no_mo_tires

well I bought my cobalt about a month ago , and I am averaging about 22mpg's is what the dash says, anyone else getting this? I thought I would get at least a little better mileage in this car , are there anyways to increase gas mileage? like a CAI?

Blue_Balt

iTrader: (1)

This thread has been done a million times.

I'm getting around 22 myself.

D4u2s0t

ease up on the right foot. i get almost 40mpg on the highway at about 80mph. if the car is brand new, it will take some time for the mileage to go up as well. but when i had my 2.2 i got well over 30 on the highway.

Blue_Balt

iTrader: (1)

My mileage is all city. There is a bit a traffic when I'm going to work.

SI FTL

I'm averaging 29.1MPG city/Highway.. (Says the comp anyway lol)

Fresh

hm, your mpg seems a little low for city driving even. a cai would boost you up a couple mpg's though, anywhere from 3 to 5 mpg is a guesstimate. keep your tires at the proper inflation, use premium gas, gas additives. just do a google search there are all kinds of little things that most people aren't aware of that should be practiced regularly. i'm getting about 34 to 36mpg in mine. mostly hwy tho.

no_mo_tires

see and I dont know if 180 dollar CAI is worth 2-3 mpg's you know? I want to at least get 29-30 in town , because my town is kind of small but I drive on the highway 20% of the time. ... is there any CAI or any mod this is known to give at least 5 mpgs?

Fresh

well, once your car gets broken in and you get some miles on it then i bet you'll see that mpg go up. short jonts back n forth to town will kill it though.

no_mo_tires

also , this is off topic but I am new to driving a stick this is my first .... and I learned on it , but in 1st gear sometimes I ride the clutch a little and my GF drives a stick too and when she rides with me and we go to mcdonallds I will ride the clutch a bit because I just wanna scoot up to the next car(at the drive-thru) , she says its bad on the tranny and Im like how the **** do I not make it do thaT? I cant just let off the clutch or it will die , I usually just let it out about halfway and give a little gas to scoot up and she says she hears the clutch and shes allways like "don't do that! " and I am not all super cocky or whatever like shut up hoe I know how to drive a stick , I am new to this and I love it I just dont wanna hurt my car

originaladrian

when i try to save gas i can get over 35 MPG when i dont i get abt 26.

before i took it to the dealer and had my car reflashed i was getting ~20 MPG... might want to try and take it to the dealer and tell them about it.

no_mo_tires

re-flashed? well that would make me mad b/c It only has 950 miles on it , I work at a dealer so that would be easy I guess but what was wrong with your car why did it have to get reflashed? and how many miles were on yourS?

D4u2s0t

even still. coast in gear more, accelerate less. i got about 29 mpg driving through new york and long island memorial day weekend. and you don't get any more traffic than that in our area.

originaladrian

this was at my last service, actually the last one before my warranty was up. i told them to do everything. i had my AC compressor replaced, front fuse box replaced, coil pack replaced and the ECU re flash. i was getting really shitty gas millage from when i bought my car new up until that point.

should hve had my damn window motors looked at 2... there gone...

no_mo_tires

I don't want my **** to get fucked up by a reflash , this can't cause any problems can it? also how long does it take b/c I am at work and could get it done while im working because work at a dealership.

D4u2s0t

here's the thing. if you get an extra 3 mpg, this is a free gallon of gas at every fillup. if you fill up twice a week, that's abut 8 dollars or so a week, or 32 a month. so basically, in about 6 months or less, the cai pays for itself, and then you start saving money.

let the clutch up slowy, with NO gas, untill the car starts to move on it's own. that is the "engage" point. this is where you want to give the car gas, and let the clutch up. i'm usually off the clutch completely by 1,000 rpm's. in normal driving, you should not be giving any gas untill the clutch is engaged, and you want to get off the clutch as soon as possible.

finding the engage point and getting there quickly will no doubt take some practice. but afte ra while, you just do it naturally, don't burn the clutch at all, and get going more smoothly. it will make you an all aroudn better manual driver. too many people that "know" what they're doing will rev the gas, THEN let out the clutch. and that's not the right way to do it.

no_mo_tires

thank you , I appreciate your help man! also does it use more gas to coast in neutral because I do that alot... and when I do around a corner I throw it in neutral and then into second/3rd usually .... sometimes in 2nd if I am at 10mph the car will seem to catch .... like it goes uber slow and acts like its gonna die....

Fresh

spot on w/the point about the cai.
good tip on driving. lots of peeps do pull the flutter trick. basically tapping the gas ever so slightly while releasing the clutch. that really isn't needed in cars these days. seriously though, our clutch only needs to be depressed about 1/2". when i shift i barely push the clutch in at all.

OP - once you get first gear down it's time to move to steep hills

neutral rpm's waaaayyy lower than if you're in gear so no it won't use more gas it will save. doing the around the corner trick is fine as long as you dont' cause the car to jerk causing added stress to the tranny etc.

D4u2s0t

you should never, ever be coasting in neutral. yes, it uses more gas while in neutral, and it's not safe. there's no GOOD reason to ever take the car out of gear when you're moving.

giong around a corner, if you have to slow down, you should downshift and rev match. going from neutral to gear while moving like you do is hard on your synchros and clutch. if your tranny could cry, this would certainly make it do so

if you need some more help, or have specific questions, feel free to pm me. majority of the people on this site don't know how to drive properly, but will swear up and down they do, so it's hard to get some good info.

Blue_Balt

iTrader: (1)

Well, my right foot does get heavy at times.......

I do rev match downshift, I just got be easier on the throttle.

D4u2s0t

see, this is what i'm talking about. this is 100% wrong. i don't want to get into why it's wrong again, but coasting in neutral uses more gas than coasting in gear, regardless of rpms. dfco. and also, saying that taking the car out of gear while driving is "fine", is NOT fine. never be out of gear while the car is moving.

read some of my previous posts for some pretty detailed explanations. allycat has some great posts on the topic as well, and so does anomolous.

StraussiE WousiE

28 City with a/c on 30 w/o. 34 highway with a/co 36-37 sometimes 40 without.

BMC2U

Stock I was getting 35 average on the freeway. If I kept it below 65 for long stretches I could see it showing 37 mpg. City has been about 28-29 driving lightly. I have a grab and stab (auto). When I installed my wheels and tires this weekend, the highway mpg dropped to 30 and city has dropped to 25. Bummer.

schamsy

Mine says I'm getting 48 mpg.

99silver

why is being out of gear while moving bad again, i do it all the time in my car, i dont get that your tranny isnt that smart.

Blue_Balt

iTrader: (1)

When you're out of gear while moving you can't do **** in an emergency where you would need to accelerate to avoid hitting something. You use more gas since the engine can't be turned by the wheels at lower Rpms.