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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / February 2008Improve Gas Mileage Without Damaging Your Car
Many of the gas saving devices being advertised do not work and can actually damage your vehicle. After evaluating and testing more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices, the Environmental Protection Agency hasfound only a few that improve mileage and none that do sosignificantly. The gas-saving products on the market seem to fall intoclearly defined categories. These include, but are notlimited to: air-bleed devices, vapor-bleed devices, liquidinjection devices, ignition devices, fuel line devices,mixture enhancers, internal engine modification devices,fuels and fuel additives, oils and oil additives, anddriving habit modifiers. The EPA evaluates or tests products to determine whethertheir use will result in any measurable improvement to fueleconomy. However, the EPA cannot say what effect gas-savingproducts will have on a vehicle over a long period of time.It is possible that some products may harm the car oradversely affect its performance. For example, if an "air bleed" device actually addssignificant amounts of air to the air-and-fuel mixture, itmay cause an engine to misfire, a condition which greatlyincreases the potential engine damage or mechanical failure.This is especially likely to happen on cars manufacturedbetween 1974 and 1982, because their carburetors are pre- setfor a maximum amount of air to be burned with the fuel."Air-bleed" devices will not work at all on many carsmanufactured after 1982, because these cars have "feedback"carburetors that automatically adjust the air-and-fuelmixture rendering the device useless. Many ads feature glowing testimonials by satisfiedcustomers. There are too many variables that affect fuelconsumption, such as traffic, road and weather conditions,the car's condition and overall maintenance, and the drivinghabits of the owner. In one case a consumer sent a letter to a company praisingits gas- saving product. But what was not mentioned in theadvertisement was the fact that the consumers vehicle alsohad an engine tune-up at the time the device was installed. Some advertisers claim that the gas-saving device isapproved by the Federal government. No government agencyendorses gas-saving products for cars. The seller can onlystate that the item has been tested by the EPA. If theadvertiser claims that the product has been tested by theEPA ask to see the results or contact the EPA directly. If you have already purchased a gas-saving product and youare not satisfied, contact the manufacturer and ask for arefund. An honest company offers a money-back guarantee.If you are not satisfied with the company's response,contact your local or state consumer protection agency orthe Better Business Bureau. Keeping your car in tip top condition is the best way to getthe best gas mileage your vehicle has to offer. Everyvehicle come with an owners manual. Read and follow whatthe manufacturer recommends. Three simple steps that will help improve gas mileage in allvehicles: Getting a tune-up. Checking tire pressure. Removing any excess weight from the car's trunk. For over 20 more tips and one secret hint go tohttp://www.apluswriting.net/gasmiles/gasmiles.htm http://cncarrental.cn/html/automobile/20060925/4079.html > Many of the gas saving devices being advertised do not work > and can actually damage your vehicle. > > After evaluating and testing more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices, > the Environmental Protection Agency hasfound only a few that improve > mileage and none that do sosignificantly. Actually, I have never seen any of these devices that actually increase gas mileage. Your post seems to indicate that there are some hidden fountains of economy. If you know of some, post them. If not, there is already enough bullshit to go around. <bs866806@163.com> wrote: After evaluating more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices, the EPA has found a few that improve mileage but none that do so significantly. __________________________________________________________ I have never seen any of these devices that actually increase gas mileage. Your post seems to indicate that there are some hidden fountains of economy. If you know of some, post them. _____________________________________________________ The best gas-saving device I ever found is a manifold pressure gauge mounted in the driver's view. It has been around for many years, and is often regarded to be just a novelty. The gauge needle is at the left at idle (lowest mainfold vacuum), in a red pie-shaped area of the dial. As the throttle is opened, the needle rises through a yellow zone, into a wide green zone, then into a narrow yellow zone, and finally into a wide red zone. The best mileage is realized in the green zone, and the worst mileage occurs at idle and at heavy throttle pressure. Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at never. Inexperienced drivers could benefit from the feedback of seeing a gauge tell them how their driving habits are impacting their gas mileage. I believe that all RVs should have one of these gauges as standard equipment. I have seen RV drivers pushing those heavy rigs uphill at full highway speed, pounding their transmissions and rod bearings without mercy. Driving an hour uphill at 65 mph can cause the same wear, damage and gas consumption as driving an hour on a flat highway at 105 mph. Best regards to all, Rodan. <bs866806@163.com> wrote: After evaluating more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices, the EPA has found a few that improve mileage but none that do so significantly. __________________________________________________________ "HLS" wrote: I have never seen any of these devices that actually increase gas mileage. Your post seems to indicate that there are some hidden fountains of economy. If you know of some, post them. _____________________________________________________ CORRECTION APPLIED: The best gas-saving device I ever found is a manifold pressure gauge mounted in the driver's view. It has been around for many years, and is often regarded to be just a novelty. The gauge needle is at the left at idle (HIGHEST manifold vacuum, or lowest mainfold pressure), in a red pie-shaped area of the dial. As the throttle is opened, the needle rises through a yellow zone, into a wide green zone, then into a narrow yellow zone, and finally into a wide red zone. Best mileage is realized in the green zone, and the worst mileage occurs at idle and at heavy throttle pressure. Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at never. Inexperienced drivers could benefit from the feedback of seeing a gauge tell them how their driving habits are impacting their gas mileage. I believe that all RVs should have one of these gauges as standard equipment. I have seen RV drivers pushing those heavy rigs uphill at full highway speed, pounding their transmissions and rod bearings without mercy. Driving an hour uphill at 65 mph can cause the same wear, damage and gas consumption as driving an hour on a flat highway at 105 mph. Best regards to all, Rodan. ><bs866806@163.com> wrote: >After evaluating more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices, the EPA >has found a few that improve mileage but none that do so significantly. none actually. If they did anything, the car makers would use the technology. > Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at > never. Inexperienced drivers could benefit from the feedback of > seeing a gauge tell them how their driving habits are impacting > their gas mileage. Problem is that "hard throttle pressure" is a squishy term. Optimum efficiency comes with low rpm and about half to three-quarter throttle. Do not creep away from stoplight with pressure just above idle- that wastes gas. With stick shift, shift early to keep rpm low, but hold substantial throttle opening, half to two thirds. With auto, one does not want to delay shift, but still keep a reasonable throttle opening, maybe forty to fifty percent. All of this is, of course, predicated on traffic conditions where you can accelerate as you like. Also, avoid brakes! Every BTU of heat your brakes give off comes from your fuel tank. Some people feel tailgating improves gas milage from aero effects- not true. Increased brake usage from tailgating far more than overcomes any slight aero advantage. >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > throttle. Do not creep away from stoplight with pressure just above > idle- that wastes gas. I had got the impression that open throttle (and low rpm) yielded best efficiency. Would could care to explain/reference to the half/ 3/4 throttle reasoning for best efficiency? (or are you including auto trans effects with respect to a torque converter and gear change timing?) Martijn >>> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping >>> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Martijn With due respect to the original poster, there is a fairly narrow band of conditions which yields best economy. The manifold vacuum gauge helps the driver stay within that band....but is is not,of itself, a device which improves gas mileage. For each car, there will be an optimum operating range. It is hard to say that it will come at any particular throttle opening, especially since there is considerable difference in engines, injected or carbureted. NONE of the devices tested (and sometimes quoted as having improved mileage) have ever shown statistically significant improvement in fuel economy, over the standard engine operating within specifications. The freaking magnet fraud is one of the more prevalent scams. Worthless as teats on a terrapin. >NONE of the devices tested (and sometimes quoted as having improved >mileage) have ever shown statistically significant improvement in fuel >economy, over the standard engine operating within specifications. Actually one device did: Pass Master, an A/C compressor cut-off, improved city mileage by 4% in EPA testing done several decades ago. But since it was just a simple vacuum switch, the A/C clutch would chatter at every transmission shift, which was probably why the contacts in my Pass Master burned out in a month. Sears gave me a refund, and I built my own cut-off with a 2-second turn-on delay that eliminated the chatter. There's no benefit in adding a similar device to any modern car since it has it built into the computer programming. > >>> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > >>> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > - Show quoted text - I saw an ad for this thing that uses some of water's energy properties to burn along with the gasoline in your car to increase its gas mileage efficiency. Do you think it's possible this could work? http://penguin88.water4gas.hop.clickbank.net/ > > >>> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > > >>> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > to burn along with the gasoline in your car to increase its gas > mileage efficiency. Do you think it's possible this could work?http://penguin88.water4gas.hop.clickbank.net/ The only thing energetic about water is the energy created when water itself is created. Water is VERY stable and will yield no energy itself. In order to get the energy again, you need to break it back apart, and it takes at least as much energy as was liberated in its creation. So breaking water down into hydrogen and oxygen is a losing proposition. Now, water CAN be used as an octane booster by injecting it into intake manifold. But one needs to run a higher compression ratio to take advantage of this. The bother of needing to frequently refill the water tank made these gadgets (they were popular in the fifties and early sixties) lose favor. Modern knock detectors which retard timing do much of the same thing. > >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Martijn Sure. low manifold-absolute-pressure (high vacuum) helps vaporize the fuel. Under true full throttle the MAP is nearly atmospheric and the fuel does not vaporize in the manifold as well. Thus carburetors had "power enrichening" circuits that richened the mixture at above about 70-80% throttle opening. I know TBI does the same thing. I don't know about PI but suspect that there is still some enrichening. So the best efficiency comes at the widest throttle before power enrichening. The power enrichening is a drivability thing. The engine would still run, but can miss, and throttle response is very bad with the lean mixtures that result from wide open throttle. Also, the mixture can go so lean that efficiency would actually suffer. > > >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > > >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > about PI but suspect that there is still some enrichening. So the > best efficiency comes at the widest throttle before power enrichening. This discussion is nuts. Engine efficiency doesn't mean good gas mileage. Accelerating a vehicle is like driving up hill. The faster you accelerate the steeper the hill. Now it may be true that your engine is running more efficiently when you go up a steep hill but it doesn't mean you are getting good gas mileage. Accelerating slowly requires much less energy than accelerating quickly. As a result accelerating slowly will give you better gas mileage even if your engine isn't running as efficiently. Same thing with driving fast - your engine may run more efficiently at 70 mph, but you will still get better gas mileage at 50 mph simply because it takes a lot more energy to drive at 70 mph. The only way to get excellent gas mileage is to buy a car with a very small engine. That way you can drive with the gas pedal to the floor and accelerate slowly at the same time. -jim -jim > The power enrichening is a drivability thing. The engine would still > run, but can miss, and throttle response is very bad with the lean > mixtures that result from wide open throttle. Also, the mixture can > go so lean that efficiency would actually suffer. > > > >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > > > >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > -jim No, you are confusing energy and power. The energy is the same if you use little power for a longer time, or a lot of power for a short time. It requires a certain amount of energy to accelerate a car to cruising speed, 1/2 M V^2. If the efficiency of the engine were the same at all operating conditions it would take the same exact amount of energy to reach, say, 60mph regardless of how rapidly you accerate. Yes, a smaller engine gives better gas milage because you normally operate it at a higher throttle setting than with a larger engine. However, given a certain size engine, you get better economy/ efficiency by accelerating at a higher throttle setting as long as you do not invoke power enrichening. > > > > >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > > > > >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > time. It requires a certain amount of energy to accelerate a car to > cruising speed, 1/2 M V^2. The problem is it just isn't that simple. If your theory was correct you would get better gas mileage driving on hilly roads than flat roads. After all you have your equations that prove you get back all the energy going downhill that you used going up hill. But you don't get better mileage driving up and down hills that you do driving on the flat. And you don't get better mileage driving the way you advocate - at least most cars on the road don't. It's just wishful thinking. -jim > > > > > >> Good drivers know this instinctively and drive accordingly, keeping > > > > > >> idling times at a minimum and keeping hard throttle pressure at [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] > > -jim True, I oversimplify a bit. I did not include losses in air resistance. These are actually a big factor in hilly terrain. But on level ground if you are going to be cruising for a long time compared to the time accelerating and decelerating to cruising speed the differences in aero and friction losses are inconsequential. That is NOT the case in hilly terrain. Friction (either air resistance or rolling friction) is a so-called dissipative loss- not recoverable)_. So speeding downhill to gain KE from PE doesn't work. You loose some of the energy you gain from the conversion, so driving in hilly terrain takes more energy than driving on flat terrain. >Actually, I have never seen any of these devices that actually increase gas >mileage. Your post seems to indicate that there are some hidden fountains >of economy. > >If you know of some, post them. If not, there is already enough bullshit >to go around. A lock on the gas cap to keep your neighbor's kid from siphoning your gas at night is a remarkably effective one. I had a car go from 15 mpg to nearly 25 mpg with this effective expedient. --scott  Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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