Share your gas saving tips...

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: morris
on a gasoline engine i open the spark gap to .040. iam not realy sure it helps. but try it. it might work for you.

I don't see how that would have any effect. If the cylinder sparks and ignites the mixture, the job is done. If not, the engine stumbles, misses, and needs attention. Just willy-nilly opening the gap from .032 to .040 won't do anything.

 

[morris]

just thought of an other deal, back in the 70s some people made valvetrain push rods that would colapes about about 25% , spring loaded, of total valve lift. so the reducing the total lift was to improve mpg. an other idea have a cam ground with less duration, and lift. just an idea.

 

[calvin1]

Originally Posted By: morris
just thought of an other deal, back in the 70s some people made valvetrain push rods that would colapes about about 25% , spring loaded, of total valve lift. so the reducing the total lift was to improve mpg. an other idea have a cam ground with less duration, and lift. just an idea.
I think the effect would be the same as putting a block under the gas pedal. This would work for a fleet but I'm thinking governors or just putting a screw in the throttle linkage would be easier.

 

[ChuckBerry]

I live in Louisiana, where there are very long flat stretches of road to travel. In cases like these, cruise control is a convenience and will usually help to get somewhat better MPG than driving without it. There are only a few places on my typical interstate drive where the CC will shift down and rev the engine to maintain speed, and these points are easily dealt with by turning off the CC for those few spots.

For those living in hilly areas, staying off of CC is certainly a good MPG increasing method of driving.

Other good ways of increasing MPG's is to get rid of anything on your car that increases aerodynamic drag. If you have a roof rack or a rear spoiler that is there for looks only, get rid of them. Deleting mudguards on cars is a good way to decrease drag too.

Close your windows if driving over 55 mph and use the A/C, the increased aerodynamic drag of the open windows will offset any gains in keeping the A/C off.

Keep it on MAX A/C (which closes the fresh air vent) to cool the recirculated, already cool air, which will cause the compressor to kick on less frequently. On long car trips this can cause the air in the cabin to get really dry, and causes my eyes to start to burn, so you might want to switch it to fresh air from time to time to keep the air sufficiently moist.

 

[4ever4d]

I always found "drafting" only 12" or so off the bumper of the car in front of you works well....kidding.I am ocd about leaving a 6-8 second following distance between me and the vehicle in front of me except in heavy slow traffic,a carry over from my truck driving days.I am in favor of reducing the speed limit to 55mph as it was in the 70's and 80's,not that everyone would heed that limit but,overall i think it would slow the general flow of traffic down. Less traffic fatalities was a proven fact during those times as well as fuel savings.As it is now traveling only 55 mph can be hazardous to your health in that everyone else is traveling 20 mph faster than you are most often.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Have you ever noticed freeway traffic that travels in bunches? You can fall off a group of cars and be in a completely open space until the next pack catches up.


Avoid the herd! It is a collection of people who put so little thought into driving that they herd up to avoid having to determine and/or monitor their own speed.

I enjoyed this commentor's analysis:

Originally Posted By: cdotson
There is no psychology involved in the “highway buddy.” They are zombies, pure and simple.

This used to happen almost exclusively at night, when people are too drowsy or too drunk (or both) to be driving safely and drive by their foot rather than cruise. The sudden appearance of another vehicle on a lonely road is the sole indicator that they aren’t traveling as fast or as slow as they should be, so they pace. In their inebriated state they pace at very close proximity because their attention span and senses won’t work as well to judge your speed at a greater distance. This phenomenon is happening more and more during the daytime as well since drivers on lonely roads are more often gabbing on the G-D phone or even texting or reading ebooks while highway cruising.

I was still a kid when I noticed people doing this and asked my dad why the cars were pacing him like that (he was doing the speed/slow/swerve thing too despite trying to run cruise control) and he said “Failure to possess cruise control, self control, or vehicle control.” Sounds like a citation that should be issued to these zombie morons.


http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/ask-the-best-and-brightest-psychology-of-the-highway-buddy/

 

[morris]

iam not saying a wider gap WILL help mpg. i do know if the center electrode wares the sharp edged to a rounded edge you WILL loose throttle response. each engine is different. you may not know that some engines the spark travels as much as 1/4 inch because of the turbulence, like blowing compressured air at the spark, that WILL ware the center electrode. this i learned by lots of trial and error testing, iam NOT guessing. how ever the newer cars are better on plug ware ect.