MPG Improvments needed!

ive replaced plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, o2 sensors, cleaned maf, done oil change, and none of that has helped my gas mileage

any other ideas?

buddyf87 said:

I was kind of worried that something was wrong with my mileage until reading some of these . All I have is CAI, shorties, and o/r h and I got 190 miles on my last tank (with very conservative driving) and it wasn't even bone dry . With our 15.6 gallon tank, that's about 13 mpg. I think I prob got around 15 when it was stock. They advertised around 20, so I was rather concerned when I first got the car. But that was probably also because my last car was a Civic that would get 28-32mpg no matter how I drove it. Oh well. I'm willing to pay the extra in gas to have an engine 4x as big as the Honda .

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To get a MUCH more accurate number of mpg, divide the number of miles you went on a full tank of gas, by how many gallons it ACTUALLY takes when you fill it up. We "have" a 15.6 gallon tank, but mine has NEVER taken more than 14.

best way to get the most MPG on a stang is park it, buy a beater honda, and only drive the stang on weekends. thats what I'm going to have to do real soon.

RFMustangGT said:

best way to get the most MPG on a stang is park it, buy a beater honda, and only drive the stang on weekends. thats what I'm going to have to do real soon.

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I too was thinking about buying a beater Honda to commute to work with to save money on gas.

Then I did the math and realized that it's not a sound decision economically unless you sell your current car and actually replace it with the beater.

Let's say you buy a beater Honda for between $2K and $3K. (Yea, I know, some will say that's not a beater. But, buy anytihing for less than that and you will spend another couple of grand to get it running and keep it running... brakes, tires, water pump, timing belt, yada, yada, yada... been there, done that).

Let's say that you get 1-1/2 to 2 times the gas mileage with the beater Honda compared to your Mustang, e.g. 27 mpg to 36 mpg vs 18 on your stang.

The savings in gasoline expenses end up only being about $250 to $350 per year depending on how many miles you drive each year and the cost of gas.

That means that it will take about eight to nine years of gas cost savings just to recover the initial cost of buying the car. (On the contrary, if you instead just spend that money on buying gas instead of buying a second beater car, you could buy gas for about 3 years with that same money, depending on how much you drive.)

Add to that the hidden costs of auto insurance and property taxes on the car, and the picture gets even worse.

Even with all of that said, there are still times that I think I just may do it anyway. If you could only look into a crystal ball and see how long this gas price crazyness was going to continue, it would be an easier call.

94-302-vert said:

Would soemthing like a cobra intake help the situation a bit... ????

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Looking for an excuse to mod? Theoretically I guess the intake could help with the backfiring as your motor would be flowing more air, so it would use more of that fuel, but then again who knows.

I used to get horrible gas mileage and never thought I really drove too agressively. My car was always tuned up great, I didn't know what was wrong. I used to get like 12mpg city I think. And like 14-15 straight highway. Well, it was my driving and how I shifted. Now I shift before 2,000rpms and I try to cruise at or below 1500rpms. I can get 19mpg in the city and like 24mpg all highway. Depending on how long I draw out the tank I can usually get anywhere from 250-300 out of a tank (300 is pushing it a little).

My car makes 270 rwhp with my setup, and with the 3:73 gears it averages 19.4 mpg highway mix....actually i was pretty impressed with all the crap i have done to the car....but i guess the engine mods increase efficiency also....i mean its a hell of alot faster then when i got it and i dont think my milage went down alot? anyhow i got that as a baseline before i do my turbos!

you guys must drive like a bat out of hell, my old 92 gt w/ h/c/i and gears, etc got 20+ in city only, never driven on highway

super302 said:

you guys must drive like a bat out of hell, my old 92 gt w/ h/c/i and gears, etc got 20+ in city only, never driven on highway

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Did you sell your Fox? ..... Or are you referring to a different one? Please tell me you didn't sell it....

SeventyMach1 said:

Did you sell your Fox? ..... Or are you referring to a different one? Please tell me you didn't sell it....

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hell ya i sold it