How can I raise my MPG, or get better gas mileage, on my car?

Question

I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am, V6 with Ram Air (if any of you know exactly what 'Ram Air' is or does, I'd like to know that too) and I have some money. I love my cars, and I'm not talking tips like "accelerate slower" I'm more interested on performance items I can BUY or work I can have done on the car to increase my gas mileage. I can't spend like $10,000 on it, but I can get several small upgrades. I'm looking for tips along the lines of 'use nitrogen in your tires' or 'buy a new computer chip for the car' or any parts I can get in the engine?

Answer 1

Ram Air is a special type of hood that has a vent. Air travels inside a tube in your hood that leads to your air intake. The more cold air going into your air intake, the cooler your engine will run resulting in better fuel economy.

Start up slow. If you are traveling down a hill, let off the gas and coast. If you see a red traffic light, let of the gas and coast the rest of the way. Traveling over 60 mph drastically reduces your fuel economy. (The air resistance is greater so your mileage decreases.) Have your tires inflated to the proper psi (located on your door panel).

Answer 2

Well on Mythbusters it said that driving stressed uses more gasoline. So try and be calm while driving. That may help a little bit.

Answer 3

Get a Scangauge MPG meter, you'll do better if you can see it..

they are available on ebay, Amazon and serveral other places..

Answer 4

Unfortunately there are no performance mods you can make to the engine itself that will give you an increase in your gas mileage. I do have one tip tho...check your catalytic convertor. Remove it from the car and look down the pipe. Is it blocked or can you see right thru it out the other side? I'm mentioning this because I had an old 1985 Volvo 240 sedan. It was getting a consistent 26mpg in mixed driving. ...and then it failed emissions, results pointing to a failed cat convertor and poor exh system. Dad and I replaced the whole system. We both noticed that we could see straight thru the old cat, but not the new one. Had the car reinspected and it passed. At the next mpg check my Volvo was now getting 19mpg highway and 17 mixed. What does all this mean? Backpressure is your enemy. Check into getting a "free flow"/"hi flow" catalytic convertor. I was going to do that for my Volvo but I could never afford it.

Answer 5

Well, what I do is that on the way home from work every, for every 2 miles I drive, I I get out of the car and push the car for 1 mile. My mpg suddenly jumps by 33%, but I can't do this during the morning commute because it gets pretty sweat, in a good way (good workout).

Answer 6

Dont go beyond 60 mph, it saves alot of fuel.

dont use the A/C, put down the windows better.

if u have alot of junk in ur trunk, throw it out, it makes the car heavier, making it get worse mpg.

DO NOT FLOR IT HARD, go for soft accelaration.

Answer 7

Here are a few tricks that can help on some cars:

Raise the tire pressure.  Run as high a pressure as you can live with up to the maximum pressure on the sidewalls.  This may cause the center of the tread to wear faster but will reduce the rolling resistance of the tire.

Remove any external accessories like a roof rack or extra antenna or anything that will disrupt the air flow.

Use conveyor belt material to make a cover for underneath the car to smooth out the air flow.

Experiment with using a wider gap on the spark plugs.  Also if your car has platinum plugs try using plugs with steel electrodes set at 10 to 20 thousandths wider than is called for int he factory manual.  You will have to change the plugs about once a year as they will wear faster but in some cases fuel economy in increased.

Some people have seen an increasing fuel economy by adding acetone to the fuel.  Others report no change form this trick.

For more tips see my article on Jeep MPG.  Some of the tips may be applicable to your car as well.

http://mikestrawbridge.com/XJMPG.shtml

Mike

http://mikestrawbridge.com

Answer 8

iridium plugs,better wires,free flowing cat,and mufflers,more air KanN Filter.

More spark ,air,and exhaust will raise your gasoline engine from wasting 83% fuel to 70%. The little difference will result in higher mpgs.

Answer 9

Get regular tune ups and inflate your tires to whatever pressure your manual says.