Increasing Gas Mileage

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:48 pm

So, as of right now, I'm only getting 15 MPG. (I did total miles/total gas tank size) I'd really like to get this up, and was wondering what tips,mods,hacks you guys have? I'm sure someone is gonna say drive less aggressive, so you don't need to say that.

I'm driving a pretty much stock 01' Sport Trac

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:53 pm

What engine do you have?

15 MPG is about all you can get out of one of those. We have an '03 Ranger singe cab 2WD V6 and it gets 18, and I bet it weighs a lot less than your 4 door SUV.

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:59 pm

It's got a V6 with the SOHC in it. I resent you calling my truck an SUV.

It's got a bed! (jk, I know its just an explorer with a bed)

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:23 pm

ghosstt wrote:So, as of right now, I'm only getting 15 MPG. (I did total miles/total gas tank size)

You mean miles since last fill up/amount of gas you put in to fill it, right?
Where do you do most of your driving, city or highway? I hope its mostly city, our '93 Explorer gets about 14-16 city, and my dad can get up to 20-22 highway. A tune up can help almost any car get better mileage. If you have aggressive tires on it, you might want to consider getting some street/less aggressive tires. Taking out as much extra weight as you can usually helps, especially for stop and go driving. You could do some aero mods to help it cut through the air better, check out Ecomodder for more info on that.
Depending on how much you drive and your utility needs, you could sell it and get a car. There are probably many cars that have as much space as you need, and they'd probably get at least 1.5x the mileage you're getting.

And I know Triton's gonna say it, so I'm gonna beat him, get a Volvo wagon. I'm actually shooting for a Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon, as soon as I get a job...

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:34 pm

Well, through a nice chain of events, I ended up getting this truck for the price of buying a new title. (which cost a few hundred bucks) So, I would like to use this as long as possible.

I would consider around here mostly highway driving, with a decent amount of inclines too. It's got custom rims/tires on it(i didn't put em on

), so I'm going to try and sell em and get at least stock back on there. (the customs are much wider) Maybe I'll take out the back seat too. Could get rid of a nice chunk of weight.

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:39 pm

ghosstt wrote:It's got a V6 with the SOHC in it. I resent you calling my truck an SUV. It's got a bed! (jk, I know its just an explorer with a bed)

I could take the trunk lid off the back of my Saturn and have a "bed" too but that doesn't make it a truck.

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:46 pm

bicostp wrote:
ghosstt wrote:It's got a V6 with the SOHC in it. I resent you calling my truck an SUV. It's got a bed! (jk, I know its just an explorer with a bed)
I could take the trunk lid off the back of my Saturn and have a "bed" too but that doesn't make it a truck.

I know, I know.

It's not 4x4, so that's pretty good. It's got a 20 gallon tank too. Anymore ideas?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:12 pm

1) Acetone. It increases octane, and can increase fuel efficiency by around 30%. I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to. It's not a new concept, there's plenty of information available about it. Adding too much leads to a loss, but there's a handy chart here:

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2 ... 9_Acetone/

2) Take out un-necessary weight. Don't have passengers? Take out the seats! Removing the spare tire/jack will save you about 1 mpg, if you're willing to risk it.

Post by **Triton** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:22 pm

Acetone. It increases octane, and can increase fuel efficiency by around 30%. I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to. It's not a new concept, there's plenty of information available about it

toluene would be a better choice than acetone. you can put as much as 20% toluene in the fuel without having problems but if your engine isnt designed to take advantage of high octane fuel neither acetone or toluene will gain you much

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:36 pm

Kurt_ wrote: 2) Take out un-necessary weight. Don't have passengers? Take out the seats! Removing the spare tire/jack will save you about 1 mpg, if you're willing to risk it.

I'm probably going to remove the back seats.(it's all one giant seat) I'm also running it without a spare tire already, since it never came with one.

Triton wrote: toluene would be a better choice than acetone. you can put as much as 20% toluene in the fuel without having problems but if your engine isnt designed to take advantage of high octane fuel neither acetone or toluene will gain you much

I'll take a look into that.

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:33 pm

have you ever read up on hyper-miling? Those crazy people can get amazing mileage out of any car. I saw a guy on tv who got about 60mpg out of a stock Accord and a guy who got almost 100 out of an Insight.

You could get one of those gas sensor things that'll beep at you if you're stepping on the gas too much. I heard they cost around 20 bucks and apparently give people like 20% better gas mileage right away just because you don't realize how fast you accelerate.

themadhacker · Post by **themadhacker** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:44 pm

An awkward question..but are you overwieght?
I read up on a study some people did, and it said that overweight people have less fuel effeciency than lower wieght people.

Also, what some race car drivers do to reduce weight is remove the hood or doors ands replace them with fiberglass counterparts. I the long run though, it would probably be expensive to replace the parts and not very much more fuel effecient.

Also, putting a bit of oil with your gasoline is good for effeciency.

Atari Dogs · Post by **Atari Dogs** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:48 pm

Try installing a K&N air filter. It can add more power and miles per gallon. I have also tried acetone. It added about 1 mile to the gallon.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:27 pm

Remove the back doors and replace them with thin sheet aluminum.

Use sheet aluminum to streamline the trunk bed (a teardrop sort of shape).

Strip the carpet and molding from the inside. (Probably not worth it)

Cut out the floor in the rear (also not worth it)

Remove the trunk bed if you never use it. (Like this: http://www.itchyhitch.com/images/truck/truck-bed-1.jpg)

Can't think of much else, all the rest costs more than you'll save.

An alternative to replacing the doors is just gutting them to the most basic thing you could have, then welding them closed.

RockNRoll! · Post by **RockNRoll!** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:54 pm

There's not much you can do to help the gas mileage of a truck like that without modifying it and reducing the resale value. If you really need better gas mileage, sell it and get a car. I recommend stick shift because it's cheaper, more efficient, faster, and more fun than automatic.

I gotta try that acetone thing.
EDIT: or not.

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