Got Car mods for mileage? performance? all of the above?

[MnateyN]

Hey i have done quite a few mods to my car and to a few buddies cars to get extremely good gas mileage. I was wondering if some of you would share if and what you have done to your cars and maybe we could help each other out!
My 2002 maxima- I have a high flow intake and exhaust for added mileage, i always use 10 30 high mileage synthetic oil, diablo jet chip.

Rhens 2003 VW golf TDI- highflow intake exhaust, jet chip.

i would like to know what you guys do to yours?! please share!

-Nate

[Midwest Michael]

You can spend all sorts of money on a variety of things that will claim to help gas mileage, but I've never seen anything proven to work as well as good old fashion basic maintenance. Things like keeping tires inflated to proper (or even a few psi heavy) pressure, changing air filters and oil on a regular basis, as well as making sure things like sparkplugs are in good working order will do far more to extend the life of a tank of gas than buying exotic add-ons or other gimmicks that promise to improve your mileage.

[galaxie50059]

I agree with you on the regular maintainance thing Michael. One thing that I did to my pickup was an aftermarket chip. The name brand escapes me at the second, but it took the mileage from a dismal 10 mpg to a fairly respectable 14 mpg on the highway. Those number are of course not hauling or towing anything and 14 out of a gas powered 3/4 ton truck is note worthy. The power increase was nice when its needed, but at cruise speed it must lean back the mix, because that is where the mileage increase is noticed. Around town, well, thats for another discussion.

As for my daily driver car, I replaced the 14 inch wheels and tires with 15 inch wheels and tires. I dropped one tire size in the width when I did the swap. The engine rpms dropped nearly 200 at 60 and the car now gets 28 mpg versus the 26 mpg that it was getting. It doesnt have near the acceleration it had, but who cares, its an econo box that gets me from A to B and back to A.

One last thing you can do too is clean out all the not needed stuff in the car. Lets be serious, this time of the year, is a snow shovel, blanket, kitty litter and tire chains really needed?

[Mark Sedenquist]

One last thing you can do too is clean out all the not needed stuff in the car. Lets be serious, this time of the year, is a snow shovel, blanket, kitty litter and tire chains really needed?

All good suggestions -- but I never remove the tire chains or other foul weather gear -- the day I remove the winter gear is the day I will find myself stuck in a white-out in mid August...

Mark

[Mass Tim]

The most significant thing I have done to get better mileage is to drive more smoothly. With the VW it's not so much of an issue - that thing gets 45-50mpg no matter how I drive it. With the Subaru it's more noticeable - working the throttle as a rheostat rather than as an on/off switch.

I have seen some pretty bad advice on some supposedly reputable media outlets that suggest removing the spare tire. Both of the vehicles I regularly drive in have full-size spares, and they are staying in the car!

[Midwest Michael]

I think its kind of scary how many people don't know how to change a tire, but that's pretty rediculous.

Save (at most) $1 a month with the lost weight of a tire, and then spend an extra $50+ when you have to get towed for a flat instead of getting the tire changed on the spot. Real good economic advice there, I wonder how many people will think its a great idea.

And I'm leaving the shovel in the car for now too, at least I'll have a paddle when everything else around here washes away....

[MnateyN]

i think that we can all agree that reg maintenance of all kind is a must for the best gas mileage expectency. I just think its kind of funn to add performance and high mileage add-ons. But reg mainntenance is key.