until the engine reaches its programmed "normal" operating temperature...which can be up to 30-minutes or more of typical driving during COLD weather.

[KITT222]

Quote, originally posted by Old Tele man »...colder weather also means it takes longer for the engine oil to warm-up to normal operating temperature, so the engine computer has to compensate for the "thicker-than-molasses" oil viscosity by keeping the air-fuel ratio "richer" than normal, which is *why* the engine has to stay out of "closed-loop" operation during colder weather until the engine reaches its programmed "normal" operating temperature...which can be up to 30-minutes or more of typical driving during COLD weather.With my upper grille blocked, mine warmed up in about ten minutes, maybe less. And i have a CAI. A bit less with my lower grille blocked. But I am driving in a suburban area, so the stop-starts may have something to do with that. Another thing I do is I don't turn my heat on until my the engine is warmed up, so I get no heat until the car warms itself up. That is probably a major contributor to my short warm-ups.

[DoubleBaril]

I gave up trying, so decided to sell it instead

[ParknVibe]

On my 2009 2.4l with Auto. I just feel that the idle speed in drive at a stop runs to high or fast. To me (by just looking at the Techc) on the dash, it reads 800 to 900 rather then what I think it should be like 600 rpm. I feel that's where I am losing it.

[Capt.Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 »First time I've ever heard a good explanation for why my MPG drops significantly in the winter. Good to know!There is even more than that. There's winter blend gas, winter tires have more resistance. You also can't/shouldn't overinflate winter tires. The more deep snow you drive on the greater the resistance to push through it. And of course, don't forget all that wheelspin/TC/ABS and sliding also wastes lots of fuel. This will be my first winter with my Vibe but I expect my gas mileage to drop by at least 25%, which has been my experience from previous cars.

[meidou]

If you go to the ecomoddder website there is a guy with a Matrix, his name is Daox and he was able to achieve close to 50mpg with some mods such as a belly pan ( can be made using cloroplast),keeping his tires at 40psi (I currently do this,the ride is a bit rough but i can achieve 7l/100km), grille block ( some of our members currently have this).Here is a link to the build tread :http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.p ... 890.html.A block heater may also help for the cold winter days,I have never used one however it may be something I should think about when the wind starts blowing off of Lake Ontario.Hope this helps,the best advise I can give is drive like a granny,accelerate slowly and coast to a stop.

[09vGT]

I've given up on trying to get better mileage. I stay around 22-24 mpg. I don't drive hard either, I keep it under 3000 RPM 90% of the time.

[LarryKingsShoes]

The best economy that I've recorded was about 32 MPG in my '03 GT. I started driving a lot more conservatively. It's amazing what a few behavior modifications can do to your overall fuel economy.I used to average about 28 MPG with a similar mix of city and highway driving. The biggest change was probably easing onto the throttle and avoiding the need to apply the brake. Going the speed limit was a good way to optimize fuel efficiency and safety. I even started to enjoy the cruise a lot more. Premium fuel was nearing $4 a gallon at that time; every extra MPG was about a dollar saved per fill up, according to Fuelly. Now prices aren't as bad (about $3.40) but it's awesome to be able to milk the tank for all it's worth.The only changes I've made to the car were removing the roof rack cross bars and antenna. I doubt that they made any measurable difference but it seemed worth the short amount of time it took; it can't really hurt, at least. I have never used my luggage rack (though I would like to) and I never listen to the radio. I still get good enough reception (which is good for when I need local weather information), too. It should only take a few minutes to put the cross bars back on, should I ever get the opportunity to use them.I'm actually impressed with a car as capable as the Vibe GT getting 30+ MPG. Even my worst recorded tank came in at 26 MPG. I wasn't happy with that but it's still better than my brothers get in their sedans, and they don't even get the fun of a 6 speed manual transmission. The Vibe is just awesome; it's got loads of cargo space, it's fun as heck to drive, and, to top it all off, the fuel economy is better than a lot of cars on the road right now.I would love to get a ScanGauge II for real-time approximations of fuel economy. That seems like it would be the best bang-for-the-buck "eco mod" available since it helps to address one of the biggest fuel burners: poor driving technique.I also like the idea of blocking the front grills in the winter. I'm definitely going to keep that in mind when it starts getting colder. Perhaps over Thanksgiving break I'll fashion some panels to fasten to the grill. That would be a fun weekend project.

[Old Tele man]

...I've tried both Scan-GuageII and Ultra-Gauge, and if *cost* is paramount, I recommend you get the Ultra-Gauge...it's much lower cost....however, if you're a "tinkerer" then the SGII is probably better, but it's more costly.

[Brandort3]

I agree with taking the intake off, I was already planning on doing that. I also own a jeep Cherokee sport so if it gets too cold and there Lots of snow on the ground I'll be taking that. I won't be putting snow tires on the vibe because really when we get snow, its a pretty good amount. (about 6 inches or so)

[star_deceiver]

Meh, it's winter.... Fuel economy comes third to traction and handling!Quote, originally posted by Capt.Vibe » but I expect my gas mileage to drop by at least 25%, which has been my experience from previous cars.I'm getting around 31-32mpg with my setup and driving style. You'll probably do better then me (mileage wise)!

[Capt.Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »I'm getting around 31-32mpg with my setup and driving style. You'll probably do better then me (mileage wise)!All depends on the temperature.I'm still getting pretty good mileage since it's been shockingly mild here which is making me hold back on installing my new winters. No snow in the forecast for the next 10 days. Don't forget the average gas mileage you see on my sig includes no winter driving which skews the numbers. This will be the garage queen's first taste of winter. Not sure what kind of mileage drop to expect, but judging from how long the 1.8L stays in open loop right now the drop will be pretty big. Mornings are around 0-5 degrees Celsius and it takes a while to reach full op temperature even with the 0W20. Can't imagine what it'll be like when it's -25c.

[Brandort3]

That would make sense, with it being that cold it'll get you one way or another. How do you feel about Mass Air Flow add on?

[Capt.Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by Brandort3 »That would make sense, with it being that cold it'll get you one way or another. How do you feel about Mass Air Flow add on?Not sure what a MAF sensor add on is. And what exactly is it supposed to do to help with fuel economy?

[cq358]

using snow tire does make your millage suffer by 20-30%

[Brandort3]

Its a Mass Air Flow, it just allows the maximum amount of air into the intake. Basically like a cold air intake, just about $150 less. I found one on EBay for like $10 or $15.

[Brandort3]

I'm not putting snow tires on my vibe, seeing as how we don't get really to much snow here. Just about an inch or so. And even if we get it pretty bad then i just get out my Jeep Cherokee and can pretty much go through anything.

[star_deceiver]

Quote, originally posted by Capt.Vibe »Can't imagine what it'll be like when it's -25c. Well...... It's Cold!!!!!But there's the usual questions: How long do you let your car idle? Do you use a block heater or is your car garaged? Do you drive like me, or do you drive slow? How heavy are your winter tires/rims compared to your summer ones?

[Brandort3]

From what i've been told, it allows the maximum amount of air in. It is kind've the same idea as a cold air intake, just instead bringing in the air at the temperature it gets it instead of cold air.

[Salsa Guy]

Quote, originally posted by Brandort3 »Its a Mass Air Flow, it just allows the maximum amount of air into the intake. Basically like a cold air intake, just about $150 less. I found one on EBay for like $10 or $15. A WHAT??? If it's what I think it is (a 10 cent resistor) your wasting your money. After you install it you'll run the engine lean for a few days, the ECU will figure it out and adjust the fuel and you'll be back to square one. If you are talking about a SRI (Short Ram Intake) they run from $50 - $150. Your just as well of with a good K&N air filter.

[cq358]

I found after loosing 50 lbs of weight, by joining the gym, my gas millage go up by 8%.I also create a shopping list and plan my shopping trip based on distance, i can make my one tank of gas last for a full month with snow tires on.If you leave work 20 minutes later or come to work 20 minutes earlier, you get lesser chance to stuck in traffic.During your shopping trip, it is better to go to the furthest destination first to make your car fully warm up then make your way to closer destinations.

[circuitsmith]

Another reason winter mileage is lower is increased wind resistance.A 45F drop in temperature increases air density 10%.Happens to be the same idea behind the CAI.