My quest for 30mpg (Update: Booyah!)

[SlowCat]

Lol, ya, if you make 6 figures a year & you can't afford gas you have nothing to blame but yourself. Stop complaing & trade in the Escalade for a CTS ... it's still a freaking cadillac, and you'll get double the milage....

Or take a hit & trade down from your 4 bedroom house w/ NO KIDS to something like a 2 bedroom ....

If you make 6 figures & dug yourself a whole take responsibility...

[fordrule]

right now i am a kinda sickly happy i am over here and dont need to worry about paying for gas......120 more days then i get too. by then it will be past 4.50 a gallon...

[bensenvill]

so whats the best/most accurate way of getting the car weighed?

[I think I can say I have the lightest cougar... minus the weight difference of the slushbox thats still in there]

[blustreak]

Originally Posted by bensenvill

so whats the best/most accurate way of getting the car weighed?

[I think I can say I have the lightest cougar... minus the weight difference of the slushbox thats still in there]

I dunno, but if you are it's just barely

[fordrule]

truck stop. goto the scales. weigh it full and close to empty. then u can see the difference

[ChenZhen]

OK, I'm gettin darn close here. This last tank was 29.4, and I swear that a couple of those work commutes last week had some heavy traffic with some 10mph stop-and-go action. I figure that with this car and some clear traffic I should be able to break the 30 mpg barrier (on a tank) using the same hypermiling techniques I've been using these last few weeks.

So...get out of my way Minnesota!

[jaged]

Originally Posted by bensenvill

so whats the best/most accurate way of getting the car weighed?

[I think I can say I have the lightest cougar... minus the weight difference of the slushbox thats still in there]

when the car is done you come down to the "INR Shop" and we put it on the corner scales

[ChenZhen]

Bump- Whoohoo!

[Jorgen]

So is that to say you got 30 on your last tank?

I had been averaging right around 29mpg in my car with a 30 mile commute that is half stop and go and half highwayish. I also had a 60-70lb tool box in the back seat for the past few weeks while working on my inlaws bathroom.

I am about to move about 10 miles closer to work so chopping 20 miles a day and that was some of the worst stop and go sections and some hills so I think I should be able to pump up my MPG after I get moved and settle. This last tank I was a littel stressed so I waqs driving a little aggressively a few days, and it cut me down to just under 27mpg. I think I might have to push to try and get 30 on my next tank after the move, I think I should be able to do it. I could always go into work an hour early missing morning traffic and leave and hour early to miss afternoon traffic that would probably add a good chunk of mileage.

Just for anyone looking at my MPG numbers and wondering anything about them. My car has a full SVT engine (Rods, pistons, heads etc.) using 17lb injectors and cougar ECU, overdrive ps and alt pulleys, GMK CAI, Yo-Dude Exhaust (yes my exhaust is really that old) and gutted pre cats. Also have a 12 inch sub in sealed box and amp back there adding a good bit of weight as well, no weight reductions done to the car either. That is about it for mods that might change mileage. to get the 29 average there was not much change in driving, just trying to maintain a good average speed, looking far ahead to lights and coasting to them if they are red instead of having to use my brakes, trying to avoid full stops while doing this as well if easily possible to avoid them, Not jumping off from lights like it is a race, taking it a little easy on all acceleration but not enough to drive everyone behind me nuts. I am not doing this because gas prices are $4.10 a gallon, the price of gas could still double and it wouldn't kill my lifestyle or make it so I couldn't eat and pay for my house or anything. I am doing it because I drove my car like crazy for years and well I am a bit older now and know what the car is capable of and what it isn't with respect to performance, not I want to see it's extreme high end capability for MPG (I have seen the low end of mid teens when driving a whole tank like an asshole).

[topcat0399]

Originally Posted by Joey

as if you guys are kicking off about petrol prices! europe dream of what you lot pay... £1.15 per litre.

(one US gallon = 3.785411784 litres) (£1.15 = $2.28)

so for your perspective, i payed $8.63 a gallon today!! my girlfriend in sweden 2 or 3% less than me.

I cant get a straight up to date answer on what you pay though, but i know it cant be far from the $3 per gallon mark. obv i know canada are paying more.

i read somewhere that a dude got his cougar for better mpg, over here, the cougar touches the limit of what is acceptable.

rant over...

OMG! has anyone ever been to Europe? The distances between everything is WAY less than here. In the USA, everything is sooooo spread out. A 4 hour drive in the USA MAY get you from one major city to another, in some places in Europe, you could cross 2 NATIONAL capitals. Europe has mass transit nearly everywhere. In the USA, only in the BIG cities. They are totally different enviroments. People forget these facts. When I was in Europe, it was easy to get around without a car. In the USA, you almost GOTTA have a car, unless you live in a metropolis. Everything in the USA is built upon the promise of CHEAP fuel. You can thank the US Government and the auto makers in the 1950's for this unsustainable situation.


BTW: I've been getting 30+ MPG with my 2000 MTX since I bought her new 8 years ago. Helps to keep the lead out of your right shoe.