View Full Version : fuel economy:::What are you doing to save???
jeepmanjeff
07-12-2008, 09:55 AM
Bought a Prius back in March and getting 47 to 53 MPG!
Better than the Harley! No where near as fun!
Car Pooling with wife to work...interesting conversations!!!!
wilson1010
07-12-2008, 11:30 AM
I drive about 10000 miles a year and so at 20mpg I spend about $2500 per year on gas. So if I got a million miles to the gallon, I could save $2500. My car is 20 years old, fully depreciated and doesn't need a $5000 battery every now and then, and I'm just fine with that.
No disrespect to the Prius, its an interesting car and makes a positive statement.
94Dodge Truggy
07-12-2008, 01:49 PM
I drive around 28,000 miles a year. I feel safe in the truck and am happy with an average of 17 mpg. when I have 900 ft. lb. of torque and 7000 lbs. of metal aound me. I would consider a small vehicle if I were off the highways and everyone else driving would have a similar sized vehicle. It is amazing how fuel prices and the american automobile industry influences the economy to such great lengths! There are many problems in the U.S.'s auto industry and hopefully drastic changes will be made to make them better.
4RunnerAdam
07-12-2008, 02:05 PM
I aired my tires up from 32psi to 45psi. I also try to stay out of the gas pedal as much as I can. I went from 17.5-19mpg to 19.5-20.5mpg. This is in my 97 4Runner V6, rated 17 city 19 highway. So I'm pleased to get higher than rated mileage out of my 11 year old truck with 185k miles!
mckeddie
07-12-2008, 07:17 PM
i drive my willys instead of my suburban, shop in town now instead of running 25 miles to lima, and pretty much drive as little as possible now.
greg
The CJ mostly sits in the driveway, I gave the XJ back to the wife, and I drive the Camry she bought for me a few years back. The Camry did cut my gas usage in half of what the XJ was burning in the 140 mile a day run. It is the big Camry so I feel sort of safe in it.:D
blazerbrad
07-14-2008, 11:30 AM
I set my cruise on 65 mph versus 70+ mph that I used to, and a little lighter on the pedal during take off. I also take my wife's car to work usually several days a week (she is currently at home with the kids) as it gets closer to 30 mpg highway versus the 15 mpg my truck gets...I'm lucky that 90% of my commute is on the highway with light traffic. Her car is also a newer Malibu, so it's midsize and has a 200 HP V-6 so it gets around pretty decent.
The newer hybrids are great but I personally just can't justify spending $20,000 on them versus my truck that is paid for. It would take at least 7 years to break even at $4/gal. gas as compared to driving my truck every day, and 10-12 years assuming I keep driving the wife's car 2-3 days a week to work. And that's not including the extra cost for tags, insurance, etc... because I would still need to keep the truck because obviously a hybrid car can't take the place of a truck for a lot of things.
carwash
07-14-2008, 12:27 PM
i siphon fuel from cars in the mall parking lot. working out well so far.
RuffedUpXJ
07-14-2008, 12:50 PM
Sounds good Mike. Has anyone heard of putting Acetone in your tank to increase the mileage?
Bear Chow
07-14-2008, 01:46 PM
Purchased a Honda CRF230L. I drive 45 miles each day cut my fuel spending from $70 in the VW to $17.
I have decided to give it to my daughter she's 13. And I will be buying the 650L for myself. She can use it to put around the yard and the occasional Haspin trip. Once she's eligible for a license I have a trip planned to ride country roads with as many dirt roads in between down to Arkansas to visit my brother. I hope to repeat the same voyage with all my children.
Summer 2011 will be a great advanture.
jfiscus
07-14-2008, 03:23 PM
Sounds good Mike. Has anyone heard of putting Acetone in your tank to increase the mileage?
The more acetone you put in there the less gas you can put in there. Acetone is more expensive then gas though.
Bear Chow
07-14-2008, 04:33 PM
Don't forget Acetone is a solvent. It will dry out your seals and gaskets. It will find it's way into your oiling system if not properly mixed.
uglyoffroad
07-14-2008, 05:14 PM
I just ordered a hydrogen generator for my 12 valve cummins. If it works well I will be getting more for the rest of the fleet. I am currently spending about $600.00 to $700.00 a week for fuel, so I am willing to try anything. I hope it works.
wilson1010
07-14-2008, 05:49 PM
Here's an interesting commentary on the acetone thing:
http://fuelsaving.info/acetone.htm
SixFtUnd
07-14-2008, 07:18 PM
Jon
let me know how that goes was wanting to look into that for my bronco
Aquaman
07-14-2008, 08:58 PM
I bought a '96 Civic. For my 70 mile round trip commute per day it is saving me over $20 per day versus driving my Suburban (35mpg vs. 10mpg). I have had it about a year now, I figure it paid for itself in the first 8 months or so. It will hit 200K soon, and I'd drive it to California tomorrow if needed.
mckeddie
07-14-2008, 09:16 PM
is this the water thingy? my father in law is an engineer and sold on those things, he's going to make a couple so we can try them out too.
greg
Treefrogsw
07-14-2008, 11:14 PM
One of my employees just put one on his Eclispe. Not sure how well its doing since he just wired the thing Friday...will keep you posted.
I just bought a 97 Ford Ecort. Guy says he got 30mpg in city faithfully. If the hydro works for my guy at work its going on my new beater.... Sure wish I could find a pastor to put my F350 in. :eek:
tinbeater
07-14-2008, 11:16 PM
I ride a Harley that I won.:D
uglyoffroad
07-15-2008, 02:52 AM
I am hoping to have my hydro generators on by this weekend. As much as I drive, i should know pretty quickly how it is going to work. i got three units built to the water4fuel website specs. Going to try all three on the diesel first, and then try out one one our 98 dakota work truck. depending on how that works I may even put one on the wife's 03 tahoe. I know that I can build the units myself, but in the time that it would take to build them, and round up the parts I can make the $160.00 that I spent buying them. I will let ya know how they work.
blazerbrad
07-15-2008, 09:26 AM
I am interested in seeing the results of these hydrogen generators also, though have to admit at being extremely skeptical. I do fuel economy testing per SAE and other official standards at work on a regular basis and have yet to see any devices like that actually work..and I've seen all types.
I didn't look at the website, but what % improvement do they say you should expect? From personal experience 2-3% is realistic for an actual product that works, and 5% would make the inventor a rich man (a large trucking company would jump all over something that gave them 5% improvement in fuel economy as you could get in the millions of $$ saved in fuel annually). This is also assuming that any potential drawbacks of the device do not outweight the benefits.
jeepmanjeff
07-16-2008, 08:57 PM
Great replies!
In response to the hybrid comments mentioned above.
It was time for me to get a new vehicle and I wanted the most economical for the mileage I drive per year...which is around 30,000 miles. I had a 2000 Honda Accord that got 25 MPG. I have double that so it is saving me roughly $250 in fuel based on $3.00 per gallon. With the price at $4.00 it is saving me even more.
The fuel savings alone almost makes the payment and I have a new vehicle with a 6 year warranty with it. The Hybrid system is warrantied for 8 years. So to me it was worth the investment.
You have to spend your money somewhere....
I bought a 92 tin top tracker with faded and peeling black paint,and a PINK pin stripe down the sides.It gets about twice the mileage my 97 Powerjoke does,and its easy to park at the super market!
wilson1010
07-17-2008, 05:58 AM
The fuel savings alone almost makes the payment and I have a new vehicle with a 6 year warranty with it. The Hybrid system is warrantied for 8 years. So to me it was worth the investment.
You have to spend your money somewhere....
Looks to me like the hybrid stuff is warranteed for 100,000 miles, which will be 3 years. Most of the rest of the warranty is 36/60 which is two years or one year. All compacts these days will get 35mpg. My 1991 22RE pickup gets over 30. SO let's try this:
You will buy 600 gallons of gas at 30000/50mpg.
You would buy 860 gals of gas at 30000/35mpg.
That looks like 260 gallons saved at $4.00 equals $1000 per year to me.
OK, I just noticed that you had an Accord (good car) getting 25mpg.
So that would be 600 gallons saved or $2400/yr.
Again, no disrespect to the Prius or the spirit of conservation it reflects, I just question the math.
RuffedUpXJ
07-17-2008, 08:38 AM
I will be driving close to 30,000 miles a year now and I just got my 92 Civic running so I am getting 35 MPG instead of 12-15 MPG with the Cherokee. Now I just need to unrice my Civic, man I thought I was cool in high school.
So 30,000/35 MPG will be 857 gallons
And 30,000/15 MPG will be 2000 gallons
So I am looking to see anywhere around $5,000 for the year. PLus I get to tear the Jeep down now
wilson1010
07-17-2008, 09:31 AM
I will be driving close to 30,000 miles a year now and I just got my 92 Civic running so I am getting 35 MPG instead of 12-15 MPG with the Cherokee. Now I just need to unrice my Civic, man I thought I was cool in high school.
So 30,000/35 MPG will be 857 gallons
And 30,000/15 MPG will be 2000 gallons
So I am looking to see anywhere around $5,000 for the year. PLus I get to tear the Jeep down now
Plus, you have no depreciation on a 92 Civic, and you don't have to insure body damage thats your fault (collision). PAy attention to that timing belt thing though. :)
blazerbrad
07-17-2008, 10:59 AM
Great replies!
In response to the hybrid comments mentioned above.
It was time for me to get a new vehicle and I wanted the most economical for the mileage I drive per year...which is around 30,000 miles. I had a 2000 Honda Accord that got 25 MPG. I have double that so it is saving me roughly $250 in fuel based on $3.00 per gallon. With the price at $4.00 it is saving me even more.
The fuel savings alone almost makes the payment and I have a new vehicle with a 6 year warranty with it. The Hybrid system is warrantied for 8 years. So to me it was worth the investment.
You have to spend your money somewhere....
If you need a new vehicle which will replace another smaller car anyway, then it makes perfect sense to go that route. The comment was for the people, several that I personally know, that either go out and buy a car and keep their truck/SUV, or trade in their paid off truck/SUV and buy a new car in which they usually take a hit on the trade-in value and wind up dropping at least $10k out of pocket.
RuffedUpXJ
07-17-2008, 12:52 PM
I have had my fair share of timing belts, heads, blocks, head gaskets, and other stuff go out on the civic partly due to some beating. Its had 6 different motors in it :-)
I can swap the block in about 2 hours in my driveway.
SixFtUnd
07-17-2008, 07:30 PM
hows the hydrogen generators going ???
uglyoffroad
07-17-2008, 10:05 PM
I still haven't recieved mine yet. hoping to get them tommrow, so i can install over the weekend.
itbrokeagain
07-19-2008, 03:35 PM
Talked to a guy last night. He had a smack booster hanging off his front bumper. He says the Smack is the best out there right now. Said you have to use a bubbler. To wire it use a relay off a circuit that goes off with the ignition. Then put a 30 amp fuse inline. He claimed it raised his Kia from 15MPG to 23MPG. Sounds like it works.
SixFtUnd
07-19-2008, 04:49 PM
what is smack booster?
carwash
07-19-2008, 09:34 PM
heroin, buddy. heroin. When yer jacked up on smack, you don't care how bad your mileage is or how much fuel costs... do it!
SixFtUnd
07-20-2008, 12:37 PM
just riged up a hydrogen generator on my Bronco will know in a few hours if it is doing anything
hope I don't blow myself up haha
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t161/KCZuks/stuff/index.php.jpg
my very fun to ride kymco super9
about 45 mpg at 48 mph......
uglyoffroad
07-20-2008, 11:45 PM
I got to test the hho generators out this weekend. The first test was on my 98 dakota with 3.9 v6. I hooked up to hho cells to an extra vacum port right on the intake. Ran two tanks of fuel out. One on friday night and one tonight. The truck normally has been getting 19.5 mpg. Believe it or not the truck actually gets worse mpg's on the hho. friday's tank got 17.5 mpg, and tonights got 17 mpg. keep in mind that I only had the hho hooked up and not o2 sensor or map sensor foolers. My guess is the the system sensed too much oxygen in the exhaust and thought the engine was running to lean. The computer must have gave it more fuel to compensate. I knew this was a possible result. I just didn't think that it would actually make my gas mielage worse. I am not done yet. Next i'm going to try the system out on my 96 dodge 2500 ctd. I may also try it on the dakota again if I can get a good deal on some o2 sensor extenders or a map sensor fooler. I will post up again once i do some more testing.
Jon
carwash
07-21-2008, 12:27 AM
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t161/KCZuks/stuff/index.php.jpg
my very fun to ride kymco super9
about 45 mpg at 48 mph......
hahah, love the box fan mod as well, that should make some extra mpg for sure!!
SixFtUnd
07-21-2008, 08:26 AM
drove my bronco about 75 miles with the hho didn't notice any change but haven't checked actual mileage yet
hahah, love the box fan mod as well, that should make some extra mpg for sure!!
well i am putting the rad in back..... duh !
LOL
:D
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