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Monday, July 5, 2010

Anyone know ways to get better fuel economy from cars?

I have an 04 TL and am wondering how to get better miles to a gallon. Any help is appreciated. Thanx in advance
One of the best ways to optimize mileage is to keep up with vehicle maintenance. Key ideas are to maintain are tire pressure, tire balance, and proper oil weight and level.



And dont waste gas by accelerating up to red lights and stop signs.



Dont let your car idle excessively. Drive as if you have no brakes. Drive slowly, take your foot off the gas as soon as you see it turn red. Try not to have to stop, but still me moving when it goes to green.



Putting the lowest weight oil in your car helps it work more efficiently. This makes it easier to pump oil through the engine, and the engine moves against itself easier.



Avoid cruise control on hill climbs. Rather than maintaining a precise speed during a hill climb by adding progressively more acceleration, maintain a steady throttle position and allow the vehicle to slow slightly during the climb, then let gravity accelerate the car back up to speed on the descent. Doing so will keep the engine in a more efficient RPM on the climb, and reduce energy wasted braking on the descent at the same average speed. To avoid slowing too much on the climb, it may help to gain extra speed as you approach the climb.



Avoiding jackrabbit starts and keeping speed at a minimum are all useful in this regard. When accelerating, the engine should be kept in the peak of the torque curve. A slow acceleration is less efficient.



Air-conditioning loads, usually a few horsepower, can have a significant impact on mileage. When parking in the sun, a reflective visor across the windshield will reduce solar heating, if possible park with the windshield facing the sun. When initially entering a hot vehicle, open the doors for a moment to vent the hot air to escape, or drive with the windows down to clear the hot air before turning the AC on. Run in Recirc mode to keep the cool air in the vehicle longer. Cycling the AC on and off at key points also makes a difference: Turn the AC off while climbing hills and accelerating, run it at a moderate temperature setting on flat stretches, and run it on maximum setting during hill descents -- this will use energy that might otherwise be expended braking to cool the car down.



If ambient temperatures are not unreasonably hot, rolling the windows down is more efficient than AC at speeds below 50 miles per hour. At slow speeds, drag from completely open windows is small compared to AC load. At faster speeds, open windows just slightly to allow circulation, without significant resistance from drag. On many vehicles, opening the driver

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