Improving Fuel Economy...

[jbrdbr111]

I have a 1992 Corolla and it gets around 15-20 mpg, and I wanted to know any suggestions on what I could do to get the most out of my fuel economy for this car.. Any tips are greatly appreciated..

[tnmk]

15-20 is horrible. How do you drive first of all.

I have a 93 Geo Prizm, 1.6L with a 3 speed auto (no OD) and I'm getting 28ish doing 70 plus on winter gas. In the summer I was getting as much as 34. but normally closer to 30.

Tire pressure, go a couple lbs over suggested pressure
new plugs and points and maybe wires
Injector cleaner.
Taking it easy, no jack rabbit starts or stops.
Synthetic fluids. Engine and Trans. (I haven't done my tranny yet)
Aftermarket intake might help, but I can't say for sure. I haven't done that.

But with mpg that bad I would guess you have something else going on. Is your engine light on?

[vkr]

Over the last five years I've owned several small cars including a 95 Corolla, 97 Prizm, and a 99 Prizm. And one thing that I have found with these little cars is the fuel economy is VERY dependent on your driving habits and the grade of gasoline that you put in them. I am assuming that you're filling up at the cheapest gas station in town which doesn't help you any. It doesn't mean that you ought to fill up at the most expensive gas station either. Remember...........you get what you pay for. I did not think it applied to gasoline until my friend shared with me what they did at his cheap gas station to cut corners on gasoline quality (I won't go into detail but some things were really pathetic like mixing their cheaper grades with water, etc...)
When the gas prices went through the roof I had to trade in my lead foot for a wooden one.
Oh boy....did that make a difference. 99 Prizm with a lead foot: 24mpg, a woodend one: 33mpg.

Hope it helps.

P.S. I thought I should also mention that I sell wooden feet They're only $100 a piece

[ghost_ryder35]

accelerate easy instead of hard first of all, and then give the car a full tune up (spark pligs, cap, rotor, wires, fuel filter, air filter, a bottle of fuel injector cleaner and change the tranny fluid)

[tnmk]

Do you enjoy being an ass? (that's for ghost btw)

[commutercar]

check the simple things first such as your air filter. From my experience my gas mileage was greatly affected by the emission portion of the car. There is a plastic black part which has a little filter in it. It connects to the EGR. I forgot what it is exactly called. Anyhow it cleared my gas mileage in a 94 geo prizm when i replaced it. Goodluck

[jbrdbr111]

I typically don't go over 55-60 mph... I don't punch it or anything like that.. I do have an Auto tranny if that makes any difference..

I don't do much highway driving mostly city where I live, plenty of traffic lights in some areas, and none in others..

My average travel is about 20-40 miles... My car was just given a full tune up in late September of 2006, and tires are always checked twice a week to stay at maximum pressure..

I use overdrive to keep the RPM down, and I fill up with 87.... I usually don't go to run down stations if at all...

besides the tune-up I've recently had, what can I add/do to my car to make it better if my driving isn't rough or fast?...

I do have a little over 133,000 miles on it if that makes a "huge" difference...

[tnmk]

It's the pcv valve commuter couldn't think of. Very cheap, like $5.00. Change that for sure.

What was your mileage b4 the tune up? Did they screw something up? 133,000 shouldn't make any difference at all.

See my first post on this for other things I mentioned.

One of the best ways to find what's wrong is process of elimination. Check system by system, part by part and if that particular part is good, move on to the next.

Good luck, you got me stumped.

But you've got something wrong. Your mpg should be at least 25 or better I would think.

So your engine light isn't on?

[darcsyde]

Originally Posted by jbrdbr111

I typically don't go over 55-60 mph... I don't punch it or anything like that.. I do have an Auto tranny if that makes any difference..

I don't do much highway driving mostly city where I live, plenty of traffic lights in some areas, and none in others..

My average travel is about 20-40 miles... My car was just given a full tune up in late September of 2006, and tires are always checked twice a week to stay at maximum pressure..

I use overdrive to keep the RPM down, and I fill up with 87.... I usually don't go to run down stations if at all...

besides the tune-up I've recently had, what can I add/do to my car to make it better if my driving isn't rough or fast?...

I do have a little over 133,000 miles on it if that makes a "huge" difference...

well that might be why, since you do mostly city driving no car gets good gas mileage in the city, although yours are still low. Stop using the overdrive button, overdrive is usually good on the highways, try a higher grade of gas, (i use premium)

[jbrdbr111]

my mileage was 130,000 before the tune-up, so only been just over 3,000 miles since.. I checked the PCV physically and on paper to show it was replaced in the tune-up..

Originally Posted by darcsyde
well that might be why, since you do mostly city driving no car gets good gas mileage in the city, although yours are still low. Stop using the overdrive button, overdrive is usually good on the highways, try a higher grade of gas, (i use premium)

I always figured O/D would save gas because it kep the RPM down, so I shouldn't use it in the city at all?..

Instead of premium would you recommend an octane booster?

Any recommended fuel injector cleaners that get the job done I should check out?..

Also, what about Z-Max or something like that.. Would any additives increase mileage some, or any mods?..

[Piloter]

...Keep using OD. The lower the RPMs stay, the less fuel your engine will burn. Turning faster = more fuel, plain and simple. Also, higher octane may be beneficial due to the higher levels of detergent, but in a car with a relatively low compression ratio such as yours, the increased detonation resistance of higher-grade won't magically give you better mileage or more power. (From experience, it may give you a smoother idle...)

As for cleaners, I swear by Seafoam. It can be a bit tricky to find--and is basically pure kerosene--but one can of that stuff can act as a fuel injector cleaner, a manifold/throttle-body/cylinder head cleaner, or an engine block degunker. All depends on whether you pour it into the gas tank, suck it in GRADUALLY through the PCV (read the directions on this one, I don't want to see anybody's engine hydrolock) or put it in as an oil additive.


If you've done the full tuneup already, I'd suggest going to synthetic oil and running some Seafoam through various parts. If your gas consumption is still that high, you may have something more seriously wrong. Hope this helps.

[ghost_ryder35]

Originally Posted by tnmk

Do you enjoy being an ass? (that's for ghost btw)

Do you enjoy asking?

[tnmk]

Originally Posted by ghost_ryder35

Do you enjoy asking?

More of a curiosity thing really. I honestly miss the days when 95% of the world did their best not to offend other people. It was a better time and people got along with each other a lot better. It's called respect for your fellow man. Fortunately I still enjoy that among most of my peers, but the younger crowd doesn't seem to get it anymore. I don't understand why some people enjoy offending others. Although I'm guessing you're just joking, not everyone will take it that way.

[ghost_ryder35]

Originally Posted by tnmk

More of a curiosity thing really. I honestly miss the days when 95% of the world did their best not to offend other people. It was a better time and people got along with each other a lot better. It's called respect for your fellow man. Fortunately I still enjoy that among most of my peers, but the younger crowd doesn't seem to get it anymore. I don't understand why some people enjoy offending others. Although I'm guessing you're just joking, not everyone will take it that way.

please quote me where I offended someone in this thread. Thanks very much

[tnmk]

Never said you did offend anyone. But your signature certainly suggests that you enjoy being an a**. And being an a** and using expicitives is offensive to a lot of people.

So I guess what I'm saying is why would you put that in your signature unless your making an attempt to offend?