Yesss! Got 30mpg

[bowtieguy]

VERY unexpected fillup today--30.233mpg after previous best of 27.24. first, let's review...

last year was averaging~21. then, w/ acetone, but before GS avg~25.

after joining GS and reluctantly trying mods such as grill block, ^psi, and EOC got the high of 27.24. my driving is VERY consistant--about 65%hwy miles.

now, why such a jump: ~3mpg all of a sudden? well, this is what i will speculate:

for the first time since joining GS did NOT drop/pickup the kids to/from school(usually give mom a break on my day off). also, a/c useage this tank was almost eliminated(been using daily prior). lastly, my gliding(anticipation) skill is improving greatly even tank to tank. oh yes, almost forgot: this tank had 8 days driving to work rather than 7. my days off are ALL city.

remember: same routes, same gas(and pump),same type of driving,etc.
look @ my gas log to see how similar the fillups are. combined trips and drive as little as possible.

what do you think? unbelievable?

edit: FYI: vehicle weight is 3429, epa est 17/26(20), auto V6

[SVOboy]

Sounds pretty good! Try to keep it up through the winter. :thumbup:

[theclencher]

best acetone improvements come from riding bicycle http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/images/smiles/booty.gif

[2TonJellyBean]

It's too bad the ScanGauage didn't track cumulative newtons of force on the brake pedal like it is on the gas pedal. In a heavy vehicle, that brake pedal is very costly in gas. I'll bet that's a part of your excellent results - DWB.

[bowtieguy]

best acetone improvements come from riding bicycle http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/images/smiles/booty.gif

i've stopped using acetone periodically(and might try again soon), after each mod has been tested for example, to see the results.

let's just say i can't afford not to use it.

BUT, i've also said before, i'm convinced it does NOT increase FE in my wife's camaro.

[smay665949]

bowtieguy,

what is acitone? A fuel additive?

The other day I called a number on a truck and the guy sent me to this website http://landers.mpgfreedom.com/access.aspx for MPG caps, has anyone used them?

If your engine/trans are in good shape use quality synthetic fluids. Synthetic oil has better cold flow and lubrication properties than conventional oil so it will improve cold and hot weather economy.

[cfg83]

bowtieguy -

Congratulations :thumbup: . I like your speculations on trip changes/driving style. When I started, I was making two non-highway trips into the traffic "black hole" of Santa Monica/Westwood. Now I only make one. I am sure that has helped my average too.

CarloSW2

[bowtieguy]

bowtieguy,

what is acitone? A fuel additive?

The other day I called a number on a truck and the guy sent me to this website http://landers.mpgfreedom.com/access.aspx for MPG caps, has anyone used them?

If your engine/trans are in good shape use quality synthetic fluids. Synthetic oil has better cold flow and lubrication properties than conventional oil so it will improve cold and hot weather economy.

acetone CAN be used as a fuel additive. see www.lubedev.com for details. just don't take eveything said as absolute truth. some ideas, like acetone, work for me, others do not. for some reason it works for some and not others here. check the archives also.

sorry, can't respond to mpgfreedom link because i have dial-up(takes too long to download videos).

as far as amsoil...i already use it(tranny and motor, even amsoil p.i. for fuel system clean-up). problem is i don't have before and after FE data(been using syn oil long before i joined here). and i will NOT put dino oils in my cars to find out.

if you try acetone, test it precisely over several fillups eliminating as many variables as possible. also use high quality. i'd start w/ 3oz to 10 gal gas. good luck.

[bowtieguy]

bowtieguy -

Congratulations :thumbup: . I like your speculations on trip changes/driving style. When I started, I was making two non-highway trips into the traffic "black hole" of Santa Monica/Westwood. Now I only make one. I am sure that has helped my average too.

CarloSW2

thank you! i don't agree w/ all that is said here(obviously), but i DO agree driver mods are w/out a doubt the greatest influence on FE.

[smay665949]

I gained 2 MPG in my 01 Impala when I switched the engine to Amsoil.

[brucepick]

Yes, city driving will drive your mpg straight down.
My normal commute is (was, but that's another story) about 60 mi. highway each way with a few miles of local roads on one end of the route. This summer I was getting about 30 mpg on that run.

37 miles city driving in Syracuse, NY got me 21.x mpg. Syracuse is actually not a very bad place to drive but I had to follow a conventional driver. Another time I topped off immediately before and after weekend driving near home to test for local driving numbers. I got similar results, about 20.5 mpg.

[bowtieguy]

I gained 2 MPG in my 01 Impala when I switched the engine to Amsoil.

fill out a garage page so we can see your #s.

[bowtieguy]

brucepick,

you are doing very well especially considering your GVW. since we both have heavy cars, i'll be watching your gas logs.

[skewbe]

DON'T TAZE ME BRO!

LOL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzkd_m4ivmc .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCZSDxA8_JA

[bowtieguy]

Skewbe,

good link, very funny, thanks. being a U of F fan(wanted to attend, but never got around to it), this is near and dear to me.

so now, florida is embarrased as the state of the hanging chad and home of taser boy. got some issues here.

wouldn't be suprised to find out someone here named their son taser boy as preoccupied w/ television as we are.

[8307c4]

I'm not one to believe most claims without some serious backup, but Acetone, if it helps, at a cost of about $5 I just got 32 ounces of Sally's Beauty Supply 99% acetone... That should be good for about 3-4 fill-ups, either I see an improvement or I don't, thou it would be nice.

As for dyno vs. synthetic, the truth of this is I run synth because it's like having anti-seize insurance on my engines, couldn't tell you what it does for mpg but I'm sure so long you're not using a thicker grade than recommended, you really can't go wrong.

I like Amsoil's claim, I just don't like the name of the company and their distribution system...
Reminds me too much of Amway, the only benefit from their oil appears to be from the ash content, unfortunately I don't have 5 or 10 engines I can abuse to see if it stands up to it, certainly not for what Amsoil costs, so I run most any brand that's on sale.

Matter of fact it will be another year before I'm full synth, I still run synth blend I found on sale 4-5 years ago... That stuff is really good too, I abuse my engines like nobody's business, and I've still got maybe 20 or 30 quarts priced around 1.89 each...

[bowtieguy]

I'm not one to believe most claims without some serious backup, but Acetone, if it helps, at a cost of about $5 I just got 32 ounces of Sally's Beauty Supply 99% acetone... That should be good for about 3-4 fill-ups, either I see an improvement or I don't, thou it would be nice.

As for dyno vs. synthetic, the truth of this is I run synth because it's like having anti-seize insurance on my engines, couldn't tell you what it does for mpg but I'm sure so long you're not using a thicker grade than recommended, you really can't go wrong.

I like Amsoil's claim, I just don't like the name of the company and their distribution system...
Reminds me too much of Amway, the only benefit from their oil appears to be from the ash content, unfortunately I don't have 5 or 10 engines I can abuse to see if it stands up to it, certainly not for what Amsoil costs, so I run most any brand that's on sale.

Matter of fact it will be another year before I'm full synth, I still run synth blend I found on sale 4-5 years ago... That stuff is really good too, I abuse my engines like nobody's business, and I've still got maybe 20 or 30 quarts priced around 1.89 each...

i understand sally's has good quality acetone, so good luck to you. i'd go
w/3oz to 10gal gas ratio. some start small(1oz), but i think 3oz is a better start. 32oz would give me ~5 tanks to test. that should be enough IF you know your before #s.

test precisely while adding NO other mods and eliminate as many variables as possible. ie drive the same route, speed, use same gas and pump, etc. also, fill out a garage and gas log so we can see your results. again, have before and after logs if possible.

[theclencher]

let's see, how many engines have i seized on cheap ol' dino oil...

oh, that's right! none!

[bowtieguy]

let's see, how many engines have i seized on cheap ol' dino oil...

oh, that's right! none!

www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2002/04/04/toyota-sludge.htm

shorter oil change intervals would have helped this issue, but a GOOD synthetic would have made it a non-issue.

[Otistheminivan]

www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2002/04/04/toyota-sludge.htm

shorter oil change intervals would have helped this issue, but a GOOD synthetic would have made it a non-issue.

I have changed a bunch of oil on these cars and I can tell you the oil is junk after 2000 miles. I dont know what they toyota did but they did a big :thumbdown: Syn helps it but its really nasty at 5,000. If I had to guess they have some engine clearence on the tight side......

John

http://www.gassavers.org/gaslog/sig.php?id=954 (http://www.gassavers.org/garage/view/954)

[Hateful]

I think the mileage gain came from merely wanting it.After a while it becomes second nature not to jump on the pedal, as I'm sure we all have done sometime in the past.I don't even like hearing neighbors roar off when I'm sitting inside the house;much less do it myself.

[bowtieguy]

clencher,

it's very simple...GOOD syn motor oil withstands extreme temps(cold or hot) better. i'm sure you realize that. however, if a vehicle doesn't have a flaw related to the oil, dino oil changed regularly CAN make a motor last quite a while. syn is just superior.
www.jdpower.com/articles/article.aspx?ID=208

Otistheminivan,

shorter intervals will HELP(not solve) this issue. the problem has something to do w/ coolant passages. toyota experimented w/ weight reduction, which basically became a poor cooling design. anyway, the oil gets cooked, which leads to sludge. syn oil has a higher "cooking" temp. not all syn are created equal, however.

[itjstagame]

WOW! Never heard of that oil sludge stuff before. V6 3.0 2002 ES300.... that's my car... I guess I should look into this. I change the oil myself and it's been perfectly fine, I've used everything from cheap dino to Rotella or Mobil 1 and anything in between. Typically we don't change the oil for 4-5k miles.

The oil is never sludgely or lumpy, just looks like used motor oil. We've got 100k miles on it. Maybe it's because we sometimes change it at 3-4k miles instead of the 5k posted in the service manual. I've never used the recommended oil though, it's a synthblend and I just do not like the concept of synth blends and feel like they could cause issues (sludge and oil seperation are my primary concerns).

Should I run some seafoam through on the next change and see if there's just sludge caked up there? Or peak in the valve cover when I do my timing belt?

[bowtieguy]

itsjstagame,

makes me wonder if your periodic use of mobile 1 kept your motor clean. some of the members here like seafoam, so give it a try. and yes, do peak under the valve cover.

if you do find sludge, i've been told to run a good syn oil like amsoil or mobile 1for ONLY 1k miles before changing it again. this will clean up the motor, but the filter may reach capacity quickly. hence the short interval.

[Mr Incredible]

bowtieguy, congrats on the increase. Life is better when sprinkled with a lot of little victories.

I think the sludge thing is more a function of engine design rather than oil brand/type. BITOG discussions of sludge monster motors show that, regardless of oils/miles, some engines are just gonna sludge up while others don't.

Short, quick cleans with Seafoam have never done my engines any obvious harm, made the oil so dirty as to be pretty obvious it cleaned SOMETHING out, but did nothing to clean varnish off of non-primary wear surfaces. And I don't think a single short run of any synthetic oil would do much to clear a real sludge buildup or varnish. It certainly hasn't in any of my engines. Continued use may help, as would short changes. But for engines with obvious and copious amounts of sludge I would recommend Auto-RX (ARX).

Two of my vehicles (the V10 SuperDuty and the LS1 Camaro) got ARX to clean them out. Both showed dark brown varnish under the valve covers. The V10 threw oil around like crazy and after 2000 miles of ARX it was all shiny and new looking under the valve cover. After the same mileage in the LS1, which doesn't throw oil at all, there was no change.

Judging by the extremely positive cleaning action in the V10 I can say that ARX is some awesome stuff and cleans well when it touches something. I'm glad I didn't use it in the LS1 first or I wouldn't have thought it did squat.

Both had Seafoam treatments and did nothing for varnish.

[Mr Incredible]

itsjstagame, you shouldn't have any concerns about synthetic blends over sludge or separation. Sludge is more a problem with short runs with long oil changes or sludge monster motors.

Separation is a non-issue. Never heard of such a thing happening at all, let alone with modern oils.

Don't get sludge and varnish mixed up. Varnish is a brown deposit rather like a vapor deposit. Sludge is black/brown goo, varying in thickness but like cold canned frosting in consistency.

[bowtieguy]

Mr. Incredible,

thanks for the 'grats.

indeed toyota's sludge issue is directly related to engine design.

i personally have no experience w/ sludge as i have been using synthetics in my cars most of my adult life. just going on what Larry Perry(the magic mechanic) has observed in his well traveled career.

[yi5hedr3]

Synthetic every 3k - the only way to fly!! :)