DIY: Get better Gas mileage

[1er junkie]

I have been abiding to these rules for a week now, and I have used half of a tank of gas, as where I would have usually used a full tank . This is nice for me, maybe you guys could use it, maybe not. If not, sorry, if so, then here you go.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ar.aspx?page=1

BTW, I strictly stuck to these rules since I filled up my tank. This is a pretty useful thread, unless you have a 135 in which case the "non aggressive" driving will be a no-go on your part, as all of you have such crazy powaaaaaaaaaaaa

[1er junkie]

Btw, dont flame, just trying to help out with gas prices so you have more to spend on mods

[m3bs]

Its all common sense, and it works. I averaged 29.7 over 100K miles with my E46 330, and I'm at 28.6 so far with the 135 (one whole tankful). BUT, I haven't completed break-in yet. I'm afraid it may take a sudden turn south when that milestone is reached.

[1er junkie]

Originally Posted by m3bs

Its all common sense, and it works. I averaged 29.7 over 100K miles with my E46 330, and I'm at 28.6 so far with the 135 (one whole tankful). BUT, I haven't completed break-in yet. I'm afraid it may take a sudden turn south when that milestone is reached.

That is why I put a disclaimer on the bottom of my first post muhahaha.

[1er junkie]

The part about parking threw me, I do it everytime now. That made a huge difference for me O.o

[Papethova]

I thought a minute of idle uses less gas than starting up

[Nixon]

Originally Posted by Papethova

I thought a minute of idle uses less gas than starting up

That's for carb'ed engines.

[amybang]

Thanks for posting that! Since my vert shows me an estimation of my MPG, I might give some of those techniques a try.

But I wonder about the parking thing - in most cases for me, the effort to find a drive-out parking space might waste more gas than it saves.

amy!

[1er junkie]

Originally Posted by amybang

Thanks for posting that! Since my vert shows me an estimation of my MPG, I might give some of those techniques a try.

But I wonder about the parking thing - in most cases for me, the effort to find a drive-out parking space might waste more gas than it saves.

amy!

Once you start looking at your mpg you see the difference. Trust the whole park thing! If it doesnt work, then dont do it, but for me following every trick so far, I've used half the gas I usually would have in a weeks time! I think maybe I just didnt care before, now its kind of addicting to see what kind of mileage I get...

[wrongprotocol]

Originally Posted by 1er junkie

I think maybe I just didnt care before, now its kind of addicting to see what kind of mileage I get...

i totally agree. what's always worked well for me is to pretend there's an egg under my gas/break pedal and i dont want to break it...as a result, your revs never pass like 2500 and your brakes never get stomped (unless of course you have to).

[1er junkie]

Originally Posted by wrongprotocol

i totally agree. what's always worked well for me is to pretend there's an egg under my gas/break pedal and i dont want to break it...as a result, your revs never pass like 2500 and your brakes never get stomped (unless of course you have to).

What is your avg mpg so far? I have mine up to 30.7 mpg avg. with an avg speed of 34 (city and hwy driving) I thought that was pretty damn impressive, but I think once I have a good oil change as my motor has hit the break in point, I could get even better!

[mjovic]

I have yet to break 18mpg on my 135. And I'm not even pushing it all that hard.....I don't get it. Maybe mine is broken. :iono:

[alexp1_tx]

Im in the same boat as you brother.

[mistermojorizin]

the first 1500 miles i followed break in. after that i started pushing my car really hard. and on top of that i commute to work and back 13 miles everyday, in LA traffic.

after breakin my average was over 22mg. After break in its been dropping and I am down to 21.1mpg.

[Sherifftruman]

I have been trying somethign similar with my MINI lately. I got so tired of people seeing me at a gas station and being all "wow, I bet that thing gets great milage" or "Man, I bet you love that car with these high prices" And having to explain that I was gettign around 21 city and 28 highway and that the best I ever got was just over 30.

So, I decided for at least one tank to see what it could really do and I have been doing my best to drive like there was an egg under the accelerator, try to really anticipate lights and coast as long as possible and keeping it below 70 (right now I drive about 18 miles each way to work a day, 6 city and 12 highway and average 26 mpg). Plus with the MINI, I have the added advantage of being able to whip through corners really fast so I do not need to slow down as much.

It has been a boring couple of weeks, but so far, it is getting much better range. It is hard to really tell as the guage travel is very non-linear, but I seem to be getting about 25% better milage or more. I will report back in a few more days.

I really don't care about the money as in the scheme of things it is not that much, but I might just try to start cutting the engie at stoplights next time just to max it out. Maybe I will go to the Prius ultramileage site for more tips. Not, it is just too boring for all the time.

[TP 135i]

The one thing that I do a little different than the recommended is when approaching a hill, I will slightly speed up on the approach (minimal throttle increase) and then allow my car to slow going up the hill (as little throttle as I can to make it up the hill without too much slow down). After cresting the hill I can speed back up with minimal throttle on the down side. Watch the "instant" gas mileage while you do this and you can see the advantage.
This, of course. only works with short length (rolling) hills.
I've had my 135 up around 25.6 mpg with this and all the other methods being used (non-interstate travel). It's SOOOOOOOOOO hard to drive that way in the 135. But it's a challenge to see how high you can get your average mpg.

[mjovic]

Tried hypermiling and got 34mpg on my way to work (all highway). Then just drove "normal" and got about 24-26mpg on highway. Spirited driving on highway gets around 20-21mpg and ballz out driving gets about 17-19mpg. Still very respectable. Seems the car is getting slightly beter gas mileage after 1K miles as was suggested on this forum. :roundel:

[ansun]

I have never bought any car for the gas mileage. Only for the fun mileage...and I at 100% fun per mile for all my cars.

[Slay0r]

in my 135i i get:

18-20 in the city
21-24 on the hwy

my avg is around 20-22 depending how good i feel

[polskamafia mjl]

I agree...I go for 100% fun per mile. Although, my volvo gets 33mpg at about 70mph soo thats a nice ballance of fun per mile and miles per gallon.

[jibaholic101]

too much of an inconvenience to follow all these rules, i just get gas when i need it and drive how i want

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by polskamafia mjl

I agree...I go for 100% fun per mile. Although, my volvo gets 33mpg at about 70mph soo thats a nice ballance of fun per mile and miles per gallon.

My 135i gets 32 MPG at 70 MPH. Even more fun per mile