Ms3 Mpg

[speed3chris]

There's days where I fill my tank with 92 octane, and on a full tank trip reads 390+ miles, and I can get every bit of 280-300 out of the car.

However, shell nitrogen enriched 93oct + octane boost... lets just say the fun is short lived.

Ive found, personally, the best way to drive this car is to remain in a half throttle state, shifting between 3800-4200. yes, the rpms are high, and the turbo is pulling, but that is the whole idea. less throttle is less fuel injected into the engine, while letting the turbo itself pull the weight of the car smoothly. This also seems to be the best shifting point of these cars as well, at least in mine. 38-42 is a perfectly smooth shift transfer and clutch engagement.

Remember, the engine contained under the MS3 hood is a performance engine. You can rag on it all you want, flat-foot shift it, speed shift it, smack rev-limiter all day, as long as you keep fluids in check this engine will hold. (Royal Purple is your friend)

I bought my personal True Red 09ms3 in march, ive put 35000miles on it since(dont ask, alot of road trips lol). at least 25000 are pure ream, the car still runs BEAUTIFULLY.

Low RPMs are bad on this particular engine. Its designed for higher RPM where the pull is much easier and smoother. next time you drive your ms3, go 1/3 to 1/2 throttle all the way up to around 5500, and im sure you'll notice 3000+ rpms is where the engine is actually running easier.

Dont believe me, try it

Christopher Lane
Louisville, Ky 40214
19years old, mechanic since 15, driving since 12.
Young, inexperienced, but I know my car <3

 

[SRTie4k]

There's days where I fill my tank with 92 octane, and on a full tank trip reads 390+ miles, and I can get every bit of 280-300 out of the car.

However, shell nitrogen enriched 93oct + octane boost... lets just say the fun is short lived.

Ive found, personally, the best way to drive this car is to remain in a half throttle state, shifting between 3800-4200. yes, the rpms are high, and the turbo is pulling, but that is the whole idea. less throttle is less fuel injected into the engine, while letting the turbo itself pull the weight of the car smoothly. This also seems to be the best shifting point of these cars as well, at least in mine. 38-42 is a perfectly smooth shift transfer and clutch engagement.

Remember, the engine contained under the MS3 hood is a performance engine. You can rag on it all you want, flat-foot shift it, speed shift it, smack rev-limiter all day, as long as you keep fluids in check this engine will hold. (Royal Purple is your friend)

I bought my personal True Red 09ms3 in march, ive put 35000miles on it since(dont ask, alot of road trips lol). at least 25000 are pure ream, the car still runs BEAUTIFULLY.

Low RPMs are bad on this particular engine. Its designed for higher RPM where the pull is much easier and smoother. next time you drive your ms3, go 1/3 to 1/2 throttle all the way up to around 5500, and im sure you'll notice 3000+ rpms is where the engine is actually running easier.

Dont believe me, try it

Christopher Lane
Louisville, Ky 40214
19years old, mechanic since 15, driving since 12.
Young, inexperienced, but I know my car <3

I hope you're not implying that a turbo kicks in at a specific RPM as opposed to a throttle position?

Whatever the case, its a fact that the less you use your turbo, the better mileage you will get.

 

[speed3chris]

im not implying that at all lol. the turbo will spool regardless, but use less throttle with the turbo having been spooled and you inject less fuel while still using turbo, if that makes any sense.

i may be wrong, this is just a conclusion ive come to in my own ms3

 

[jainsworth123]

I've gotten as high as 29.5 and I'm fully bolted (dp, mp, catback, manny, SRI, BPV, FMIC, and meth) with a stage 2 ap tune. Staying out of boost FTW

 

[oaklandopen]

. the turbo will spool regardless, but use less throttle with the turbo having been spooled and you inject less fuel while still using turbo, if that makes any sense.

im not sure if the definition of "spooling" is actually producing boost or just spinning, but the turbine and compressor wheel are always spinning whether you're at idle or WOT. if exhaust is going through it's spinning. at idle it could be spinning at a few thousand rpms

the amount of spin primarily depends on engine load. that doesn't neccessarily mean WOT. technically, you can be in neutral and depress the throttle all the way and you are probably running less boost than if you're going up a hill right at the high torque range in your rpms

what im not sure about is the newish "variable vane" type turbos. they are substantially sophisticated and different for every vehicle im sure. but if it's a plain-jane turbo the rpms depend on load. other factors considerred can be, but aren't limitted to, wastegate function, misfunction of forced induction related components, or misfunction of the turbo itself

 

[SRTie4k]

im not sure if the definition of "spooling" is actually producing boost or just spinning, but the turbine and compressor wheel are always spinning whether you're at idle or WOT. if exhaust is going through it's spinning. at idle it could be spinning at a few thousand rpms

the amount of spin primarily depends on engine load. that doesn't neccessarily mean WOT. technically, you can be in neutral and depress the throttle all the way and you are probably running less boost than if you're going up a hill right at the high torque range in your rpms

what im not sure about is the newish "variable vane" type turbos. they are substantially sophisticated and different for every vehicle im sure. but if it's a plain-jane turbo the rpms depend on load. other factors considerred can be, but aren't limitted to, wastegate function, misfunction of forced induction related components, or misfunction of the turbo itself

I think he's just talking about using part throttle boost, which still uses more fuel than driving in vac.

 

[Jasnall]

You can drive the car at 5000 rpms without using much, if any, boost at all.(if you have a boost guage try it.) I think shifting this car at 2k rpms is just too low and depending on what/how your driving the next gear may bog a bit. During normal driving I shift around 2800-3200 RPMs without going into +boost at all.

My thought train on staying out of boost for better MPG.
Doesn't the turbo provide some efficiency? Take an incline at 50ish mph. I would think using 3-10psi of boost for a short time at 3300ish rpms would be a more efficient way to go up the incline rather than a running atthe 4-4500 rpms it may take to climb without boost.
Does driving under actually use more fuel? I know there is more air in the cylinders, makes bigger explosion, maybe there more fuel is needed. But does it make the engine make power more efficiently?

I dunno I'm not saying I know anything, just thinking aloud.

I don't try to stay out of boost, I don't try to shift under 3k rpms, I just drive by feel. I commute on the freeway alot and charge the occasionaly on ramp and twisty mountain road. My trip avg is 26.7 mpg I get 300-330 miles a tank.

 

[SRTie4k]

You can drive the car at 5000 rpms without using much, if any, boost at all.(if you have a boost guage try it.) I think shifting this car at 2k rpms is just too low and depending on what/how your driving the next gear may bog a bit. During normal driving I shift around 2800-3200 RPMs without going into +boost at all.

My thought train on staying out of boost for better MPG.
Doesn't the turbo provide some efficiency? Take an incline at 50ish mph. I would think using 3-10psi of boost for a short time at 3300ish rpms would be a more efficient way to go up the incline rather than a running atthe 4-4500 rpms it may take to climb without boost.
Does driving under actually use more fuel? I know there is more air in the cylinders, makes bigger explosion, maybe there more fuel is needed. But does it make the engine make power more efficiently?

I dunno I'm not saying I know anything, just thinking aloud.

I don't try to stay out of boost, I don't try to shift under 3k rpms, I just drive by feel. I commute on the freeway alot and charge the occasionaly on ramp and twisty mountain road. My trip avg is 26.7 mpg I get 300-330 miles a tank.

An engine is an air pump. By itself (without a turbo/supercharger) the engine will suck its own air in under vacuum, whereas a turbo or a supercharger forces air into the engine. The more air you can force into a cylinder, the more fuel you will need to 1. produce a combustion and 2. cool the combustion chamber. You will get more power with a turbocharger or a supercharger, but at the expense of using more fuel.

The reason they say a TC is a better way to increase fuel mileage is because a turbo'ed engine does not need as much displacement as an NA engine to produce the same power, and when you are driving normally (aka not in boost) your fuel economy will rely solely on the efficiency of the engine alone.

 

[oaklandopen]

The reason they say a TC is a better way to increase fuel mileage is because a turbo'ed engine does not need as much displacement as an NA engine to produce the same power, and when you are driving normally (aka not in boost) your fuel economy will rely solely on the efficiency of the engine alone.

and this is pretty much why car companies are moving towards smaller charged engines, except for some of the stubborn enthusiast makes like the corvette (although it arguably gets better highway mileage than most cars with even half it's power)

you essentially have power, economy, and power AND economy. power will basically be V8's or bigger. economy will basically be 4cyl. and power AND economy will be your turbo/supercharged 4's and 6's, or the classic v6's.

it's funny to put into perspective. at one point there were massive displacement V8's getting dropped into anything that they'd fit in, and those were the power monsters. and no one cared about gas cuz it was like $.25/gal or whatever.
then suddenly a series of factors all but killed big displacement engines and you had these little itty bitty engines that were robbed of any power just to keep emissions down and save some gas.

then as time went on the design of engines and components got better and better. then you were getting more and more power out of bigger displacement but keeping within the limits of emissions

well after that power increase ppl suddenly had to start caring about gas prices instead of emissions. so then to get more power and still have some kind of gas mileage you gotta put a charger of some sort on it so you can have the power when you need it, and none when you don't. that's kind of where we are at right now

in the future if alternative fuels don't find a place, i think there are going to be a whooooole lot more charged, smaller engines on the road alongside the hybrids.

 

[cymx5]

power will basically be V8's or bigger. economy will basically be 4cyl. and power AND economy will be your turbo/supercharged 4's and 6's, or the classic v6's.

Superchargers decrease fuel economy...

Have you seen the Chevy Aveo Turbo? That hits right on to the points you made. I think it's great! some of the econoboxes they're turboing will maintain their fugly asthetics though .

t/c 138hp! zzoooom!

 

[SRTie4k]

in the future if alternative fuels don't find a place, i think there are going to be a whooooole lot more charged, smaller engines on the road alongside the hybrids.

I wouldn't be surprised if electric cars slowly start to move into the performance segment as we move into the next few decades. After all, eletric motors have instant huge torque unlike the average gasoline engine. As batteries get cheaper and more technologically advanced, we're going to start seeing them more and more as serious competition.

Just look at the Tango as a prime example:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/electric/tango-electric/

 

[SallySpeed3]

My fuel tank gauge reads almost at half and I've only put 90 miles on this tank so far. No fuel leaks. Thought maybe I had an exhaust leak cause I just recenetly installed a test pipe but just got under their and checked, no leaks. 25 degree BAT's make this car a pig!

 

[LukeP]

My fuel tank gauge reads almost at half and I've only put 90 miles on this tank so far. No fuel leaks. Thought maybe I had an exhaust leak cause I just recenetly installed a test pipe but just got under their and checked, no leaks. 25 degree BAT's make this car a pig!

Yeah in the winter if I get over 200 miles on full tank of 12 gallons I consider that pretty good. Car's pretty thirsty for a 2.3L four. Even the non-turbo is EPA rated at 22 MPG.

 

[Sport6]

Yeah in the winter if I get over 200 miles on full tank of 12 gallons I consider that pretty good. Car's pretty thirsty for a 2.3L four. Even the non-turbo is EPA rated at 22 MPG.

Damnnn. Its thristy when it boost but it doesn't have to be at all times.

Still getting 26-28mpg in the winter.

 

[LukeP]

Damnnn. Its thristy when it boost but it doesn't have to be at all times.

Still getting 26-28mpg in the winter.

Actually I performed a little experiment before the snow fall, I drove on an entire tank almost entirely accelerating as hard as I could. Normally I have to fill up after 440 Km (272 miles). Pretty consistent on that. After my flogging experiment I had to fill up at 396 km (245 miles). So I didn't see much of a benefit from driving all stoic, considering how much more fun I had.

I might also be accelerating a lot harder than normal even though it doesnt feel like I am. Heavy foot.

 

[pinkninjapony]

On the highway I just got 34.4mpg in my hatchback mz3. Also I just switched to 5w20 synthetic.