How to save gas

[burn_your_money]

If you know any tips on saving gas, please share them here.

[Calabi]

The first things that come to mind for me are:

1. Don't heavily accelerate after ever light.
2. In a traffic jam, don't apply the accelerator if you're only going to stop again in 10ft.
3. Shift before 3000-3500 RPM (kind of related to 1.)
4. No road rage :twisted: (is that possible?)

That's all I can think of for now.

[sausageburner]

also stay around to 60 on the freeway, Reason: for every 5-mph above 55-mph your mpg goes down 10%... Just a wierd fact i was told...

[Gotturbo]

Get a DIESEL! :twisted:

[sausageburner]

Get a DIESEL! :twisted:

I agree... his gas saving ways are much better than my lame fact... :lol:

[Calabi]

I think in the mid-90s (or somewhere around then), when there were gas shortages, the speed limits were changed to 45 because they found that to be the optimal gas mileage speed at that time.

You could always get a Toyota Prius. Who cares if you look stupid driving it, you're helping the environment. What gives you a better feeling than that? :roll:

[Slalom]

I think in the mid-90s (or somewhere around then), when there were gas shortages, the speed limits were changed to 45 because they found that to be the optimal gas mileage speed at that time.

You could always get a Toyota Prius. Who cares if you look stupid driving it, you're helping the environment. What gives you a better feeling than that? :roll:

no that was in the 70's... they changed US freeways to 55mph

my gas saving tips:
- accel lightly
- keep your tires at optimum pressure
- keep the engine maintained
- eliminate weight
- no unnecessary idling - if you're caught at a train, shut the damn engine off! or AT LEAST put your auto in N rather than sitting there straining against the tq converter... this one is a big pet peeve of mine...

[Mr_Diesel]

I think in the mid-90s (or somewhere around then), when there were gas shortages, the speed limits were changed to 45 because they found that to be the optimal gas mileage speed at that time.

You could always get a Toyota Prius. Who cares if you look stupid driving it, you're helping the environment. What gives you a better feeling than that? :roll:

no that was in the 70's... they changed US freeways to 55mph

my gas saving tips:
- accel lightly
- keep your tires at optimum pressure
- keep the engine maintained
- eliminate weight
- no unnecessary idling - if you're caught at a train, shut the damn engine off! or AT LEAST put your auto in N rather than sitting there straining against the tq converter... this one is a big pet peeve of mine...

People are sometimes afraid to shut off the engine and start it back up due to "engine wear" this is false. Engine wear at startup is because of the lack of lubrication from it sitting for 8 hours. It's smart to shut off the engine if you plan on being idle for longer than 1 minute.... Train tracks, drive thru's, etc.

tire pressure is important too.

Good points.

[Calabi]

Also, don't use the AC all the time. Swamp cool! Or at least roll the windows down.

[MKIIVR6]

If you want to save gas just ride the bus.

[GoodDayForADrive]

If you want to save gas just ride the bus.

Haha, free public transportation all over my campus :D

[jettadude]

Also, don't use the AC all the time. Swamp cool! Or at least roll the windows down.

if you wanna save gas keep the windows up. with the windows down your car turns into a giant parachute you don't want that. turn on the fan and bring in fresh air from outside that way.

[Slalom]

Also, don't use the AC all the time. Swamp cool! Or at least roll the windows down.

to add to this... avoid use of AC around town, thats the biggest FE killer... when on the highway go ahead and use it, its more efficient than driving at highway speeds with your windows open (and alot quieter)

[burn_your_money]

I am pretty sure lighter rims help out too.
Optimal MPG occurs as soon as you shift into your top gear. This is when you are going the fastest at the lowest RPM. Reving the engine kills gas. The lower you keep your RPM, the better the FE.
There is alot of contraversy on this one, but a free flowing intake and exhaust. This is benifiecial to a point, but then it starts hurting your MPG. Where the point is, I don't know.

[Mr_Diesel]

If you know any tips on saving gas, please share them here.


Wouldnt it be..... Fuel? :lol:

[burn_your_money]

If you know any tips on saving gas, please share them here.


Wouldnt it be..... Fuel? :lol:
excellent point. I'll write that down.

[jettadude]

If you know any tips on saving gas, please share them here.

yea clentch your butt real tight! :lol: :lol: ahh diesel you bring a good point up. yea fuel. gas however is my area, i am captin flatulence*sp 8)

[burn_your_money]

Before we get too far off topic.....

If you do alot of highway driving, larger rims would help.

[jettadude]

no it wont, ya see the problem with larger rims means that 1, your speedo will be thrown off unless you put low pro tires on and they are the same size as your stockers, and 2. the bigger they are, the more power it takes to spin them, burning more fuel! just because you are at a low rpm doesn't mean your not useing tons of fuel, like you could be at 2,000 rpm floored, it doesn't matter, your floored, so its putting in the same amount of fuel that it would at 5500 rpm floored. so the real thing is to have smaller wheels and use less throttle. because i saw this thing of speed, they put a big brake kit on a car and dynoed it and it lost power because it had to lug that weight around then. those are just breaks imangin rims!

[burn_your_money]

Wouldn't big rotors wiegh more then rims? steel Vs aluminum? Yeah you make a good point.... I'm sure there is an optimum size though, too big and too small...

[jettadude]

well there is alot more rim then there is rotor

[burn_your_money]

But steel weighs a pile more then aluminum. Rotors are steel aren't they?

[jettadude]

yes i belive so, but in this case there no solid steal thou. there is less weight in a rotor then in a rim. i know this for a fact.

[burn_your_money]

Ok. rims weigh less then rotors.

In the post up there a bit, I said "if you do alot of highway driving" I meant like alot alot. Like commuting and raodtrips. Since the most energy (fuel) is being used when you are accelerating, once you get up to speed on the highway, the engine shouldn't have to work too hard to keep going due to intertia? (maybe thats the wrong word). Wouldn't bigger rims help out here?

[jettadude]

rims weight more then rotors.
the bigger the rim the more rubber is on the road, the more rubber the more friction the more speed you lose. your best bet would be smaller wheel for less weight and less rubber on the road, you acceleration will increase as well. bigger wheels=less FE

[burn_your_money]

rims weight more then rotors.


My bad.

The bigger the rim, the faster it spins at the same RPM versus a smaller rim. Of course, this uses more energy.
As long as you don't get wider rims your friction shouldn't increase too much.

[Mr_Diesel]

The idea behind a bigger wheel is to change your gear ratio.

Here is a list of all the transmission codes and gear ratio's. The first number is the final drive ratio, the 2nd number is 1st gear, 3rd number is 2nd gear, etc, etc... Ideally you want the last number (5th gear) to be the lowest... So if you had an AUG transmission and swapepd in an ACN transmission, this would lower the 5th gear's ratio to .75 instead of .89. This in turn would save you about 600-700 rpms on the freeway...

Anyway, that's what i am doing on my coupe. I am keeping the AUG transmission that went with the 8V digifant, and scraping the older 4 speed... Which had a 4th gear ratio about .95 I think.... To put a long story short I can go 65mph/100kph at about 600rpm's less. This will save me about 4mpg on the freeway.

This is kind of too informative, but hey, this is a definate solution that works.



FN, FF, FH (most to 7/80) 3.89 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.97 0.76
FN, FF, FH, FJ (most from '81) 3.89 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.71
4Y, 9A, ACD, AEN (8v Close Ratio) 3.67 3.45 2.12 1.44 1.13 0.89
4S 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.75
7D, 7A 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.71
IS 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.75
FK, FM, FD (Close Ratio) 3.89 3.45 2.12 1.44 1.13 0.91
2H (83 GTI Close Ratio) 3.94 3.45 2.12 1.44 1.13 0.91
4K 3.94 3.45 2.12 1.44 1.13 0.89
ACH ('85 1.6 Diesel) 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.37 1.03 0.89
AOP (Late 80's G/J) 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.37 1.03 0.75
ASF, AON, ACN, ACL (8v) 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.37 1.03 0.75
AGS (86-90 1.6 Diesel) 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.75
AGB, 2Y (16v Close Ratio) 3.67 3.45 2.12 1.44 1.13 0.91
AUG (1.8 8v 90's G/J) 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.44 1.13 0.89
AWY ('90 Diesel) 3.94 3.45 1.94 1.44 1.13 0.89
AMC, DFQ, CHE (from '93 115hp) 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.97 0.80
ATH, DFP, CHD 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.75
APW, DFN, CHB 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.37 1.03 0.85
AVX 4.25 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.75
ACL 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.37 1.03 0.75
APW (from '93 1.8) 3.67 3.45 1.94 1.37 0.97 0.85
VW Motorsport 8V ???? 2.50 1.79 1.42 1.17 1.03
VW Motorsport 16V ???? 2.72 2.06 1.68 1.43 1.26
GP (3+E from '81) 3.89 3.45 1.75 1.06 0.71
GY (3+E 8/82-7/84) 4.17 3.45 1.75 1.06 0.71
GC (to '80) 3.89 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.97
GC (from '81) 3.89 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91

[MKIIVR6]

Another way to save gas would be to make the car as aerodynamic as possible. I have a bike/ski rack on my car, and even with the wind deflector I have probably lost 1-2 miles to the gallon. I am sure gigantic body kits would cause this problem also. With A2 Jettas and Golfs it is hard to make them more aerodynamic as they are basically boxes with wheels. :wink: But if you can find a way, it may help.

[jettadude]

ducttape all the seams on your car. when they windtunnle a nascar car they do that.

[burn_your_money]

So a bigger wheel increases the gear ratio right? so you would have slower acceleration at a higer RPM, but once up to speed, you would have a lower RPM?

[Mr_Diesel]

Couldnt have said it better myself.

[SteveXs2]

I usually shift outta first at just before 4,000RPM. I usually try and keep my average RPM down around 2,000RPM though even though I can be going 60km/hour in 4th and i'll still be at nearly 3,000RPM... damn car.

But yeah, I know how fun it is to accelerate really fast, but if you accelerate slowly you'll really be saving yourself a lot of gas. My friend drives an explorer which always gets pretty crappy mileage but he jams the gas at every acceleration and speeds everywhere... and then complains that his vehicle gets crappy mileage.

[burn_your_money]

My friend does that in his satrun. He hammers the gas at lights and when ever we are driving on the highway he randomly hammers the gas causing the tranny to drop a gear, pushing the RPM up. This really kills the fuel.

[Mr_Diesel]

My friend does that in his satrun. He hammers the gas at lights and when ever we are driving on the highway he randomly hammers the gas causing the tranny to drop a gear, pushing the RPM up. This really kills the fuel.

I've come to determine that a german car driver cannot get good gas mileage unless it's in a TDI.... As much as I try to baby the throttle (accellerator peddal in diesel cars :wink: ), I just can't stick with it for very long... Peddal to the metal always! :D