Lets talk gas mileage and improving it

[igo4bmx]

My buddy at work drives a jeep rubicon and due to his commute, he spends about $700 a month on Gas and tolls. about $500+ a month on gas alone.

basically I'm thinking he should trade his car in an get a wrx and run some type of super lean map in vacuum and give his better mileage on the highway, which is most of his commute.

thoughts?

[JET02WRX]

Well.. your thread title question doesn't really match up with what you actually posted. I'll address both scenarios. If your buddy is hating life with that kind of mileage and isn't really a car guy...then he should buy the most fuel efficient ride out there and not dick around with turboed cars or anything like that.
As far as what I'm doing as the owner of a turboed car to save gas... I stay out of boost as much as humanly possible. That netted me about a 2 mpg improvement. Then, I decided to push my afr's out a bit, running a slightly modifed map on my ecu made by me, so my low load / rpm driving runs about 15.1 :1 AFR's...out of boost. That netted me about 2 mpg more than what I was getting. I was averaging 16mpg when I didn't care.... now i'm getting about 20mpg. Still not great...

[redline]

tell him to buy a $500 beater to drive back and forth, I put 10K miles on my Omni and it got 30mpg+.

[Jeffros Spec V]

I also sold my Gas guzzler jeep and bought a little 1.8l GTI. I'm getting a bout 30mpg or so. I spent about $1450 on.

Actually tel him to buy the subaru for sale in the cars for sale section.

[TROLL]

A WRX isnt the move to make if gas mileage is the priority... a Honda, Neon, etc. would be.

As for tuning a WRX to get better mileage, its not logically possible at least. The reason is that most cars have open loop and closed loop fueling, and then you are cruising around at light throttle you're in closed loop which automatically targets 14.7 AFR. Any changes you make to your fuel map will probably only be to the open loop portion, which is only for heavier throttle areas of the map only. Now if you have your injectors or your MAF scaled poorly then the car may be missing that 14.7 target and running worse than it should and could be improved upon, but you cant really improve much on a stock or near stock closed loop fueling map.

[CleanNeon98]

My buddy at work drives a jeep rubicon and due to his commute, he spends about $700 a month on Gas and tolls. about $500+ a month on gas alone.

basically I'm thinking he should trade his car in an get a wrx and run some type of super lean map in vacuum and give his better mileage on the highway, which is most of his commute.

thoughts?
Why a WRX?? Im sorry, I like Subaru and all but it seems like everyone suggests them for EVERY situation..its a great car, its not a godsend damnit.

[dragonfly2k3]

i plan to do everything humanly possible to get better gas mileage in my accord. this includes low roling resistance tires with higher psi, tuning solely for gas mileage with no concern for power, driving slower(cruise ftw) etc. Im working on my first tank since i bought it now, looking for a bone stock with tires at 35psi and somewhat aggressive driving/not caring about mileage for a basic comparison.

[pearl]

Why a WRX?? Im sorry, I like Subaru and all but it seems like everyone suggests them for EVERY situation..its a great car, its not a godsend damnit.

jesus <3 awd


i got 26mpg to my tank in my wrx, and that was about 95% highway (driving from Boston to NJ)

you could always put smaller tires on the rubicon or take some unnecessary **** out of it.

[omgjacki]

Why a WRX?? Im sorry, I like Subaru and all but it seems like everyone suggests them for EVERY situation..its a great car, its not a godsend damnit.

Exactly, it's a great car.

[CleanNeon98]

Exactly, it's a great car.
But for fuel economy, its not the best, not even close in fact.

[pearl]

im going to start commuting to work by bicycle. tell your friend to get into shape.

[igo4bmx]

Why a WRX?? Im sorry, I like Subaru and all but it seems like everyone suggests them for EVERY situation..its a great car, its not a godsend damnit.

he wants something decent.
honestly he is also paying $500+ bucks a MONTH on a car payment.
a used wrx will get him roughly a 300-350/month car payment.

so compare theses
jeep $500+/month payment + $700 gas/tolls (14mpg avg)
WRX $300-350?month payment + slightly less than $700 in gas and tolls

[igo4bmx]

im going to start commuting to work by bicycle. tell your friend to get into shape.


his commute it from levittown/newtown area to conshohocken!

[CleanNeon98]

he wants something decent.
honestly he is also paying $500+ bucks a MONTH on a car payment.
a used wrx will get him roughly a 300-350/month car payment.

so compare theses
jeep $500+/month payment + $700 gas/tolls (14mpg avg)
WRX $300-350?month payment + slightly less than $700 in gas and tolls
But even if he gets rid of the Jeep, isnt he still going to owe money on it?? What I mean is if he wants fuel economy, a civic, corolla, elantra, are good choices. A WRX might be fuel efficient, but not on the same level as the other 2. I just dont understand why when someone needs a car, a WRX is one of the first suggestions, its not a one-size-fits-all car, I know I wouldnt have bought one, even if it was cheap.

[Renegade_]

But for fuel economy, its not the best, not even close in fact.
On stock turbo it sucks.

Throw a 20G on the bitch and your back up to like 28+

My car on the other hand blows for gas mileage - I get like 5psi at like 2600 when I put the pedal down, no joke.

[sisforsurfing]

boost alone is not bad for fuel economy. Low revs + boost is better than high revs + no boost by a long shot. Never revving the engine past 3k nor getting into boost is best, sure, but then you are a giant wuss and shouldn't be commuting in a turbo car. /opinion

FWIW, I average 24 mpg and will get at least 27 mpg on the highway. WOT at least a couple times per tank. If he wants fuel economy he'll get a Corolla, Civic, or 3-cyl Geo Metro. If he wants better fuel economy than his Jeep by a long shot and to actually enjoy his car, a used 2.0L WRX isn't a bad choice.

[CleanNeon98]

All I know is that I got 33mpg city in my civic all the time...i cant get even close to that in my miata.

[JET02WRX]

A WRX isnt the move to make if gas mileage is the priority... a Honda, Neon, etc. would be.

As for tuning a WRX to get better mileage, its not logically possible at least. The reason is that most cars have open loop and closed loop fueling, and then you are cruising around at light throttle you're in closed loop which automatically targets 14.7 AFR. Any changes you make to your fuel map will probably only be to the open loop portion, which is only for heavier throttle areas of the map only. Now if you have your injectors or your MAF scaled poorly then the car may be missing that 14.7 target and running worse than it should and could be improved upon, but you cant really improve much on a stock or near stock closed loop fueling map.

Not exactly true Bryan. You can force the WRX/STI to be in open loop all the time. The only difference is its up to YOU to make sure that you have everything dialed in, in order to run correctly. These days I run completely in open loop, and only i have it set up to only run wastegate boost unless i push the throttle down more than half way. Many of the guys over on RomRaider run this way. Thats where I got the idea to target 15.1:1 afrs and not worry about ruining anything. I've pulled the plugs twice in the 9 months since I made these changes and they look perfect.

I also should have mentioned...that 20mpg i get... thats a 7mile commute that takes me 20 minutes each way... the car rarely gets on the highway.

[sean3]

Dare I say it... cobalt SS :X I remember reading about some of the people over at cobaltss.net discussing econo tunes and some people were pulling ~35MPG highway with cars in the 230-250whp range. Even without an econo tune they can easily do 30MPG highway even with the smaller SC pulley and bigger injectors.

[evomike]

Swap a diesel into the liberty and go bio, I'm not sure if the liberty was one of the platforms offered with diesel. But hey I mean if subaru guys are only getting 26 hwy he could beat that, I mean in my crew cab 2500hd I get 25 hwy and 19 city. And with the programmer going in this week its gonna go up tell him to get a mk3 tdi vw.

[stsredevo]

low rolling resistance tires good, too much air pressure is bad,you will never realize the money savings for fuel economy while you have a super bad ride and replacing worn/broken suspension components. too much air pressure is really bad for your car.not to mention premature tire wear

[dragonfly2k3]

actually, soley from going to ~42psi in my daewoo i noticed about 30 more miles to the tank pure highway driving. plus, my cars already got some pretty serious tire wear issues that i need to get resolved soon haha.

[stsredevo]

come to think of run 50psi and come to me for tires :lol:

[WTRacing]

if its gas mileage your looking for find an old 1980's early 90's VW turbo diesel in a 5spd 60+ miles per gal......so what if diesel is 4something a gal at 60+ mpg who cares..

[05 mazda6s]

Check this on yahoo featured they figured doing these 10 things can save you over a grand on gas a year: http://http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/105298/10-Easy-Ways-to-Save-Over-a-Grand-on-Gas

[quattroguy]

I have my AFRs set around 15 off the boost, never had an issue. In fact at low loads the recommended AFR is 15.2 for good throttle response.
Another idea for better mileage, reroute the air intake to get warm air. Less power but better economy.

You can also go taller/narrower on tires. The odometer may not be accurate but it will get better mileage

[BlkWhtTSI]

coast in neutral as much as possible thats what i do

[Cardriverx]

coast in neutral as much as possible thats what i do

You would waste less gas by staying in gear, that way the engine is in overrun and not injecting any fuel.


I tuned my car for about 17:1 in cruise, I get almost 30 mpg. Standalone fuel management FTW. Oh and stay out of boost haha.

[DropTopChevy]

Buy a bicycle :mrgreen:

[BustedUjoint]

Hey Guys, I am the guy IGO4BMX is talking about. I wasn't looking for straight MPG, I just can't bring myself to drive a POS. I know, I'm an ass. Anyways, I traded in the 03 Rubi :( and picked up an 04 WRX Wagon.

It might not be the BEST car for MPG. But, it keeps me happy, and I still get a LOT more mileage per tank than the Jeep did. Thanks for all the suggestions and looking forward to cruising around TST.

[sisforsurfing]

Congrats, welcome to the wagon club. Of course I think you made a great choice, but I'm a little biased.

[pearl]

Buy a bicycle :mrgreen:

best investment ever :)

[05 mazda6s]

You would waste less gas by staying in gear, that way the engine is in overrun and not injecting any fuel.


I tuned my car for about 17:1 in cruise, I get almost 30 mpg. Standalone fuel management FTW. Oh and stay out of boost haha.

What do you mean? So trying to stay in neutral is wasting more gas even though it stays at idle rpm?

[Keeper1343]

his commute it from levittown/newtown area to conshohocken!


HAHAHA.You think that is bad? I will switch with him anyday of the week. drive from levittown to Delaware everyday. Thank god a have a civic. I still get mid 30's with my H22 swap!!!

[dragonfly2k3]

What do you mean? So trying to stay in neutral is wasting more gas even though it stays at idle rpm?

correct. When the car is in gear and coasting the ecu notices that rpms are elevated and that throttle position is 0% because of this the car injects no fuel, thus using zero fuel. The thing to compare is, you will drift a shorter distance in gear, but you use a slight bit more fuel at idle, which is better?

[BustedUjoint]

HAHAHA.You think that is bad? I will switch with him anyday of the week. drive from levittown to Delaware everyday. Thank god a have a civic. I still get mid 30's with my H22 swap!!!

Ouch! I feel your pain on that one. I had to do that a few years back. I was driving down to exit 4 I think it was in DE. NOT a fun drive!!

[SovXietday]

boost alone is not bad for fuel economy. Low revs + boost is better than high revs + no boost by a long shot.

Negative. Low end boost is probably the worst thing you can do as far as fuel economy goes.

High comp N/A AFRs can also generally be kept much leaner than low RPM boost AFRs, often times needing to dip in the 11s because it's the worst area as far as detonation besides WOT.

If I really wanted to I could get 35mpg in the hatch driving normally around town. But then again I don't really care enough to drive it normally.

[Mini R56]

Prolly should have gotten a mini =)

[NOPSTNS]

the new GTI would have been a good option too.....gets around 28ish mpg highway and the euro version gets around 50....

the difference is in the tuning, the euro model has a lean tune that will switch in if it detects cruising for an extended period of time.....it will lean it like a whore on the highway. the direct injection lets it run insanely lean while not getting TOO hot...

the US model cant run the tune bc NOx emissions goes thru the roof during lean times...

but im just sayin, someone could get the gti and reflash it for the euro specs....im sure its been done by someone already...who can say no the 200+hp and 50 mpg?

[QCs_R4_Girls]

Aww, I miss my old S-series Saturn. 42 mpg with zero mods ftw.