GAs Mileage

[acftgrunt]

With Gas prices on the rise what are some simple mods that can help get better gas mileage?

Other than adjusting weight in your right foot... lol

[Slamd_S_Dyme]

You can change to a high flow filter. The stock air box is really restrictive and makes the engine strain alot harder than it needs to.

[phigity]

no a/c or heat?

[Low4Life]

do you have a truck or car? if truck you can buy a tonneau cover, or if you don't wanna do that you can jus flip down the tail gate. also i don't know if those tornado things work or not, but maybe one of those too.

[dozer313]

im curious too cuz i got ****ty mpg and i can increase it anymore.. plus my guage dont work... anyway i can figure it out without takin a ****load apart?

[Slamd_S_Dyme]

Those tornado things suck ass. A friend of mine was dumb enough to pay 70 for one for his civic. It looks like a hacked up soda can and it works about as well as one.

[acftgrunt]

I've got a tonneau cover for my truck. but still get only 240 miles to the tank(18 gallon). I thve thought about spending the money for a K & N but I'm not sure it would help. Just unsure what options are out there.

[mnchvgs79]

You already mentioned the BIGGEST gas saver, no matter what your engine size, ease up on the gas pedal and save a BUNDLE

[nickf829]

supposedly, tonno covers and lowered tailgates give you worse gas mileage.. in an open bed, while driving.. the wind coming over the cab hits the bed, and kind of rolls through it.. while it does this, it builds a "wall" and the air kind of flows over that wall with ease, thats the way its designed, you put the tailgate down and it actually adds drag because it takes down that "wall" and the air just continuously rolls through the bed... now thats a shiitty explanation, and who kows if its true or not, but the person who explained it to me sure knew the hell what they were talkin about and it made sense.. maybe somone can help me out here

but yeah, less restrictive airbox/aka filter... maybe even exhaust, lets the motor breathe better... and ease up on the gas pedal.. best thing to do to increase MPG

[c85jl]

ive heard similar things about the tonneau cover...but there have been conflicting reports. id def go with a k&n filter or ever FIPK. ive got the FIPK on my 92 f-150 and its helped out alot.

[acftgrunt]

Could it be that I don't really drive that far at one time? I might drive 7 mile one way and not at a very fast rate. 45 is the max i can get when I drive. I'm Definately going to get the FIPK..

[incudose]

yeah ive heard the same about the tailgate down. supposedly the S10 tailgates were specifically designed for it with the roll thats on them, i think the dakotas as well. There is a certain amount of drag issue...oh and thats another thing...dragging i dont think will help your gas mileage, but it does make ya look pimp...

intake is the best easy mod..i got a bunch of miles back with mine

[dozer313]

with my gas guage not wrkin i can never know when i truely need to fill up and i never know if i can push it alittle farther between fillups. how can i figure out my mpg without driving till it quits?

[slammed]

intake/airbox for more flow, the bed cover, TBI spacer, headers, ( yeah no ****)
anything bolt on that gives you more HP will help
if you have more HP then the the less strain on the motor = more MPG
its like the more HP you have the more you dont need in order to get going it slike it dosent strain and burn so much fuel

it makes sense to me but me stating it like that prob. dosent help any of yall
just limme know and ill try again

[Merlin]

supposedly, tonno covers and lowered tailgates give you worse gas mileage.. in an open bed, while driving.. the wind coming over the cab hits the bed, and kind of rolls through it.. while it does this, it builds a "wall" and the air kind of flows over that wall with ease, thats the way its designed, you put the tailgate down and it actually adds drag because it takes down that "wall" and the air just continuously rolls through the bed... now thats a shiitty explanation, and who kows if its true or not, but the person who explained it to me sure knew the hell what they were talkin about and it made sense.. maybe somone can help me out here

but yeah, less restrictive airbox/aka filter... maybe even exhaust, lets the motor breathe better... and ease up on the gas pedal.. best thing to do to increase MPG
If this were the case, in a very competitive series like Supertruck, don't you think they would be running coverless beds for an advantage. Try a mileage test with a tankfull of gas with the gate up and then a tankfull with it down. I am curious.

[Merlin]

with my gas guage not wrkin i can never know when i truely need to fill up and i never know if i can push it alittle farther between fillups. how can i figure out my mpg without driving till it quits?
I have a $5 solution for you. Buy a 1 gal gas can, fill it and keep it there for those "just in case" times. I drop a car for 2 years without a guage. It sucked, but it was a comfort to know that I had that extra gallon in there.

[PicupmanS10]

Hey Afctgrunt. The first and simplist is to do tuneup you ride. New spark plug wires if it has been a year or longer sense you have replaced them. A good spark plug, rotor, and distributor cap. Autozone has a good spark plug wire with a life time warrenty. If you get the distributor cap and rotor from Autozone, spend the extra money and get the cap and rotor with ther brass electodes, because they will last longer and give you a better spark. Next, get a good air filter and maybe a good cold air intake for better air flow. One of the best way to increase your gas mileage and horse power is with a free flowing exhaust system. I don't know what size engine you have, but I will use my 91 S10 as an example. I have a two an three quarter exhaust system. It is a Flow Master system with a Pro Flow muffler. I have duals running from the muffler back and out both sides of my truck. I also have a 4.3 in my truck. I have over 130,000 miles on my truck and I get about 20 miles a gallon and can get 400 or more mile to a tank of gas. I hope this info will be of some help to you. Good luck on improving the gas mileage on your truck.

[jjrambo]

I think that's bull**** about the tailgate issue. my father does a lot of highwas driving for car shows and crap, he put a tonneau cover on his bed the last trip he made here from florida and he picked up like 2-3 mpg for the whole trip. He keeps all his gas recepts and writes begining and end milage on them for business purposes.

[nickf829]

If this were the case, in a very competitive series like Supertruck, don't you think they would be running coverless beds for an advantage. Try a mileage test with a tankfull of gas with the gate up and then a tankfull with it down. I am curious.

but then thered be no downforce on the bed... causing a sloppy rear, they'd be all over the place, im sure they cover it for that little bit of "drag" to keep there azz on th eground while putting 700hp to the pavement

talk to any old timey master mech and he'll tell you the same thing, trucks are designed to get best MPG with no cover and a tailgate UP its all an airflow issue

[jjrambo]

but then thered be no downforce on the bed... causing a sloppy rear, they'd be all over the place, im sure they cover it for that little bit of "drag" to keep there azz on th eground while putting 700hp to the pavement

talk to any old timey master mech and he'll tell you the same thing, trucks are designed to get best MPG with no cover and a tailgate UP its all an airflow issue
refer to the post that i put up at the crazy hour this am

[nickf829]

refer to the post that i put up at the crazy hour this am

yeah i know what you wrote, i took into account my own findings, cover and no cover, both of my trucks run better with no cover on road trips... theres a billion different things that could cause the 2-3mpg increase over a 12+ hour trip for your pops.. coulda been cl eaner gas, better control of his speed, cruise control, ideal temperature conditions, drafting off bigrigs, many other things... i just know on daily basis both my trucks have performed better with no cover and gate up... just a thought, look around the internet, ask a few top dogs, they'll all tell you the same, its been proven over and over, and everyone always argues about this, i wish i had a book you could read, im sure theres one out there, but im telling you what ive been proven many times when i was trying to argue your end of the story

[jjrambo]

yeah i know what you wrote, i took into account my own findings, cover and no cover, both of my trucks run better with no cover on road trips... theres a billion different things that could cause the 2-3mpg increase over a 12+ hour trip for your pops.. coulda been cl eaner gas, better control of his speed, cruise control, ideal temperature conditions, drafting off bigrigs, many other things... i just know on daily basis both my trucks have performed better with no cover and gate up... just a thought, look around the internet, ask a few top dogs, they'll all tell you the same, its been proven over and over, and everyone always argues about this, i wish i had a book you could read, im sure theres one out there, but im telling you what ive been proven many times when i was trying to argue your end of the story
I myself have noticed several times better milage w/ my own truck by taking the gate off on certain trips. I don't see how that is true when I have seen the numbers myself from taking the gate off and adding a cover. The numbers don't lie especially when it happens many a times.

[4RunUOver]

damn 240 to an 18 gal tank that better be a big v8, caus ei have the 4.8(396) with headers , 3 inch exhuast , air raid intake a mass air meter and gears 4.10s i think, and i have just above 200 miles right now and have about 1/4 tanks gas with a 15 gal tank, and since my truck is still new to me im not very light on the gas.

[TeayotaSoupra]

I'm so dissapointed ...

Fuel injectors....CLEAN THEM lol
Tune up is a good idea too..

When I worked at SpeeDee I took advantage of everything :) We had a kit called Zoom2...Non alch based injector cleaner.. You dump one bottle into the gas tank and then another one into a bottle that looks like an IV.. you hook up the IV lookin thing to a vac as close to your throttle body as possible and let it drip in for about an hour.. Did WONDERS for my car.. not only did it improve the throttle responce but gas isn't half as bad..

Also always run the correct octain in your car.. if you go too cheap you'll pay for it..

Oh and Chevron gas rules all :) Techron helps keep everything clean and moving free..


Synthetic oil will help a little bit.. keeps your car running a bit cooler.. just be carefull with vehicles with a lot of miles.. the Synthetics will clean your system.. which is good but if you have a build up..and it cleans it.. you'll run into some oil leaks... I did :( But I kinda wanted to so I could make her all healthy again :)

[4RunUOver]

actually i dont get as good of milage as i though i actually have a 26 gal tank and its on E with 300 miles on the trip meter, so thats not all that great.

yeah what teayota said the IV thing commonly called an inductions service or flush does do awesome things, we do them at my shop and they work extremely well, i rember doing one on my rager andpicked up 3-4 mpg when i first bought it.

[slammed]

, caus ei have the 4.8(396)

think again you have something around 292CI

396ci is a 6.5 liter and a big block, which GM dosent make anymore,( i have heard rumors of the 6.0 being prettys trong but its still a SB) and GM dosent put a BB in anything less then a 3/4 ton these days

[4RunUOver]

yeah i meant 296 not 396 my bad thanks jack

[jjrambo]

think again you have something around 292CI

396ci is a 6.5 liter and a big block, which GM dosent make anymore,( i have heard rumors of the 6.0 being prettys trong but its still a SB) and GM dosent put a BB in anything less then a 3/4 ton these days
That is probably the only down fall of chevy/gm right now. I would have loved to get a v8 standard in my truck. that would have sweet as hell

[slammed]

how is what a down fall??? them putting BB in mini truck would be retarded fromt he factory

[jjrambo]

how is what a down fall??? them putting BB in mini truck would be retarded fromt he factory
How would it be retarded dude. it woud be great, maybe not a bb but a small block v8. do it with trucks like the extreme. a true sports truck. or offer a turbo, or super, I bet chevy could make a lot of sales w/ that being an option.

[4RunUOver]

yeah the 4.8 is a small engine it would be perfect for an s10 Extreme. but i dont know whos running chevy right now. they dont seem to be doing very well, and they def. won be when the 05 ford line up comes out, almost every thing has changed.

so i filled up my big gas tank and i did the math and i get about 14 MPG.

[jjrambo]

yeah the 4.8 is a small engine it would be perfect for an s10 Extreme. but i dont know whos running chevy right now. they dont seem to be doing very well, and they def. won be when the 05 ford line up comes out, almost every thing has changed.

so i filled up my big gas tank and i did the math and i get about 14 MPG.
Dude that is some sucky milage. I think i'm supposed to get like 16-23 w/ mine, but the way i drive around town i normally end up w/ the 16 end of things sometimes less. but on long trips i have gotten as much as 25 and better. got to love having a stick, that 5th gear really makes a hell of a difference.

also what does the 4.8 work to in cu. that's like a 305 right?

[Laidout69]

no a 5.0 is a 305, I'm not sure how many cubic inches a 4.8 is

[jjrambo]

no a 5.0 is a 305, I'm not sure how many cubic inches a 4.8 is
does anyone know what the 4.8 is in cu

[4RunUOver]

does anyone know what the 4.8 is in cu
its a 296 i believ it was also posted on the first page.

[jjrambo]

remembering what you read is an important thing, maybe one day i will remember what i read, of course that means i would have to pay attention then. i don't have to work for like 2-3 more weeks, i don't want to pay attention till then.

[incudose]

i dont think anything bigger then the 262 would be good for a factory minitruck. no one else has anything with that much torque and hardly anymore horsepower in a minitruck. dakotas are midsize and they just have the small block v8s. i think the 4.3 is plenty power for a mass produced factory mini.

oh and i thought the ford 5.0s were 302s.

[nickf829]

i dont think a v8 would be a good choice for a mini from the factory, if you want power, buy a fullsize, traction is an issue of course as with all trucks but seems a mini would be even worse trying to stay on the road with actual "power from the factory" pushing it

im sure the xtremes will eventually receive a turbo, seems to be the current trend, chevy is good at going with that, cant complain, theyre makin bank

[fi istaylo]

mini's definately should not come from the factory with a v8...because everyone would have it, and it wouldnt be custom anymore...id love to see a xtreme with turbo...

[jjrambo]

mini's definately should not come from the factory with a v8...because everyone would have it, and it wouldnt be custom anymore...id love to see a xtreme with turbo...
Do kind of agree but not really, most definately agree w/ the turbo. I don't think that it would be a major issue if they were to make it to were you could only get the v-8 if you were to get a certain package, you know make the price the challenge. I know what your saying about the custom part of it but then look at dodge w/ the srt 4, to get that you have to get a number of other option, they might not be major price items but still there are differences that you have to pay for besides the motor.

the new colorado w/ the inline 5 would be a good candidate for a turbo.

[incudose]

umm, i dont really thing car manuf are worried about what would be custom. all of them did it with the big rims. as far as i can tell big rims are still in. they arent making xtremes any more so dont have to worry about that. the inline 5 is already pretty powerful but a bit more would be nice

[jjrambo]

umm, i dont really thing car manuf are worried about what would be custom. all of them did it with the big rims. as far as i can tell big rims are still in. they arent making xtremes any more so dont have to worry about that. the inline 5 is already pretty powerful but a bit more would be nice
It is a great new motor, I read an article in one of the truck mags that a company that works w/ saterns and gm's took a colarado and hooked it up w/ a supercharger or something allong those lines. I know the inline 5 supposed to have like 220hp, only about 20 more than the 4.3 but they have about same cu.

on the performance end it still needs more to compete w/ dodge's dakota power and so forth. it's a mid size and I think it should get a bigger engine then something putting 20-30 more than it's close brother the s-10.

gas milage is a concern lately for mannufatorers but still the option hould be there

[acftgrunt]

Hey Afctgrunt. The first and simplist is to do tuneup you ride. New spark plug wires if it has been a year or longer sense you have replaced them. A good spark plug, rotor, and distributor cap. Autozone has a good spark plug wire with a life time warrenty. If you get the distributor cap and rotor from Autozone, spend the extra money and get the cap and rotor with ther brass electodes, because they will last longer and give you a better spark. Next, get a good air filter and maybe a good cold air intake for better air flow. One of the best way to increase your gas mileage and horse power is with a free flowing exhaust system. I don't know what size engine you have, but I will use my 91 S10 as an example. I have a two an three quarter exhaust system. It is a Flow Master system with a Pro Flow muffler. I have duals running from the muffler back and out both sides of my truck. I also have a 4.3 in my truck. I have over 130,000 miles on my truck and I get about 20 miles a gallon and can get 400 or more mile to a tank of gas. I hope this info will be of some help to you. Good luck on improving the gas mileage on your truck.


I have the 4.3 but its in a 03, I dont think i need to change the plugs and stuff but been thinking about the wires. I only have just over 10K on the truck. I have plans fro a CAI and to redo the exhaust. I currently only get about 220 to 240 mile per tank (18 gallon).

[4RunUOver]

well if your truck only has 10k on it you have probibly a good 80k before you should even think about spending money on a set of wires or plugs, most manufactures are putting 100k mile plugs and wires on vehicles now, they are even using coolant thats good for 100k miles, so read the owners manual before replacing anything, and see when its supposed to be changed and go off of that.

[Cavymeister]

I just wrote this good indepth study about return on investment of the mods to increase gas mileage and I lost it so to make it short and sweet. It could take you well over 2 years to get you money out of something like the K&N CAI if you aren't any heavier on the gas pedal.

[14U2_Envy]

geta honda!

[acftgrunt]

geta honda!


Had one before my truck.. couldnt get in and out of it. I figured out how to get better mileage though.
If i turn all of my enviromental controls off. (No fan, nothing running) I can get 18 mpg. Other than that i get 15 to 17 mpg. I dont drive with a heavy foot, I think that the max speed I get in a day is 50 mph. Any other suggestions will be taken though.

[Cavymeister]

Make sure you get good gas. Shell, Sunoco, and Amoco (BP) are some of the better ones. The cheap wawa, race track, east coast, crown (ick), etc gas is not going to get as good of gas mileage. I like Sunoco the best, but there's only one in the area, so I go with Shell. Air your tires up to about 38 PSI. It'll help some more there. It won't be enough to make your Tiger paws wear real odd, and if they do, I've got a set with 8000 miles you can have. Also rotate and balance your tires (unbalanced tires cause a reduction in power to the road). I'd recomend changing your rear diff fluid to synthetic. It's probably time to change it any ways. You can do the same with the trans but that can get pretty pricey. Remove as much weight as possible. If you've got a bunch of stuff laying in the back of the truck (or behind the seats) remove what's not necessary. If you've got mud caked on up under the truck and wheel wells, hose that off. It'll keep your truck from rusting and reduce weight.

There's some free/cheap fixes.

[ShortyzKustomz]

I truly gave up on gas mileage with the Camaro when I did the motor swap, 7 mpg and burning $35 in gas just goin to and from ECN both days prove how great that is...I just bought a 4 cylinder truck to save my gas!

[CavyLova03]

I get real good mileage on the cavy. With such a big tank (for a four cylinder), I can go 450 miles on one fill up of the cheap stuff. Gota love the 4-bangers!

[s-dime2001]

i got the 4.3....everything is stock with the engine...i get about 15 mpg....but when i drive a long time like on the highway i get ALOT more...havent done the math....but i know its alot more

[lownloud_chevy]

headers,intake,air filter, different gears, tonneau, less restrictive aerodynamics!!!, daul exhaust, email me if got any ?s lownloud_chevy@yahoo.com

[toyxrunner]

Well like many people have said best thing is to not try to alway leave people still sitting at the light all the time. it might be fun and all but there goes your gas.

Is it really worth it to get there that 1-2 minutes earlier by nailing the gas pedal and waisting 1/4 more gas than you really needed to?

[WhispersEternal]

hey I know this much. I drove a 99 ford ranger w/ the 4.0 in it and I got about 220 to the tank now I am driving a 03 s-10 xtreme with the 4.3 and a hard tonaue and I am getting at least.... AT LEAST 100 more mile to the tank.. and that is running it hard so i dont buy the tonaue cover restricts gas mileage if it does anything it increases it

[Doom Sayer]

I get about 10mpg, and I don't even have a V8 swap yet :thumbdown

[YsOffcr]

do you have a truck or car? if truck you can buy a tonneau cover, or if you don't wanna do that you can jus flip down the tail gate. also i don't know if those tornado things work or not, but maybe one of those too.
Dropping the tailgate has been proven to make the gas mieleage worse than with it up. When the tailgate is up it creates a pocket of turbulence that in turn creates the same effect if you had a cap on the bed, minus the weight. When the tailgate is down it prevents this cushion from being created, therefore causing the the gas mileage to go down.

[Low4Life]

Dropping the tailgate has been proven to make the gas mieleage worse than with it up. When the tailgate is up it creates a pocket of turbulence that in turn creates the same effect if you had a cap on the bed, minus the weight. When the tailgate is down it prevents this cushion from being created, therefore causing the the gas mileage to go down.
yea i know that now. that post is about 2 years old.

[YsOffcr]

Ooops, It was very late when I posted that. Didn't see the date.

[ray]

i dont think anything bigger then the 262 would be good for a factory minitruck. no one else has anything with that much torque and hardly anymore horsepower in a minitruck. dakotas are midsize and they just have the small block v8s. i think the 4.3 is plenty power for a mass produced factory mini.

oh and i thought the ford 5.0s were 302s.

they are !!! :foshizzle:

[killroy383]

That is what i like dodge. chevy and ford dont have a little truck with a V8. I dont care about MPH give me HP and Foot pounds. There nothing like driving at 55 mph droping it into 3d gear and being pushed into the back seat. also with my dakota V8 i have gotten 22 mph high way. Also one thing i love is blowing the doors off the 18 year old in a ricer off line.

2003 dodge dakota V8 4door 5 speed

[Loki_S10]

That is what i like dodge. chevy and ford dont have a little truck with a V8. I dont care about MPH give me HP and Foot pounds. There nothing like driving at 55 mph droping it into 3d gear and being pushed into the back seat. also with my dakota V8 i have gotten 22 mph high way. Also one thing i love is blowing the doors off the 18 year old in a ricer off line.

2003 dodge dakota V8 4door 5 speed

A Dodge Dakota can hardly be concidered a "little" Truck Like a S-10 or Ranger. Trust me I have a 98 S-10 and a 01 Dakota. The Dakota is WAY bigger than the S-10. Just as an example you would have to spend hundreds of dollars lifting a S-10 just to be able to put 31" tires on it, but my Dakota has 31s on it And I could still probably lower it. Not taking anything away from Dodge Dakotas but they are more of a Mid size truck than a Small truck. Oh and my Dakota is for sale... Please buy it... Someone :Money:

P.S. yes I know this thread is over a year old... But Gas is going back Up again...:grinning:

[ocyberbum]

o yea..gas is going up...they are saying it could go up to $4.00 a gallon.....time to break out the moped:grinning: