Verified 33.5 mpg today.

[alkalinetaupehat]

Made a two-hour round trip visit to the Air Force recruiter today, and logged in 33.5mpg at 55mph with 15 minutes of idling for a construction stop. Also logged 31mpg over an 800 mile trip at 80mph earlier this summer. Feeling pretty damn good about my car at this point.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ V6 and 4-spd auto.

It's been t-boned by an SUV and drove away from the collision (which the SUV did not), survived my years as a beginning driver, and blows away the EPA numbers for gas mileage. I'm not going to let this car go anytime soon...

I've actually got 36mpg before, though that was on a shorter trip (1 hour), at the same speed, without any idling.

Pic: (Before collision)

 

[Painman]

GM certainly did perfect their V6. I spent some time in the Flint V6 plant as a temp for one of their steel suppliers (an interesting stint, seeing as it was a militantly union shop and I drove there every day in a VW).

Anyway, just goes to show, you don't need a 4 banger or a hybrid to get decent MPG. My '00 with a 2.8L V6 gets the same highway mileage as the '90 1.8L I4 car it replaced.

 

[roguerower]

Nice. I got 60mpg out of my bike a couple of weeks ago.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to hit 40mpg with it.

Eibach makes lowering springs and Bilstein/KYB make uprated shocks and struts for my car, and there is a 5-speed out there which should match up nicely to the car. Hmm....

I'm also picking up the driver's side front and rear doors in about three weeks for $225. Wonder if no longer being impaled will help mileage

 

[LTC8K6]

Golf ball dimpling it will give you about 10% more...

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

golf ball dimpling it will give you about 10% more...

36 + 3.6 = 39.6

: D

 

[speedy2]

Nice job. I've averaged 30-34mpg with my GTP at 55-60mph.

 

[KIAman]

Nice. I averaged 37mpg on a 240 mile roundtrip average speed 80mph in my e90 330i. But I run premium so the overall cost is a wash.

 

[speedy2]

Nice. I averaged 37mpg on a 240 mile roundtrip average speed 80mph in my e90 330i. But I run premium so the overall cost is a wash.

Impressive. Even with the cost of premium.

 

[Kaido]

Made a two-hour round trip visit to the Air Force recruiter today, and logged in 33.5mpg at 55mph with 15 minutes of idling for a construction stop. Also logged 31mpg over an 800 mile trip at 80mph earlier this summer. Feeling pretty damn good about my car at this point.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ V6 and 4-spd auto.

It's been t-boned by an SUV and drove away from the collision (which the SUV did not), survived my years as a beginning driver, and blows away the EPA numbers for gas mileage. I'm not going to let this car go anytime soon...

I've actually got 36mpg before, though that was on a shorter trip (1 hour), at the same speed, without any idling.

Pic: (Before collision)

Best I've ever done in ANY car I've had is this past weekend - 32 MPG in my A/T 2011 Kia Soul. 36 MPG in a 1993 car is pretty awesome :thumbsup:

 

[alevasseur14]

I've flirted with 30 MPG in my VR6. I'm pretty sure I could do 32 or so with pulsing/gliding and putting it in Neutral on downhill stints but I haven't made the trip home since I the weekend I bought the car.

We shall see!

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention my car is a 96 VW Passat GLX with a 5 SP manual.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

 

[simonizor]

I'd like to see what your gas mileage is like in town. I bet it's a lot less than a comparable v4 would give.

 

[alevasseur14]

V4?

 

[Tristicus]

WELL I DON'T DRIVE LIKE A PUSSY.




So there.

 

[RU482]

I've owned a variety of cars in the 90's GM stable that had the 3.1, 3.4, or 3800. On message boards related to the cars, there is always someone who consistently gets 5+ MPG better than I have ever been able to acheive.

 

[BUTCH1]

If I stay at 70 my GM 3.5 will get 32 MPG, I'm happy with it.

 

[Howard]

putting it in Neutral on downhill stints

No, don't do that.

 

[alevasseur14]

No, don't do that.

I was wondering if I should do that or not. What's the reason I shouldn't?

I'm not doubting you or anything, I'm just curious why I shouldn't do it. I guess I figured if I pulled it out of gear and released the clutch, it wouldn't harm anything.

 

[Howard]

I was wondering if I should do that or not. What's the reason I shouldn't?

I'm not doubting you or anything, I'm just curious why I shouldn't do it. I guess I figured if I pulled it out of gear and released the clutch, it wouldn't harm anything.

No, it doesn't harm anything, but when you release the throttle and the car is at speed, especially in higher gears, there is no fuel injected, whereas if you go into neutral, the engine must inject fuel in order to maintain idle RPM.

 

[amdhunter]

Pffffffft. I've been running the AC all the time and shifting at high rpms on my RX-8 earning me an average of roughly 10MPG.

I love it.

 

[alevasseur14]

No, it doesn't harm anything, but when you release the throttle and the car is at speed, especially in higher gears, there is no fuel injected, whereas if you go into neutral, the engine must inject fuel in order to maintain idle RPM.

So what you're saying is the engine doesn't require fuel when the engine is breaking itself coasting down a hill but (in my case) the RPMs are still around 2.5k? I know it's not scientific or anything, but my MPG meter goes up pretty considerably when I've put it in neutral and coasted.

As you can tell, I don't know much more than maintenance basics when it comes to cars. I do need tie rods though and intend on doing them myself with the assistance of my mechanic buddies at work here... I'm excited.

 

[amdhunter]

Man that hud looks so much nicer than the old one.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Nice.

The best I've done in my Fusion was 29 MPG round trip (about 60 miles total) with about 40% city driving and 60% highway. Normally I hover around 24-25 because I do mostly city driving and I'm not easy on the accelerator.

My previous '03 Malibu 3.1L regularly got 27-28 MPG with about 60/40 city/highway. The GM V6's are pretty damned good in that regard. Pretty good low-end torque, too.

 

[Howard]

So what you're saying is the engine doesn't require fuel when the engine is breaking itself coasting down a hill but (in my case) the RPMs are still around 2.5k? I know it's not scientific or anything, but my MPG meter goes up pretty considerably when I've put it in neutral and coasted.

As you can tell, I don't know much more than maintenance basics when it comes to cars. I do need tie rods though and intend on doing them myself with the assistance of my mechanic buddies at work here... I'm excited.

I don't know why it shows that your MPG goes up when you're in neutral. Should be the other way around (my car is that way).

Is yours a stick or auto?