I've been hearing that there are certain mods that will improve fuel economy on the Cobalt. I'm very interested in this. So:

What type of modifications are available?
Where can they be purchased?
Generally, how much will they cost to purchase and have installed?
How effective are they?
To what degree will they hinder performance?

Lower the car - increase both fuel economy and performance. :twothumbs

Intakes, exhausts, lighter weight wheels, and getting tuned!

Now these mods do improve gas milage and performance, the problem comes is it's so much fun with these mods most people won't see the milage improvements becauset they are having fun with it! :)

anything that improves airflow will improge mileage, if you are easy on the right foot.

Put a block under the gas pedal.

low rolling resistance tires....

Removing the highrise spoiler.

there are the standard ways to save gas, drive slower, keep your speed (stop less), check your PSI in your tires, remove the "junk in the trunk", don't run A/C unless you HAVE to, keep windows up or crack them when driving, etc. etc. Then there are the "frog hairs" and extremes, getting a thinner oil, narrow tires, replace glass, carbon fiber bits, lighter wheels, lowering, tape the joints of the car/make it slicker, keep the car clean and smooth, ECU work, intake and exhaust, etc. etc.

Underbody lights! and debadge!









Yes i'm kidding! lol

reduce pumping loss, reduce friction

done

Make sure your tires are properly inflated.... I checked mine a few weeks ago, added some air and it made a bit of a difference.

Put a block under the gas pedal.

Troof.

Take a poop before driving. Good for 1 MPG.

pretty much any after market bolt on mod is gonna increase your MPG

but like said in a previous post just dont step on it when you get your mod or you wont notice the difference

and you can also go with lighter wheels

Lower the car - increase both fuel economy and performance. :twothumbs

does lowering the car really help the MPG??

does lowering the car really help the MPG??

in theory, not sure how effective it is in real life

I am a classic example of this, In the City I cant get better then 24MPG and on the highway I get 36.7 at 90KM/H for 3 hours and 35.2 at 110KM/H for 3 hours

2.4L G5 GT

Weight reduction, in any car regardless of displacement size reducing weight can have big gains as far as MPG

Lowering the car should improve aerodynamics but how much without a wind tunnel you really cant be sure. On SS/SCs getting rid of the foot high ricer wing seems to help also

Im getting 37.6 at 70-80mph and I could still get lighter wheels further tuning and exhaust as well as lowering so theres room for further gain

The most cost efficient modification is your right foot. Stay between 2.5-3k on the RPMs and avoid putting gas pedal more than 70% to the floor.

true ^

The most cost efficient modification is your right foot. Stay between 2.5-3k on the RPMs and avoid putting gas pedal more than 70% to the floor.

I disagree. I drive on base all the time at about...25mph and usually stay in that range, and I've noticed that my actual gas milage is crappy. I believe the best milage is just about 3k, of course, on the high way though.

I disagree. I drive on base all the time at about...25mph and usually stay in that range, and I've noticed that my actual gas milage is crappy. I believe the best milage is just about 3k, of course, on the high way though.

Well, naturally your best mileage is going to be in high gear. You'll never get very good mileage at 25mph. Probably the optimal speed is in the 50 to 60mph range. I was on vacation in the Adirondacks last week and went about 300 miles at around 55 to 60mph. Based on mileage and how much gas I put in the tank at the next fill-up, I got 44mpg.

lowest engine speed in highest gear w/o lugging engine = best MPG (in most all cases)

Last weekend I went from Houston,Tx. to Baton Rouge, La. at about 65mph and got 40mpg. No real mods, just inflated tires to sidewall pressure. Oh, and I don't have cruise control either. Going to put underbody panels on and block front upper grill, and see how that does since I have to go back again , this weekend or next.
Also currently looking into other Fuel economy forums to get ideas for better mpg.

take off outside mirrors and replace with tall vette style mirros, take off windshield wipers, tape up foglight holes, get rid of wing on back, lower car, lightweight everything, do all bolt ons, and get a great tune, light weight fully synthetic oil. then learn how to drive easy youll get over 40mpg in the city and closer to 50mpg on the highway.

i am stock weight stock height with bigger injectors than stock and a bunch of boltons i get 36mpg in the city and 41 highway my avg from ct to boston. but i am easy on the gas

huh so in theory going stage 2 would bump up my MPG? Right now im at stage 1 and drive as crazy as before (maybe a lil less) and im getting a good 4mpg higher on bad days

On a SC, stay out of boost!

low rolling resistance tires....

How much? and Where?

Inflate tires to max sidewall pressure? That is a VERY bad idea...

I had seen in an ealier post in this topic that you should turn off your ac to save on gas. That is half true and I would like to point this out for everyone's benefit. on a hot day you are either gonna roll the window down or turn on your A/C... especially you guys down south. Now rolling down the window helps while you are moving and not while you are waiting at the stop sign or red light. I read (and it has been proven, I just don't know where) that keeping your windows open up to 40 MPH is more efficient when trying to save gas. After 40 MPH you should use your A/C cause at that point the drag faced from moving becomes more of a gas user then using the A/C.... Sorry I don't have a reference to prove this statement. But I hope this help a few of us out.

I too have read that ^.

I read 2 or 3 articles a while back that said under 50mph windows down is more efficient. Over 50mph, turn on the air.

I wish I'd have kept those articles bookmarked!!!!

mythbusters

mythbusters


Yeah those guys are amazing.... I loved it when they blew up the dump truck, and the otehr time when they tried to create the "brown noise" :lol:

I've been hearing that there are certain mods that will improve fuel economy on the Cobalt. I'm very interested in this. So:

What type of modifications are available?
Where can they be purchased?
Generally, how much will they cost to purchase and have installed?
How effective are they?
To what degree will they hinder performance?


Cheapest way to improve fuel economy is weight reduction. Start stripping out the fluff.

Last weekend I went from Houston,Tx. to Baton Rouge, La. at about 65mph and got 40mpg. No real mods, just inflated tires to sidewall pressure. Oh, and I don't have cruise control either. Going to put underbody panels on and block front upper grill, and see how that does since I have to go back again , this weekend or next.
Also currently looking into other Fuel economy forums to get ideas for better mpg.

Um...what?

Checkout gassavers.org, and cleanmpg.com. They have some interesting ways to help mpg. And most have been tested to great extent.

Drive down hill :)

Intake, full exhaust... make sure your tires are inflated properly, dont carry a lot of shit in your car. Lowering the car for less drag.

on a drive home from seaside i averaged 46.3 mpg on the highway. no cruise control, avg 60 mph. all i have is intake, eibach sportlines, and 205/40/17 nitto's

Well, naturally your best mileage is going to be in high gear. You'll never get very good mileage at 25mph. Probably the optimal speed is in the 50 to 60mph range. I was on vacation in the Adirondacks last week and went about 300 miles at around 55 to 60mph. Based on mileage and how much gas I put in the tank at the next fill-up, I got 44mpg.


so basically the lowest RPM in 5th gear.
With a Vector tune + intake, I get an average of 8L/100km (~30MPG) when doing about 85% city + 15% highway

One more tip:

Use your cruise control as much as possible, the ECM leans out the A/F ratio a bit

I had seen in an ealier post in this topic that you should turn off your ac to save on gas. That is half true and I would like to point this out for everyone's benefit. on a hot day you are either gonna roll the window down or turn on your A/C... especially you guys down south. Now rolling down the window helps while you are moving and not while you are waiting at the stop sign or red light. I read (and it has been proven, I just don't know where) that keeping your windows open up to 40 MPH is more efficient when trying to save gas. After 40 MPH you should use your A/C cause at that point the drag faced from moving becomes more of a gas user then using the A/C.... Sorry I don't have a reference to prove this statement. But I hope this help a few of us out.

I saw tests that have been performed on this. If you are swetting and need some fresh air:

Under 60 km/h (~35 mph), put your windows down
Over 60 km/h (~35 mph), turn the AC on

You will maximize your efficiency that way. Of course the best is to sweat your ass off and drive with your windows up and AC off :)

i need help to get better mpg for my car ? any performance parts that can help? igot a 2008 cobalt ls coupe red

lowest engine speed in highest gear w/o lugging engine = best MPG (in most all cases)

That's what I always do.

Intake, full exhaust... make sure your tires are inflated properly, dont carry a lot of shit in your car. Lowering the car for less drag.

I usually inflate each tire to 35. Should I inflate them to 33 instead since the psi goes up like 2 when you start driving from cold tires?


One more tip:

Use your cruise control as much as possible, the ECM leans out the A/F ratio a bit


QFT! I've seen a great difference in MPG between using CC and not using it.

i need help to get better mpg for my car ? any performance parts that can help? igot a 2008 cobalt ls coupe red

Read this thread. They were stated many times. ;)

Take a dump before getting in the car...

Seriously though, get the Trifecta tuning.
People are getting serious gains in fuel mileage.

It is $300 for the tune, but with gas still being $3 a gallon and knowing after the election it will dart back up, it is definitely worth it.

on a drive home from seaside i averaged 46.3 mpg on the highway. no cruise control, avg 60 mph. all i have is intake, eibach sportlines, and 205/40/17 nitto's


I hope you read your tire size wrong. 205/40/17 are less about 23.5" tall. TINY....small rolling dimater = High rpms!! My TC tires are 25" tall and I wish they would have put something that was 25.5" or so

If you have a SC it seems like people are getiing better mileage with the stage 2.

Without a wind tunnel you won't know if lowering the car will help or not.

Plus it depends on your average driving speed.

If 80% of your driving is city, it probably won't help.

If it's 80% highway, it might help.

When you lower the car you decrease the amount of air that flows under the car. That, i.e., puts more down force on the car. This increases the theoretical "weight" of the car.

If you were to lift the car, the increase in air flow under the car decreases the "weight" of the car by lifting it off the ground.

This is what it means when drivers will tell the crew chief the car feels loose or tight.
It's not as easy as blindly saying lowering the car increases MPG.

Take advantage of the direct fuel cutoff feature and coast whenever possible to slow down.

Lowering a vehicle does NOT produce downforce. It increases aerodynamics by reducing the vehicles total swept area. You don't need a wind tunnel to prove this, although that will help determine the *actual* benefit, as it will vary by car. Either way, it's not really significant. If you were to lower your car just to save gas, you'd probably never save enough to even pay for the springs. But obviously there are other benefits.

I usually inflate each tire to 35. Should I inflate them to 33 instead since the psi goes up like 2 when you start driving from cold tires?


If you dont have a problem with the ride quality, feel free to keep the tires at 35 cold. Just be aware that at that pressure depending on tire width/design youre likely to wear out the center of the tire before the shoulders unless you drive4 aggressively.

Take advantage of the direct fuel cutoff feature and coast whenever possible to slow down.

OMFG, can we seriously get off the DFCO kick??? PLEASE? Its been around since like the beginning of time on GM efi and I never used to hear it get mentioned until recently, and mostly on this site. Also its : DECELERATION fuel cut off. And as far as coast to slowdown....well thats what your supposed to do

Oh, and even if you dont have DFCO, coasting to a stop/slow down saves fuel anyway. I am gonna pop a cap in the @ss of the next perswon who whips out DFCO like its some new technology or new invention here to save us from high fuel costs

Think of it this way, every time you use your brakes you waste fuel.

If you use your brakes that means your taking your cars kinetic energy(motion) and turning it into heat with the brakes. You had to burn gas to create heat and motion in the engine to get the car going though....
If you coast, youll lose speed lower, which means your fuel moved you farther....isnt that the definition of fuel mileage??

Fuel economy... it's mostly in the tuning.
GM tunes for extreme safety of the motor with the average driver, in the average climate, and the average elevation... Remember.. they have to warranty these cars.

Biggest contradiction of 2008 ->
Yes for change... but yes on 102, 1, 8, and 2.
Apparently some prejudice decisions are okay.


Ugh, don't remind me! :cry:

I used to put my car in neutral and coast to a stop but I just read in Car and Driver "10 best myths about fuel econmy" or something like that and they say to keep the car in gear (automatics) and that will give you better fuel economy according to GM and Toyota engineers.

I had seen in an ealier post in this topic that you should turn off your ac to save on gas. That is half true and I would like to point this out for everyone's benefit. on a hot day you are either gonna roll the window down or turn on your A/C... especially you guys down south. Now rolling down the window helps while you are moving and not while you are waiting at the stop sign or red light. I read (and it has been proven, I just don't know where) that keeping your windows open up to 40 MPH is more efficient when trying to save gas. After 40 MPH you should use your A/C cause at that point the drag faced from moving becomes more of a gas user then using the A/C.... Sorry I don't have a reference to prove this statement. But I hope this help a few of us out.

its more like around 50 i took a physics class with a crazy prof. and we were watching wind resistance and after 45 and before 50 roll 'em up!!

Last weekend I went from Houston,Tx. to Baton Rouge, La. at about 65mph and got 40mpg. No real mods, just inflated tires to sidewall pressure. Oh, and I don't have cruise control either. Going to put underbody panels on and block front upper grill, and see how that does since I have to go back again , this weekend or next.
Also currently looking into other Fuel economy forums to get ideas for better mpg.

Go to any Tire Manufacturers web site for information on the pressure and weight data that is on the sidewall of a tire. It IS NOT the recommended pressure setting that the tire is to be inflated to. Tires should be inflated to the recommended pressure that the vehicle manufacturer has posted on the label, usually near the drivers door or in the Owners Manual. This is the COLD tire pressure.

on a drive home from seaside i averaged 46.3 mpg on the highway. no cruise control, avg 60 mph. all i have is intake, eibach sportlines, and 205/40/17 nitto's

Those are seriously the smallest tires I've ever heard of on a Cobalt :lol: I've got 225/45-17 and they are only slightly larger than stock by 3/4" yours are smaller than stock by 3/4" Your DIC will tell you that you're getting better gas mileage than you really. Be sure to keep than in mind. Your tires are revving 27 more times per mile than stock height tires.

:bye:

do messing with my impala rental i found its DIC has an instant fuel economy along with the regular fuel economy (forgot what its called) going down hill shows 99mpg in drive and from 99 to 91-95 in neutral

Take advantage of the direct fuel cutoff feature and coast whenever possible to slow down.

:lol::lol:

Best thing for fuel economy is a low pressure turbo and proper tuning..

not a mod rather maintenance

clean that MAF every 10,000 ish...can improve MPG 1 or 2 depending on how dirty it gets it can be more

not a mod rather maintenance

clean that MAF every 10,000 ish...can improve MPG 1 or 2 depending on how dirty it gets it can be more

The mass air flow sensor is located in the intake correct? how do you go about cleaning it? I've never had it out, is it metal, glass, or screened like a PCV? Sorry for the unenlightened post :bye: Honest question though.

when i dropped my subs in I lost 8 mpg

120 lbs not including amps.

=[

no way... ive added way more weight then that and i dont think its been that much of a loss

So, who are you people? Are you driving Chevy Cobalts? I have an '07 SS Sedan (2.4l unboosted) and I get 24MPG average on a good day. This is 45mph on sideroads and being very gentle, including a 2 mile stretch I coast in neutral the entire way. Highway only, with no traffic is 24.5MPG, best case. Driving city 25mph average, with a lot of stop-and-go, I'll see about 23.5MPG.

So, where do I buy one of the cars you guys are driving, or do you all just add 20MPG to your numbers like civic drivers add 2' wings to their trunks to make them go faster?

So, who are you people? Are you driving Chevy Cobalts? I have an '07 SS Sedan (2.4l unboosted) and I get 24MPG average on a good day. This is 45mph on sideroads and being very gentle, including a 2 mile stretch I coast in neutral the entire way. Highway only, with no traffic is 24.5MPG, best case. Driving city 25mph average, with a lot of stop-and-go, I'll see about 23.5MPG.

So, where do I buy one of the cars you guys are driving, or do you all just add 20MPG to your numbers like civic drivers add 2' wings to their trunks to make them go faster?

How many miles have you put on your car. You should be getting high 20s and low 30s average. in a 2.4

Try cleaning your MAF and TB. Do a tune up and stuff.

So, who are you people? Are you driving Chevy Cobalts? I have an '07 SS Sedan (2.4l unboosted) and I get 24MPG average on a good day. This is 45mph on sideroads and being very gentle, including a 2 mile stretch I coast in neutral the entire way. Highway only, with no traffic is 24.5MPG, best case. Driving city 25mph average, with a lot of stop-and-go, I'll see about 23.5MPG.

So, where do I buy one of the cars you guys are driving, or do you all just add 20MPG to your numbers like civic drivers add 2' wings to their trunks to make them go faster?

ya seriously i have a g5 gt w/ the 2.4 and it's a 2008 w/ 11k miles on it. i have the K&N typhoon intake and my tires are inflated right. if i drive 65 on the highway i'll get MAYBE 31 but usually 29 or 30 MPG. in the city it's a lot of stop and go and when i do take it easy i'll get like 22-24 mpg at best. how are some of yall getting 40+ thats insane i want a super MPG car like that. o an di run premium grade gas in my car.

How many miles have you put on your car. You should be getting high 20s and low 30s average. in a 2.4

Try cleaning your MAF and TB. Do a tune up and stuff.

40K miles. Have a fresh, clean air filter, otherwise no mods. I'll clean the MAF and TB, that is always a good idea, but the mileage has been the same for 38K of the 40K (it sucked the first couple thousand as the engine was still tight). I got 19MPG on my first tank...

Check your right shoe...someone musta filled it with lead :)

Serious, I average 32-33 with my 2.4 5 speed (15% city 85% highway), 37-38 on long highway runs at 60 - 65 mph. 75 mph drops it to low 30's.

i might give it really gas once or twice to pass someone like when i go back and forth from houston to austin. my last trip i avg'd 28.9 and i was going pretty steady 70-75 the whole time. maybe gave it gas once if at all.

take public transportation... i dont think anyone said that yet

Put a block under the gas pedal.
hahaha so true

how does everyone get such good gas mialage lol i get like 19-21 on the freeway???? i dont stomp on it or rape it ( most the time)... i drive a redline if that makes a diffrence. i dont get it

What type of modifications are available? Bicycle Mod
Where can they be purchased? Walmart
Generally, how much will they cost to purchase and have installed? At the most $150
How effective are they? 100%
To what degree will they hinder performance? None, since you will increase your stamina, and the more you ride the stronger you get.

LOL sorry i had to...

stickers...lots and lots of stickers... u could also cut a hole in the floor and flintstone ur car ..that works too

lol flinstoning the car down hill ftw

I stripped down my whole car so there is nothing inside but the bare essentials to drive. I also went on a diet, losing about 100 pounds, dropping me to about 80 pounds. Overall I think it was worth the 3 mpg difference and I encourage others to do the same

lighter weight rims and tires

I stripped down my whole car so there is nothing inside but the bare essentials to drive. I also went on a diet, losing about 100 pounds, dropping me to about 80 pounds. Overall I think it was worth the 3 mpg difference and I encourage others to do the same

lol id probably love it too but im going to opposite direction:thumbsdow

take public transportation... i dont think anyone said that yet

Ya for sure this is the best mod for gas mileage,I did it before I got my car brought down to me and didn even have to puill into a Gas station for a whole month!!!!