I just read in Reader's Digest that some can improve gas mileage by 25% by not putting their car in reverse. This seems like an exaggeration, how can putting a car in reverse be that bad.... like 25% bad? Source: [URL] .....
View 19 RepliesI own a '90 Honda Accord and it constantly shakes, has poor acceleration and seems to use too much gas. I thought it was the catalytic converter and I installed a high flow cat. The fuel pump went out so I had that replaced. It shakes less since replacing the cat but I still see the gas gauge go down too low when I press on the gas and the car will stall and stop as I get to "E" when normally I was able to drive many miles past "E". Any guesses? I'm wondering if I need to replace the fuel pressure regulator.
View 6 RepliesI have a 1996 Geo Prizm, with about 126K miles. I bought it last May, at around 120,000 miles and had no problems with it until recently, other than some minor issues with the power steering in November. In November, it started making a squeaking or grinding noise whenever I went around a sharp turn. It turned out that the power steering fluid was slightly low, so I added more and that was the end of that problem. But I also found out that the previous owner had put the wrong kind of power steering fluid in. Starting about 2 weeks ago, the car started making a squeaking or squealing noise. There would be no squeaking when I started the car, but then it would start when I turned. It is only audible when the engine is idling, and I'm not sure if it is squealing at other times, too.
I figured it was probably one of the belts, probably the power steering belt. However, I checked it and it seemed to be tight enough and did not appear cracked or glazed. A friend of mine who knows much more about cars than I do also checked the power steering, alternator, and A/C compressor pumps for me, and he said they seemed fine. About the same time the squeaking started, I noticed the car seemed to be burning a lot more fuel than usual. I have filled up the gas tank twice since then. Typically, throughout this winter, the car has gotten 33-36 miles per gallon. But on the last tank, it only got 25 MPG and it got 29 MPG on the tank before that. There has been no change in my driving habits to explain this. The engine also sounds slightly rough when it is idling, almost like a diesel engine, but no louder than the car usually sounds. My friend who checked the belts listened to it when it was idling, and he thought he heard a slight knocking sound, which I heard too.
I noticed no decline in performance: the car accelerates just as quickly as ever, and performs the way it always has. The power steering seems to function just fine, despite the squeaking. I thought that perhaps there was something wrong with the timing belt, and that might explain both the squeaking and the increased fuel burn. But I looked online at a few websites, and it sounds like timing belts usually don't show any symptoms when they are wearing out, they usually just fail without much warning. Also, when I bought the car, the previous owner said the timing belt was replaced at around 90K, so it should be fine for a while. I am at a loss as to what might be wrong with the car. I wonder if the squeaking and the increased fuel burn are caused by the same problem, or if there might be separate problems causing each.
A question during the show this week (1/22/2011) was whether it used more gasoline to idle in gear or in neutral with an automatic transmission. The answer was it makes little difference. I contend the engine uses more fuel idling in neutral. The reason is the increased level of partial vacuum within the intake manifold means more air and fuel will be drawn into the engine. When the vehicle is in gear, the engine idles slower, less vacuum, less fuel used.
View 8 RepliesEvery time I turn the car on, the "from start" fuel economy reading resets to 15l/100k. After driving for a while it goes down to 4l/100k but then resets back to 15 once the car is turned off. Is there any way to get it to stay at what it finished at?
View 11 RepliesWhile most of the emphasis I've seen on improving fuel economy seems to focus on warming the car up quickly in cool/cold weather, I seem to be experiencing significant mpg drops at the other end of the spectrum.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2008 prius. Usually it gets me around 52-55mpg, I've had it since January. Since a couple of days ago its not giving me anything above 49. I know thats a normal number, but considering the fact that its usually quite a bit higher I'm wondering what the cause of the drop is. Also around the same time, when I pull out of my driveway I notice what appears to be a bit of water leakage. Its under the vehicle in the front center, and it only happens when I start the car for the day and pull out of my driveway (its on an incline).
View 4 RepliesI am wondering about how fast to accelerate for maximizing fuel economy. I understand with the P&G approach that you don't want to get up to speed too slowly. The question is whether it really is more efficient to go ahead and get up to speed or stay within the ECO guidelines? In particular, I find that getting up to highway speed especially that it can take quite a while to get up to 70 mph without having it going into the power range. It seems like it is better to get up to speed and then back off to go to the high efficiency mode.
View 16 RepliesSo, my 2005 Gen II Prius went for a scheduled service on Wednesday, 70k miles, Toyota main dealer. They called and said it needed new front brake pads and disks, I was surprised but gave the go ahead. There would occasionally have been a mild squealing sound from the brakes at very low speed so I accepted the pads might need replacing, I was surprised the disks needed replacing but it hard to argue about brakes, especially as I only have the car a year (I'm the second owner and it has a full Toyota service history). It had a "major" service, new spark plugs, new front brake pads and disks.
Since collecting it I've noticed that the engine seems to kick in more often and needs higher revs. The fuel consumption seems higher, normally mid 50's MPG (imperial gallon) now 35MPG. However it hasn't been driven many miles since its been serviced so its a low distance for calculating MPG. I've also noticed that the car seems to slow more quickly without applying the brakes, a regularly driven hill that I coast down at 48kph now only gives 35kph. Also, if I drive on a flat road for a mile or 2 and coast to a stop the front brake disks feel VERY hot, way too hot to touch, drivers side more so that passenger side.
When I go out to do errands around town (I live right in town) I get horrendous gas mileage. Now, I understand gas mileage is high at the beginning of a trip, but for this long and this high and under these circumstances? I'm getting ABOVE 10l/100km when I have 80% charge available (for americans, that's disgustingly high MPG like, pick-up truck high), AND my foot is completely off the gas. Literally, coasting, or braking, and I'm still sucking up gas. What the heck?
Is this just because it takes a certain amount of time for the engine to run no matter what or something? I still don't see any reason for me to be eating up all that gas when my foot isn't even on the gas AND most importantly, I have charge available. Feels pointless for me to use my car for what I use it for 70% of the time, which is for quick errands around town at low speeds. Thought the prius was suppose to be a superstar for this kind of thing.
What is the hourly fuel consumption for a Toyota Prius at idle? Purpose is keep cabin warm for 8 hours. Would this damage engine?
View 10 RepliesWondering what could cause an increase in fuel economy. My GTI has been running at 29 +/- MPG since the day I bought it, but no higher than 30. I took it out for a ride on Sunday after I changed the front brakes Saturday. The dash tells me it's running at 34. So I filled it up and manually clocked it on a 50 mile trip. I refilled at the exact same pump - just to remove any error. And what I calculated is that the computer is right.
There is no loss of power. However, I've been fighting intermittent misfires on cyl #1 and #2. the misfire on #1 has all but gone away after finding out the coil wasn't sitting right and the spark had loosened up. I've tracked #2 down to either the injector or carbon. I'll be taking care of that next weekend.
I have the 3.6 and it has been great on fuel economy up until last week. I was averaging about 26mpg and getting near 20 mpg around town. Now my fuel economy has dropped to 15mpg city and 25mpg highway putting the overall MPG down to around 20. What happened? Did I get a bad tank of fuel or is it time for new spark plugs? The car has 34k on it; and when I checked the plugs at 28k they looked like new and gapped to within .002 of the spec.
View 13 RepliesI have a 2013 Prius V and my mpg averaged about 43. Now after about 13,000 miles it has gone down some to more like 41-42 and even 39. Once on a mostly highway trip it was down to about 34. Last summer it got 51 mpg in Colorado!
How to get better mileage. I once heard about a feathering technique with the accelerator but I don't know if I understand it.
I have a 92 Dodge Spirit 2.5L non turbo. I have been getting horrible fuel mileage. Around 17. I have given it a full tune up, including replaced the distributor and hall effect sensor. Why my fuel economy is shot?
View 3 RepliesCurious? Looking for if the generation 4 Prius' has less road noise and better acceleration?
My generation 3 is quite noisy inside.
I have a 2002 Saab 9-5 sedan with a manual 5-speed transmission. It runs like a champ until recently. I've been having a lot of difficulty shifting into reverse. I've taken off the gaitor and looked down into the shifter to make sure everything is ok - looking for broken plastic, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. Clutch fluid is full. It all of a sudden started doing this. The car shifts through all 5 forward gears with no issues. I can eventually get it into reverse if I'm patient enought and other times it goes right in with out issue. Any clues? A saab dealer says its the transmission, but I'm not so sure.
View 4 RepliesHave not purchased a Prius yet as I have a TDI awaiting results of the lawsuit. I am wondering over the last week or so, Vegas has been really hot. Just wondering how the new battery and the MPG is holding up in the Vegas heat.
View 19 RepliesOk, so I was already getting pretty bad fuel economy from my 3.6 4motion wagon (14/24 city/highway). so last week I take it in to the dealer for 5k oil service. now after the service I get 10/18 (city/highway)!!!!
Car seems to run fine, but for some reason the fuel economy has dropped significantly. Most people on here say they get better economy after the 5k service.
Now the car is at the dealer for a few days for them to check it out. Gave me a old hyundai for a loaner.
So, I had a catback Magnaflow exhaust put on my Tiguan a while back and ever since then my mileage has gone from a steady 28 highway to 15!!! its a crazy loss in fuel, and I brought it to the shop and they said there is nothing they can find....
My first thoughts are that the turbo is under boosting because of the amount of carbon build up on the exhaust tips....
I have an '06 Subaru Forester (4 cyl, automatic) with about 97,000 miles on it. For the past 5 years I've had the car, it's been getting roughly 26-28 mpg on average. Within the past 3-4 months, though, the fuel economy has dramatically decreased. Now, I'm lucky if I get 21 mpg. (I used to be able to get almost 350 miles per tank, and now if I make it to 275 I'm jumping for joy!)
I took my car to the shop for the 90K service, and they didn't change the fuel filter as a part of that service. (They did replace the coolant, replace oil & filter, replace spark plugs, replace differential fluid front & rear, replace brake fluid, replace auto transaxle fluid, and then they did a bunch of inspections on belts, hoses, brakes, etc.)
I took the car back to the shop after this service so they could change the fuel filter, and they told me that because of the type of fuel filter I have, it should last the lifetime of the car. This sounded a little fishy to me, so is this true?