al_ngl

In the year+ I have been on the forum gas prices have risen from $2.30 to $4.20 per gallon. Therefore, I have resolved to repair, upgrade, and modify my car to get 40 mpg minimum NO MATTER WHAT. I have achieved an average of 37 one week, but it was easy driving. I want to get 40 mpg average even driving the car hard.

What has been done:
Bosch platinum plugs (8, dual plug cylinder head)
low resistance plug wires
A/C delete (summers aren't extremely hot)
silencer delete/CAI
fram air filter
most maintainance

The plan:
run seafoam through the vacuum lines
new fuel filter
new 02 sensor
new pcv valve
new egr valve
new tires(Dunlop SP60s I think)
get rid of rust
Lotus treatment- anthing that I can do without, I will, until the car gets 40mpg with my foot in it.

Please don't flame on the brands I use. I know that Ford says that motorcraft is the only thing to use on Fords, but on the 10 cars that I have repaired and maintained for my family I have noticed a difference in the parts I use, so please don't start an arguement over brands.

I currently run 93 octane fuel because I figured out that I save money due to 93 octane being more efficient and only $0.20 more than 87. I got 26 mpg with easy driving and 87 octane. I got 30 with 89 octane. And I got 37 with 93 octane. If gas is $4.20 for 93 and $4.00 for 87 it is only 5% more expensive. But I get 40% more efficiency. I know that weather likely played a role, but the numbers are too big for the gasoline to not have made a difference. Even my chemistry teacher agreed that since the fuel has more octane, it uses more air and less gas. Also, since it reduces knock, it further increases eficciency.

Any suggestions for ways to gain mpgs that I have forgotten would be greatly appreciated.

__________________
"The battery is discharging, the oil temperature is very high, the oil pressure is very low, the engine temperature is off the end of the scale, I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct!"- James May

7_Zero

Holy cow! [sm=yikesomg.gif]I am running 87 octane and am lucky if I get 23 mpg. I have not been pushing my car much because of cost, but 30 mpg? I guess I have some work do do.

sleeper_inc

Good work, now if you can get 32.2258 mpg on 87 you'll be where I was

To get better mileage drop in a manual, 3.55 gears, get a new ECT sensor, computer chip so you can run a little leaner at closed loop (14.78? to 15.00?) you'll again 2-4 mpg with the computer but it might cause engine damage if not completly done.

__________________

2.3 turbo / no mods rly / 15 PSI / around 180 RWHP / 30 mpg
If you need a harness done or some parts for the 2.3 turbo, PM me

Stang2.3

My stang got 300 miles on 8 gallons of gas before i fixed my tank i was only using 85 octane (can't anymore cause of turbo) now i fixed my tank so can fill it. just doin basic math says i was gettin 37.5 MPG which is alot better than the 15 i'm gettin with my Nissan Pathfinder [&o]

__________________
Team Spooled Motorsports
SLC, Utah Crew
Jake - Turbo Mustang
Miguel - 98 Eclipse GS-T
www.turbodiamond.com
www.myspace.com/90mitsu

Project Smokin Stang:
1987 Ford Mustang LX (Turbo Swap In progress)

Jugador

you do realize you're going to spend a lot of money and never achieve this goal right? just keep your damn foot out of it, it's not like it's even going to be that fast or fun when your foot is in it. just save your pennies to pay for your gas and you'll end up miles and miles ahead of this idea.

__________________
by the time you've finished reading this sentence, you'll realize you wasted like 5 seconds of your life

al_ngl

I respect your opinion, but I believe that my goal is achieveable. I want to get 40 mpg minimum because I currently drive ~350 miles a week at $4.20/gallon and 25mpg when I'm driving like I do. That's almost $60 a week in gas alone. I make about $180 a week at my job, but I have a couple financial goals to achieve by May of next year: I want to raise $3000 for my trip to Europe (Spain, France, and Italy), and I want to buy a sports car (most likely a 5.0). Since I am only paying for gas and car parts, I can only save about $480 a month not counting car parts. So by May next year, I will have ~$5,800 to spend on my trip and another car. If I get 40 mpg, I only spend $37 in gas a week, meaning I can save $572 a month, or ~$6,800 by next year. I know this goal sounds un-achieveable, but most of it is stuff I have to do anyway for maintanence. Since my parents are making me pay for my own stuff now, I guess I have a new perspective on fuel economy.

__________________
"The battery is discharging, the oil temperature is very high, the oil pressure is very low, the engine temperature is off the end of the scale, I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct!"- James May

al_ngl

Hmm. I'll probably replace the ECT, but the rest is expensive/time consuming. I doubt I'll replace the computer if it will only add 2-4 mpg. I only have 1 car to go to work almost every day, so anything that can't be done in one day is on the back of the list. Unless I can convince my mom to lend me the Subaru.

__________________
"The battery is discharging, the oil temperature is very high, the oil pressure is very low, the engine temperature is off the end of the scale, I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct!"- James May

924banger

I think Tbird first mentioned this, but rebuild your injectors(cheap 20$ kit on ebay) and add permatex to the O-rings. I plan on doing this. I average around 23-24mpg,but I have a host of crap that needs replacing.

__________________
Red 92 LX mustang 4cyl
1992 Bronco 5.8L
2003 Cavalier 2.2L Ecotec
1993 Lightning #1579...Died 12/21/06

92lxsleeper

hey i had 45+ mpg last summer with mine.

all i had was a cone air filter (cold air will actually decrease fuel mileage[&:]) a free flowing exhaust, and jet stage 2 chip, put a regulator on your transmission modulator, and you can adjust how firm the tranny shifts, which will help with fuel mileage.

__________________
I'll kick your sorry arses so hard you'll kiss the moons.

1997 Chevrolet K1500
4.3L Vortec V6 (350 minus 2 cylinders) with 200K miles (RUNS LIKE NEW!)
Hypertech Power Programmer

Pathfinder 7.5' hydraulic snowplow


*plans?*

to make money plowing in winter and buy a 7.3 powerstroke next year.

al_ngl

How do you figure? Maybe if you don't tune the idle and make sure the engine is at least warm before driving it hard.

My exhaust is fairly good (all new except for cat and manifold) and if I make it much bigger I won't have adequate backpressure. I kinda doubt that I'll chip if it's >$100, and as far as tranny goes, I'm wanting 40 even shifting late and running hard. I'm more likely to get 3.55 gears like sleeper said.

How much time does this take, and how many mpgs will I gain?

__________________
"The battery is discharging, the oil temperature is very high, the oil pressure is very low, the engine temperature is off the end of the scale, I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct!"- James May