ive got an 06 lt auto (my mom has to drive it or itd be stick) with 1900 miles on it. and the mpg reading hasnt gone anywhere past 27. i hate it. i drive around the city and get 25 which is what is projected but it only goes up 2 miles when my mom is driving it on the highway to work somedays. which sux. i no there are alot of companies out there with products that say they increase mileage. but u all say lot of them dont work, so what are some options i can do get more outta my gas tank?

ive got 300 bucks to spend on the car so im up for sum suggestions.

 

get a motorcycle

 

Weird...my mom has an 06 lt auto and gets 29+ on all city driving, with the a/c blowing. I personally get maybe 27 driving her car. Maybe check the weight of your foot?

 

nah its not the weight of my foot since my friend got caught speeding 18 over in a neighborhood hes losing his drivers license for awhile. ive learned from him to not speed. i asked my mom how fast she drives it and she said she doesnt know she just drives it. so i think that has a little sumthing to do with it. and i no what can happen to me if i do take it fast. bcuz my mom said to me 1 speeding ticket and shell sell the car. so thats enough for me to take it easy.

 

SWEET your mom is a life saver and that is good to hear that you listen to her. Just get to speed and let the car glide into stops instead of keeping the gas pressed until you actually NEED to apply brakes. Also im not sure if the lt's have it but if you do reset the econ meter after each gas fill to determine accurate gas usage per tank.

When people say accelerate slowly they mean get to speed without smashing the gas and stay there. If your still pushing the gas down further and further during an acceleration you will end up staying in the same gear longer and longer until the car decides it is the right time to change gears. This means higher rpms which needs more air and more gas which lowers economy. Keep your foot position even during the acceleration so that the shifts in gears are more uniform keeping engine revs down. Also feel what the car is actually doing. When it starts churning a lil bit and doesn't feel like you are going much faster ease off the gas and the car may actually change gears anyway putting you into a lower rpm but within the next gear.

 

reset the meter every now and again too...

 

Some people were saying that when they changed their spark plugs they got a 1mpg increase but I don't remember who the plugs were made by.

 

Also getting an intake helps some. I went up about 3 mpg when I had my 2.2 and put an intake on it. Also, try resetting the DIC in between city and highway driving. It may not be reading correctly or adjusting as quickly if you go right from city driving to highway driving without resetting it

 

actually, the best ways to improve MPG without spending any "Real" money are simple and easy.

1. good oil. nice quality oils really do make a HUGE diff over the $1 a quart stuff. Synth is okay as well, but it's a lot more dollars.

2. check the air in your tires. these babies are the only thing on the road, so it's the main source of drag. i've even gone as far as to go a few PSI over normal for long highway trips... like 5 more.

3. clean the car. a rough dirty paint will cause a lot more drag than a clean waxed one.

4. use the cruise control. it's a lot more accurate than you're right foot.

5. use good gas. a quality name brand gas can be a major help.

6. reset the meter once you get on the highway and go about 10 miles and check... see what you get.

7. also, make sure that all normal things are okay. air filter etc

 

Make sure there are no large... items in the trunk.

 

Good advice joeworkstoohard.

Even if you go the speed limit, if you get to it fast by mashing the pedal, you will see poor gas milage. I find it more difficult to drive econo on an auto, but that's just me. Try not to accelerate more than 1/2 throttle. That may help.

 

are you going by the DIC fuel mileage display? Do you reset evey tank?

Try resetting just when shes going to drive it. The DIC displays an average. If you put thousands of miles on it without restting it---it would take alot of easy driving to get that average up.

 

I would definately get an intake for sure. You can find them $200 or less if you look around long enough. Change the oil to synthetic it will help and is cheap. The Irdium plugs will help you get a little more to. Here are some links

Here are the plugs
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=960&ptset=A

Intake
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AEM-C...QQcmdZViewItem

If you add these items up you are at $300. I promise you will see 2-3 MPG increase with these items.

 

i get 24-27 mpg in my cobalt ss/sc in city/highway driving...