How to maximise mpg? Any tips

[OldPhart]

Too bad it isn’t like the old days when you can just take off the 4 Barrel carb, put on a spacer and replace it with a 2 Barrel.

Hi - I may be wrong but my memory from owning a few muscle cars is that the 4 barrel carb’s primary 2 barrels are actually smaller than the 2 barrels on a 2 barrel carb. Just don’t get onto the secondaries…. Bruce

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[IPOGT]

Hi - I may be wrong but my memory from owning a few muscle cars is that the 4 barrel carb’s primary 2 barrels are actually smaller than the 2 barrels on a 2 barrel carb. Just don’t get onto the secondaries…. Bruce

In theory that would work with a spread bore carb like a quadrajet. With a square bore (Holley type), all 4 are the same.
Now the real answer is, we still replaced them. Why? Because most people couldn’t keep their foot out of the pedal..:

 

[The Demon]

They’ve dropped around here a bit.

£1.46 per L when I bought it.
£2.12 per L is the highest I got to.
£1.79 per L on it’s last fill.

That’s all based on shell v power from the same local station

WD

Not by me. The entire US is dropping except our state. Yesterday in Anaheim.

 

[Bikeman315]

In theory that would work with a spread bore carb like a quadrajet. With a square bore (Holley type), all 4 are the same.
Now the real answer is we still replaced them. Why? Because in most people couldn’t keep their foot out of the pedal..:

Sunoco 260 was $0.399. My foot was always mashed on my 66’ Fairlane GTA!

Not by me. The entire US is dropping except our state. Yesterday in Anaheim.

That is absolutely insane. And no reason for it.

At Costco today in Myrtle Beach.

 

[The Demon]

Sunoco 260 was $0.399. My foot was always mashed on my 66’ Fairlane GTA!


That is absolutely insane. And no reason for it.

At Costco today in Myrtle Beach.

Boy I wish. That is $37 difference for 13 gallons of premium. Ridiculous.

 

[sk47]

Hello; Some sensible ideas so far. Remove all excess weight is one. One of my relatives bought a four-cylinder small car from me during the gas crunch of the 1970's. He later complained the car was not getting good MPG's. I drove over to see if I could fine the reason. He was carrying around maybe 400 to 500 pounds of tools plus other stuff. Had the car squatted down with weight.

Weight reduction will be of less help on a newer Mustang as they are a bit heavy to start with. Probably will not help much to remove the back seats if you do not carry passengers. But empty all unneeded weight anyway.
Run less fuel in the tank to save weight. Be careful tho as the fuel is what keeps the gasoline pump cool. So keep a quarter of a tank at least.

I run higher tire pressures on my small car. That helps some. Trick is to rotate the tires often. If the fronts are a different size than the rear tires this may not help. Then it becomes some level of tradeoff between tire replacement costs and fuel costs.
If you are near new tire time, consider a smaller tire (more narrow). The less wide tire should have less rolling resistance. You can go back to regular tires latter. Also maybe go for a better treadwear tire. You will lose some performance capacity but if you are driving slower such will not be needed.

Drive like there is an egg under your gas pedal foot. That is an old tip. Accelerate moderately when you can. Avoid accelerating up hills. I live in a hilly area and use the hills if trying to save gas. I have a slight up grade when i leave the house. I try to wait for clear traffic to pull out. That way I can gain speed slowly until I top the hill, then I gain highway speed on the flat road.
I use to have some long grades on my commutes. A trick is to gain maybe 5MPH over the posted speed before getting to a grade. Then going up the grade very gradually ease off the gas just a bit so you are maybe 5MPH below posted speed at the top.

The mustang will run on 87 octane so use it. With slower driving the extra anti knock is not an issue.

Coast to a stop when you can. I do what the big rig drivers do if i see a red light off some distance. I start slowing down well before the light. Often the light will go green before I get to it.

Anyway, good luck. We are in a hard spot for a while. Best to do what is needed to get by. Those who make fun of trying to save gas money may not have the same situation.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Here ya go, if you're worried about MPGs - you need a Flintstang, not an S550...

 

[The Demon]

Here ya go, if you're worried about MPGs - you need a Flintstang, not an S550...

Knowing Cali they will start charging me for ruining the highways.

 

[Bikeman315]

Here ya go, if you're worried about MPGs - you need a Flintstang, not an S550...

 

[OldPhart]

In theory that would work with a spread bore carb like a quadrajet. With a square bore (Holley type), all 4 are the same.
Now the real answer is we still replaced them. Why? Because in most people couldn’t keep their foot out of the pedal..:

Thanks for the info on Holly carbs, didn’t know that. Yeah, my experience was with Rochester Product quadrajet carbs. My mechanical linkage was adjusted so that I had to have the pedal floored in order to activate the secondaries on both the 4 BBL and triples which avoided overuse - but definitely not all the time as I enjoyed hearing the tiger roar and experiencing the acceleration.

With regard to milage, if one can rely on the car’s calculation I get around 30 on the open road and my overall average is between 22 and 24 mpg. It’s at 23.4 for this year. I recently returned from a 350 mile trip and averaged 29.2. Being an old guy (80) I’m a conservative driver, but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally have fun. In my particular situation had there been an option, I would have chosen 3.55 or lower gearing as I would like to see the cruising rpm around 1200 to 1500 instead of 1750 at 60 mph. At the same time I can also understand someone wanting 4.10 gearing… Bruce

 

[vanquishvzla]

California is a joke in general…

gas here is around 3.16-3.35 per gallon… when the gas was high a full tank was like 140… now always under $100… weekly lol… 35 gal tank

 

[cocopanda]

BTW. I bought a battery assistive pedaling bike. A Specialized Turbo Levo. For around town and the trails, for fun time. I just ride my bike around when I don't need to go far. But I am in Cali. So my timeline of available bike days is really high. That's how I've fought off the gas gremlins with Cali gas prices.

 

[ice445]

I know UK gallons are a bit different, but these cars really don't do that bad all things considered. Skipping gears might help you a little, as well as upping tire pressures a bit.

 

[OldPhart]

Hi - That questionable vacuum gauge on you dashboard can be useful. Watch it and see how your acceleration can rapidly change it. Keeping that needle from fluctuating too rapidly will improve the engine’s efficiency. In all honesty it would not be enjoyable to do that regularly and you would have to be suffering from “MPG OCD” to do so. But, it can give you a better understanding of how the behavior of your foot on the gas pedal can affect your engine efficiency. Using the cruise control will reduce those fluctuations as well and benefit your mpg. It’s definitely easier to ”fagetaboutit” and just enjoy driving the car. 93 Octane gas can improve efficiency, but will cost more and might be a wash depending on the price differential… Bruce

 

[sk47]

Hi - That questionable vacuum gauge on you dashboard can be useful. Watch it and see how your acceleration can rapidly change it. Keeping that needle from fluctuating too rapidly will improve the engine’s efficiency. In all honesty it would not be enjoyable to do that regularly and you would have to be suffering from “MPG OCD” to do so. But, it can give you a better understanding of how the behavior of your foot on the gas pedal can affect your engine efficiency. Using the cruise control will reduce those fluctuations as well and benefit your mpg. It’s definitely easier to ”fagetaboutit” and just enjoy driving the car. 93 Octane gas can improve efficiency, but will cost more and might be a wash depending on the price differential… Bruce

Hello; Good point. I installed an analogue vacuum gauge on a Camaro decades ago for a similar reason. The person wanted more MPG's.

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