We have 4cyl manual's, so why is our gas mileage 27 mpg!? Milage suggestions/Mods

[drivethruecp]

I'm going to start by saying right off the bat how much I love my 2002 Protege ES of 3 years w/ 67k miles on it. But honestly, wtf is up with our gas mileage!? I do 25% City, 75% Highway and I'm getting 26mpg usually!? How is it that a 1.7 manual civic(which I can't stand) can get 36/44. We have 2.0 manuals and can't even break 30mpg. It baffels me how unefficiant our cars our; it breaks my heart. It is the sole and only reason I am considering selling it. Sure you can say, why are you complaining when compared to other vehicles, but as for toyotas, hondas, and other compact sedans, we're not making out too good at all. I have not done any mods which would compromise my milage except my thule roof rack with fairing, but would only loose a mpg or two I'd say at most. I have a SRI and a short shifter, nothing that would do any harm. But was getting only 28mpg at most prior to the rack, not too bad...but there must be something we can do?

Mods to improve gas mileage!? Please post! Gas is at $2.60 and rising, and you wouldn't catch me dead in a hybrid.

 

[TheMAN]

intake, exhaust, cams, VTCS removal, stock JDM spark plugs, synthetic motor & tranny oil, premium gas, and proper tire pressures

if I barely try, I can get 30mpg

 

[drivethruecp]

VTCS removal? What milage are you getting?

 

[Kansei]

I got 36mpg highway before turboing.. with lots of city/traffic driving, 27-28mpg. That was with VTCS removal, full exhaust, JDM intake cam, stock JDM spark plugs, synthetic fluids, decent gas, and proper air pressure.

 

[magnumP5]

Hell I'm turbo'd and as long as I drive like a sane person I can get roughly 25 mpg city, about 28 combined and about 32 highway.

 

[Kansei]

32 highway! good to hear

I got 18mpg on my last tank.. with some highway but not much, mostly short trips, and lots of boost. I need to try and be light on the boost for a tank and see what happens.

 

[magnumP5]

32 highway! good to hear

I got 18mpg on my last tank.. with some highway but not much, mostly short trips, and lots of boost. I need to try and be light on the boost for a tank and see what happens.

Yeah around town I really try to stay out of boost although I occasionally have to make a hard run for fun. If I drove normally I wouldn't be surprised to see 28-35 mpg on overage overall.

 

[TheMAN]

I got 36mpg highway before turboing.. with lots of city/traffic driving, 27-28mpg. That was with VTCS removal, full exhaust, JDM intake cam, stock JDM spark plugs, synthetic fluids, decent gas, and proper air pressure.

yeah, 36mpg highway is no problem for me... and that's driving at 80+

 

[njaremka]

your roof rack is killing your milage.

my wife's civic will get 33-35 mpg on a regular basis. as soon as we put the roof rack on, including the wind faring, it drops to 29-30 mpg.

my protege will get 30-31 mpg regually. but when i put the rack on her, it drops to 27-28 mpg. took a road trip to myrtle beach last year, and loaded the roof rack with gear, and my milage for that trip SUCKED!! i averaged 20-22 mpg.

my suggestion is to lose the rack when your not using it. especially if you are that concerned with milage.

 

[Kansei]

When I got 36.6 that was with my roof rack + bike rack + mountain bike on the roof, and the trunk loaded with crap (was going on vacation).

It's all about the intake/exhaust mods + mp3 ecu, jdm intake cam, and jdm plugs.. it's a trade off, the car is a lot louder and needs premium fuel but performs better and gets better mileage

 

[njaremka]

wow, amazing, but i find that hard to believe, unless you were REALLY light on the gas foot.

 

[Kansei]

69mph ftw so yes, quite light on the gas foot. cruise control on the whole time

that was true 100% highway mileage too.. i.e. got gas at rest stop just outside rochester, drove 200 miles straight, filled up at another rest stop just inside massachusetts.

 

[drivethruecp]

At what point on your gas guages are you clocking? When the light comes on, at the E mark, etc. And how many gallons at those marks are you dividing by?

 

[njaremka]

At what point on your gas guages are you clocking? When the light comes on, at the E mark, etc. And how many gallons at those marks are you dividing by?

the proper way to calculate milage is to fill your tank, reset the trip-meter, drive till near empty, re-fill the tank, then divide the miles traveled by the amount of gas required to fill.

do this for a couple of tanks, (or a month or so) and average it out to get your average milage.

 

[daonly1around]

yea, i used to get only 27-28 MPG on a GOOD day... but then i switched gas and started usiing chevron w/techron.... thats ALL i changed and i instantly got 33+ mpg and all i have is a AEM short ram intake.

 

[Kansei]

the proper way to calculate milage is to fill your tank, reset the trip-meter, drive till near empty, re-fill the tank, then divide the miles traveled by the amount of gas required to fill.

do this for a couple of tanks, (or a month or so) and average it out to get your average milage.

Exactly, that's how I do it. There's no way to use the gauge to really track gas mileage. You have to fill up every time and do the math.

 

[chuyler1]

Fuel cost for driving a car that gets 27mpg 15,000 miles @ $2.60/gallon: $1444.00
Fuel cost for driving a car that gets 40mpg 15,000 miles @ $2.60/gallon: $975.00

So you can save about $500/year with a car that gets better mileage, but if you have to pay more than say $1500-2000 for the car it really isn't worth it (unless you get personal satisfaction from saving the environment).

 

[bazooka joe]

Hell I'm turbo'd and as long as I drive like a sane person I can get roughly 25 mpg city, about 28 combined and about 32 highway.

same here...combined that is

 

[Tzar177]

adjust fuel pressure

 

[drivethruecp]

yea, i used to get only 27-28 MPG on a GOOD day... but then i switched gas and started usiing chevron w/techron.... thats ALL i changed and i instantly got 33+ mpg and all i have is a AEM short ram intake.

Which gas stations use/ carry Chevron w/ techron?