Anyway to make the MS3 more economical?

[FrequentFlyer]

Also, i don't know where you guys are getting your gas numbers from. Regular gas here is about $3.68, premium is $4.08 at the cheapest shell gas station in the area. Another gripe i have is that i dont get anywhere near 28mpg on the highway. 95% of my commute is on the highway, and i've only gotten over 280 miles to the tank once since owning this car. I set cruise control on the highway @ 65-70, and i try to drive it like grandma. If I were actually getting 28mpg, i wouldn't even be posting this... but since i average about 20mpg, drive 22k+ miles a year, and have to full up @ $4.08 a gallon, i'm really starting to look else where....

I'm doing the exact opposite. Selling my '05 RSX Type-S for an MS3. I drive about 30k a year, mostly highway (up and down I-295 from South Jersey). I average 28-29mpg with the RSX. My wife and I just had a baby though, so I want something 4 door. I don't see why someone couldn't get near 29mpg in the MS3 if they drove like grandma. Just gotta stay out of boost.

Another thing to avoid is tailgating. Give yourself enough room to coast when someone steps on their brakes in front of you. I know most people in this area aren't happy unless they're 2 feet off the bumper of the car in front of them. If you're doing 70mph 2 feet off someone's bumper, you can do 70mph 4-5 car lengths behind them also. You're not getting anywhere sooner tailgating.

Anyway, if you're interested in an RSX, come across the river (Deptford, NJ area) and take a look at mine.

 

[desertrat]

I'm doing the exact opposite. Selling my '05 RSX Type-S for an MS3. I drive about 30k a year, mostly highway (up and down I-295 from South Jersey). I average 28-29mpg with the RSX. My wife and I just had a baby though, so I want something 4 door. I don't see why someone couldn't get near 29mpg in the MS3 if they drove like grandma. Just gotta stay out of boost.

Another thing to avoid is tailgating. Give yourself enough room to coast when someone steps on their brakes in front of you. I know most people in this area aren't happy unless they're 2 feet off the bumper of the car in front of them. If you're doing 70mph 2 feet off someone's bumper, you can do 70mph 4-5 car lengths behind them also. You're not getting anywhere sooner tailgating.

Anyway, if you're interested in an RSX, come across the river (Deptford, NJ area) and take a look at mine.

CONGRADULATIONS! My wife and I had a baby back in Jan. That was one of the main reasons I bought my MS3. 4 door, cargo space, its great. The car seat takes up some space so I hope your wife is short. lol

I very consistantly get 24 mpg, and I drive it preaty hard. I live in NM and the highest octane you can get is 91 and some stations have 90 $3.63 a gal

 

[clos561]

Coasting in neutral is not the way to save fuel. When the car is at idle throttle in gear (no load), the fuel shuts off completely. When the car is idling in neutral, it's burning about .25 gallons per hour, according to my ScanGauge. This is common to most newer cars.

i coast downhill only, that saves gas

 

[happy and angry]

Coasting in neutral never saves gas when compared to coasting in gear. Ever. At any point.

In neutral, something needs to be keeping the engine turning when you are off throttle, and that something is fuel.

In gear, something needs to be keeping the engine turning when you are off throttle, and that something is momentum. Your injectors shut off entirely and you burn zero fuel.

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

i coast downhill only, that saves gas

If you want to get your kicks on the daily commute and not get hosed by your gas bill, buy a motorcycle.
Having said that, I'm getting rid of mine because I'm tired of dodging idiots in cages that aren't paying attention or have this overblown impression of just how nimble 800 pounds of combined rider and cruiser style bike is and just assume I'll be able to adjust for whatever jackass move they make.
Okay, rant over.

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

the trip computer is garbage. the only thing it might be useful for is seeing general trends.

You think so? Mine must be the exception to the rule, because the few times I tested it by actually doing the math, it was always within .5 mpg of the calculated results.

My car doesn't seem to care how I drive it. I always get just about 25mpg. Only engine mod at this point is an MS-CAI. In all honesty, I have never deliberately burned through an entire tank ripping and running as fast as I could, so I have no idea how low it could go. I also am incapable of driving like somebody's grandmother (unless she's the inspiration for "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena") for an entire tankful, so I don't know just how good it could get. I can say that whether I make my best effort to be conservative or just drive, it makes no appreciable difference.

 

[builthatch]

You think so? Mine must be the exception to the rule, because the few times I tested it by actually doing the math, it was always within .5 mpg of the calculated results.

My car doesn't seem to care how I drive it. I always get just about 25mpg. Only engine mod at this point is an MS-CAI. In all honesty, I have never deliberately burned through an entire tank ripping and running as fast as I could, so I have no idea how low it could go. I also am incapable of driving like somebody's grandmother (unless she's the inspiration for "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena") for an entire tankful, so I don't know just how good it could get. I can say that whether I make my best effort to be conservative or just drive, it makes no appreciable difference.

me too on both accounts, in regard to the computer as well as the overall mileage; mine is pretty accurate compared to manual math i've done. also, i am always around 24mpg even when it seems as if i took it easy for a while or i got in it often. general driving facts for me are that i rarely ever drive longer than 10 miles a trip, and i accelerate briskly often. i think the median driving style is the same for me and it overcomes any exceptions.

another thing to think about here too is weight. while it might be negligible, i am almost 330lbs and have a 12" sub and box in the back. also, when the gas tank is full, that is like 115lbs of fuel. sometimes i have my 130lb wife in there too. all of this adds up- you gotta figure that if the tank is full, sub is in the trunk and we are both in the car we have increased the car's weight 600lbs or so.

 

[Sacrilicious]

You think so? Mine must be the exception to the rule, because the few times I tested it by actually doing the math, it was always within .5 mpg of the calculated results.

My car doesn't seem to care how I drive it. I always get just about 25mpg. Only engine mod at this point is an MS-CAI. In all honesty, I have never deliberately burned through an entire tank ripping and running as fast as I could, so I have no idea how low it could go. I also am incapable of driving like somebody's grandmother (unless she's the inspiration for "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena") for an entire tankful, so I don't know just how good it could get. I can say that whether I make my best effort to be conservative or just drive, it makes no appreciable difference.

ooo...that's good stuff, man. most of the other people i've heard from have had miserable accuracy (like me) from their trip meter...=/

 

[Sacrilicious]

me too on both accounts, in regard to the computer as well as the overall mileage; mine is pretty accurate compared to manual math i've done. also, i am always around 24mpg even when it seems as if i took it easy for a while or i got in it often. general driving facts for me are that i rarely ever drive longer than 10 miles a trip, and i accelerate briskly often. i think the median driving style is the same for me and it overcomes any exceptions.

another thing to think about here too is weight. while it might be negligible, i am almost 330lbs and have a 12" sub and box in the back. also, when the gas tank is full, that is like 115lbs of fuel. sometimes i have my 130lb wife in there too. all of this adds up- you gotta figure that if the tank is full, sub is in the trunk and we are both in the car we have increased the car's weight 600lbs or so.

ya, that may explain things. i weigh about 180lb and don't carry anything i don't need in the car...

 

[mordant80]

Here's some general techniques that are supposed to help with fuel economy... http://hypermiling.com/car-mpg.html

 

[nate0123]

just to remind everyone, the original poster has no intention of changing his driving style

Again, question is how do I make the car more economical, not my driving style.

he wants the car to just use less gas, by itself, with no change from him

maybe he wants 2 of his cylinders to deactivate when they're not being used (hah)

 

[happy and angry]

ooo...that's good stuff, man. most of the other people i've heard from have had miserable accuracy (like me) from their trip meter...=/

Do you reset your average fuel economy meter and your trip calc on a tank when you want to look at numbers? The average fuel economy meter measures from the last time it was reset, which in some people's case might be thousands of miles.

For 10,000 miles, if you've averaged about 24 mpg, and then put in a tank of gas and drive it real hard, those 200 miles of 18 mpg driving aren't going to change the average number much if at all, your tank will get a fraction of what it usually does, and you might think the average fuel economy meter is a pile of crap. Could that be the problem some people are having?

 

[Betelgeuse]

just to remind everyone, the original poster has no intention of changing his driving style
he wants the car to just use less gas, by itself, with no change from him

maybe he wants 2 of his cylinders to deactivate when they're not being used (hah)

Well he can completely gut the interior to bare metal and use a milk crate for a seat. That should tack on a mile or two. Or take it even further, cut the roof off and make it a convertible.

 

[Sacrilicious]

just to remind everyone, the original poster has no intention of changing his driving style
he wants the car to just use less gas, by itself, with no change from him

maybe he wants 2 of his cylinders to deactivate when they're not being used (hah)

ya, i feel like an idiot for misreading...

other than running a few psi higher in the tires, there's not a whole lot of easy mods to do that i can think of...=d

 

[Sacrilicious]

Well he can completely gut the interior to bare metal and use a milk crate for a seat. That should tack on a mile or two. Or take it even further, cut the roof off and make it a convertible.

a convertible would have HUGE coefficient of drag! he COULD just put a big plastic bubble over the top...

 

[Sacrilicious]

Do you reset your average fuel economy meter and your trip calc on a tank when you want to look at numbers? The average fuel economy meter measures from the last time it was reset, which in some people's case might be thousands of miles.

For 10,000 miles, if you've averaged about 24 mpg, and then put in a tank of gas and drive it real hard, those 200 miles of 18 mpg driving aren't going to change the average number much if at all, your tank will get a fraction of what it usually does, and you might think the average fuel economy meter is a pile of crap. Could that be the problem some people are having?

ya, i definitely reset my trip calc at the start of every tank. it seems to be getting more accurate with warmer weather, though. it's only off by 1-2mpg now when it used to be off by 3-4 in the winter...=d

 

[robin2660]

My gas costs have gone up astronomically since I bought such a fun car to drive. I drive more now than when I was commuting.

In my case, increasing gas prices aren't the prime factor in my car budget.

 

[builthatch]

In my case, increasing gas prices aren't the prime factor in my car budget.

well, duh! haha

if you tried to rationalize acquiring a turbo, 6spd, 4cyl car with "speed" in the name fr0m the fuel economy angle, that would be an interesting presentation.

 

[Sacrilicious]

well, duh! haha

if you tried to rationalize acquiring a turbo, 6spd, 4cyl car with "speed" in the name fr0m the fuel economy angle, that would be an interesting presentation.

well, the coffee can on the back of our car is especially effective for letting people know that we go FAST and they should GTFO of our way. this directly results in less stop and go, since we just get to GO! (drive2)

 

[happy and angry]

How do they see it on the back of our car and get out of our way when if they are in our way they are ahead of us?

Should we install forward facing coffee cans?