Driving like a 95 year old has it's rewards

James614 · Post by **James614** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:45 am

Just measured 22mpg in my Touring Wagon today on 5/8ths of a tank. The best I ever got previously was 19.2 and I usually get a solid 18.4 - 18.8. Had to stay under 2000rpm 99.999% of the time to achieve this

Not quite the payoff I was hoping for considering that our HHR at work went from 28mpg to 35mpg with similar methods.

Whoever came up with that "6cyl power with 4cyl economy" for turbo fours should be shot in several non-fatal places.

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:04 am

Replace O2 if you havenet in a while

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:04 am

with OEM!!!!

Murphy · Post by **Murphy** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:15 am

i got 28mpg on my last fill up at 1/8th tank, which is driving normally, if i had an SS i dont think i would have the amount of will power it takes to keep it under boost

...thats why i want to go diesel

Aerotech · Post by **Aerotech** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:25 am

Yeah, but you'll end up going turbodiesel, putting in intercoolers, water injection, boosting to 25psi... once you go turbo, it's impossible to live without it, and equally impossible to avoid tweaking the motor for more power. I'm going diesel with the Syncro, and it's happening as we speak. Parts are in the mail

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:42 am

I turned my boost down last week. It almost makes me cry when I get on the gas.

At least it still scares little children.

James614 · Post by **James614** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:25 pm

Murphy wrote: i dont think i would have the amount of will power it takes to keep it under boost

Took me almost year with my TW to finally stay out of it between just 1 fillup. Right now its a damn good thing I can't afford an intercooler, cause I have a MBC sitting on my desk and I know things are going waaaaay south once that snowball starts rolling.

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:53 pm

i average 26 with my tw...
weird.

ya just stay out of it and go 65 on the highway and you get good MPG

beatersubi · Post by **beatersubi** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:07 am

Ya, it sounds like you're due for a tune-up. Try plugs (oem or equivilant), wires, and pcv if you haven't recently.

I average ~25 in my turboswapped legacy wagon, and traffic (people) piss me off most of the time.

James614 · Post by **James614** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:08 am

I'm starting to wonder about differences in our fuel economy calculations.... EPA for the TW is only 18/23. And the EPA ratings are reduced 15%/10%, respectively, from the actual results. So I find it hard to believe that me achieve within 99% of them in real-world driving is so far below what I should be getting...

Post by **DLC** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:37 am

At 4500ft, my GT got me just shy of 28MPG over the course of 360 miles (16 gallon tank), with about half of that highway (55-65mph) and city (25-55) and NO AC (crack the windows).

I think altitude helps me, because if there's less air and no forced induction, I have less potential power, so less fuel will be used by default.

Still thinking about something 35MPG+ though.

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 2:46 am

DLC wrote:At 4500ft, my GT got me just shy of 28MPG over the course of 360 miles (16 gallon tank), with about half of that highway (55-65mph) and city (25-55) and NO AC (crack the windows).

I think altitude helps me, because if there's less air and no forced induction, I have less potential power, so less fuel will be used by default.

Still thinking about something 35MPG+ though.

get a...

Murphy · Post by **Murphy** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 2:59 am

if you drive 1000 miles a month at 28mpg
thats around 35gallons a month which is around $140 a month which is about $1700 a year
the Tesla Roadster cost $109,000 so in order to get your moneys worth you would have to make it last 64 years before you ever saved a penny on fuel

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:12 am

ya, you're point?

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:38 am

SubaruNation wrote:ya, you're point?

Keep the Subaru!!!!!!!!

86ruguy · Post by **86ruguy** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:18 am

well, before i screwed up my car(btw...not sure it was my fault) i was getting about 20.5mpg driving 26 miles one way to work with 50% of that time spent idling because of traffic. plus all of the round town driving i was doing in the time i was not at work. i was going thru about 7 tanks a month. 15x4.20=$63.00x7=$441.00 a month in gas

since my car broke 3 weeks ago, i have spent $37.50 on the bus and train getting back and forth to work.

$37.50x3=$112.50

so even when you add in the gas i have to put in my wife's car, i still come out ahead on fuel costs. BUT BOY DO I MISS MY FRIGGIN CAR!!!!!!!

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:54 pm

ericem wrote:
SubaruNation wrote:ya, you're point?
Keep the Subaru!!!!!!!!

lol i know i was kidding

scuzzy · Post by **scuzzy** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:31 pm

well I drove 220 miles Friday night and burned through most of a tank of fuel (10.8 gallons I think the total damage was)

I set the cruise at 90 (it was 11PM) and let the car take me home. I filled up the next day and my mileage came out to 20.6 or something like that.

Cruise kept the boost just under 0vac most of the way; was turning 4000-4100 rpms - I'd only go into boost on the steeper hills and usually it was no more than about 3-4 PSI; sometimes I hit 6 or 7 but not often.

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:00 am

im starting to think that staying out of boost isn't worth it.

i've used a tank and stayed out of boost most of the time (alot) and never gone over 70 on the highway.

i ended up with only ~240 miles on the tank.

but i did fill it up before i actually hit the low tank warning.

so i guess i could have made it to like ~270

SILINC3R · Post by **SILINC3R** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:22 pm

i get about 30 mpg driving to work and around town. if i was to go on a trip i am sure i could get around 40.

Murphy · Post by **Murphy** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:54 pm

40? i think that is stretching it quite a bit

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:30 pm

Remember, smaller tires will give you inflated MPG numbers cause they turn more, causing you to "travel" farther distances.....

I have changed to running 89 octane (plus) versus 87 and it really seems to help, like 3-4 mph better, which easily pays for the gas price difference!

NuclearBacon · Post by **NuclearBacon** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:30 pm

With my 5mt Swap, freeway miles, i can get a consistant 26mpg... If i'm driving a 300 mile trip on the freeway and i'm cruising at 65 to 70 mph, i've gotten 28mpg before!

That was neat

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:47 pm

douglas vincent wrote:Remember, smaller tires will give you inflated MPG numbers cause they turn more, causing you to "travel" farther distances.....

I have changed to running 89 octane (plus) versus 87 and it really seems to help, like 3-4 mph better, which easily pays for the gas price difference!

Does that tell you that your knock sensor is bad maybe?? European cars didn't have knock sensor's but just ran high octane.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:47 am

The opposite if anything - it could be pulling the timing back on the lower octane or advancing it on the higher, depending on if the turbo 87 recommended. If the knock sensor didn't work the ECU is supposed to know and it's supposed to put it in safe mode (although mine didn't do that) and not care what the octane is.

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Driving like a 95 year old has it's rewards

Driving like a 95 year old has it's rewards