Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Want to know how to get more out of your Beretta? Or have a mod you would like to share?
DOHC_tuner
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by DOHC_tuner »

Weight reduction will help a lot plus will help with acceleration.

I’m in the process of this. Lightweight hood is next.

I hope US body still sells them.

Lexan windows soon on the list with gutted doors.


Cam2363
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Re: RE: Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

DOHC_tuner wrote:Weight reduction will help a lot plus will help with acceleration.

I’m in the process of this. Lightweight hood is next.

I hope US body still sells them.

Lexan windows soon on the list with gutted doors.
Sounds expensive. I'm waiting to see how this goes when I have to fuel up again.

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DOHC_tuner
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by DOHC_tuner »

The hood is, but the other stuff I plan to do myself with the help of youtube...lol

Im still in the planning phase....so I might not go through with it...and just not invest anymore on this car....but its such a fun car to drive.


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ifixalot
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by ifixalot »

RE: Rettax3
"2 MPG is NOT typical results either, but I wouldn't argue about what YOU know and have experienced either, so awesome that you have found a way to increase efficiency that much with such a simple change. :good: What is the actual MPG you get now with the synthetic? How much does it change summer vs winter?"

That 2 mpg increase was in the 92, 3.1 Beretta GT I owned years ago. As I recall, in winter, I was getting about 14 mpg on my low slow drive to work in winter. I decided to try the synthetic and after, I got 16 mpg. Now maybe some of that was from weather being a bit warmer who knows. I switched all my cars over and I think in my mini van, I saw an increase in highway mpg up from 24 to 25 mpg. But, that was years ago that I checked mileage.
I don't have that 92 anymore. I still have the mini van but I haven't checked mileage in a long time. Since I retired, I don't drive all that much and so I don't spend as much on gas so I guess I don't worry about it so much anymore.


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Rettax3
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Rettax3 »

I get where you are coming from on that, I don't drive as much as I used to either. Cost of gas is what it is -I shop around for better prices, I drive (mostly) respectfully, and I don't drive my '73 Plymouth often (which somehow gets 5 MPG worse than my 'old' Plymouth with the big block :search: -in fact, at 13.5, that is my WORST car, EVER). Mostly, I track my MPG still so I know if something is going wrong with the car that I am not feeling otherwise. That is really good MPG on your van -is that still the Lumina, or am I thinking of something totally off? My Mopar mini-van is only getting about 19 MPG now, but it hasn't been tuned-up yet either. The one I had with the bigger engine (3.3 vs 3.0) got 21+ highway IIRC, and 18 in town, then it eventually dropped to 16-18 mixed driving after it passed 200k miles. It was better equipped too, so weighed a bit more, maybe 50-100 pounds or so.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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ifixalot
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by ifixalot »

If your gas mileage is the best it can be, shop for cheaper gas.
In case you all don't know, Sam's club has lower prices on gas for members. Usually about 25-30 cents a gallon cheaper around me.
So does Costco.
Also, if you have a Woodman's grocery store in your area, they sell gas cheaper than most and you don't need to be a member but
if you shop at their store for groceries, they will discount gas even more based on how much you spend on groceries.
Gas being over $3 again in most places, I filled up at Sam's for $2.88 last week. I saw $3.14 at most stations afterward.
Yep Retta, I still have the 94 Lumina mini van. I seem to get pretty good mileage. I look ahead when driving if I see traffic slow down,
I back off the gas early. I brake gently knowing that braking is dissipating heat that I just burned gas to produce. I don't speed, I just go a little
over the limit to keep people off my ass. But I routinely see people driving 15 mph over the limit and I roll up next to them at the light. So how far
did they get and how is there gas mileage having to hit the brakes when the light turned. Our little Saturn is the gas mileage champ getting 37 mpg
on the highway.


Cam2363
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

ifixalot wrote:If your gas mileage is the best it can be, shop for cheaper gas.
In case you all don't know, Sam's club has lower prices on gas for members. Usually about 25-30 cents a gallon cheaper around me.
So does Costco.
Also, if you have a Woodman's grocery store in your area, they sell gas cheaper than most and you don't need to be a member but
if you shop at their store for groceries, they will discount gas even more based on how much you spend on groceries.
Gas being over $3 again in most places, I filled up at Sam's for $2.88 last week. I saw $3.14 at most stations afterward.
Yep Retta, I still have the 94 Lumina mini van. I seem to get pretty good mileage. I look ahead when driving if I see traffic slow down,
I back off the gas early. I brake gently knowing that braking is dissipating heat that I just burned gas to produce. I don't speed, I just go a little
over the limit to keep people off my ass. But I routinely see people driving 15 mph over the limit and I roll up next to them at the light. So how far
did they get and how is there gas mileage having to hit the brakes when the light turned. Our little Saturn is the gas mileage champ getting 37 mpg
on the highway.
I do have a Costco right by me, its just a pain as my parents have the cards, and I normally get gas when I'm out. I live in PA so we have WEIS markets and the Weis gas and go's which is where I go as I work at Weis, so it's very convenient to just drive like 100 feet to get gas. But Costco definitely does have cheaper gas, but I know I can get better MPGs. I just hit 16, and so far this tank seems to be doing well too. We will just have to wait and see!


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Rettax3
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Rettax3 »

ifixalot wrote:If your gas mileage is the best it can be, shop for cheaper gas.
In case you all don't know, Sam's club has lower prices on gas for members. Usually about 25-30 cents a gallon cheaper around me.
So does Costco.
Also, if you have a Woodman's grocery store in your area, they sell gas cheaper than most and you don't need to be a member but
if you shop at their store for groceries, they will discount gas even more based on how much you spend on groceries.
Gas being over $3 again in most places, I filled up at Sam's for $2.88 last week. I saw $3.14 at most stations afterward.
Yep Retta, I still have the 94 Lumina mini van. I seem to get pretty good mileage. I look ahead when driving if I see traffic slow down,
I back off the gas early. I brake gently knowing that braking is dissipating heat that I just burned gas to produce. I don't speed, I just go a little
over the limit to keep people off my ass. But I routinely see people driving 15 mph over the limit and I roll up next to them at the light. So how far
did they get and how is there gas mileage having to hit the brakes when the light turned. Our little Saturn is the gas mileage champ getting 37 mpg
on the highway.
:wink: You drive like me -it must be an age-thing for us. I don't know, I always looked for the more efficient approach when I was younger too, so maybe it is a 'brought-up in a certain era'-thing. :) There are a lot of stations that haave gone back to the cheaper price for cash vs credit again too -I feel like I am back in the eighties. The members-only club-store discounts usually make it about the same price, but with the convenience of using a card, which is nice for tracking actual fuel expenditures for budgets.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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woody90gtz
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by woody90gtz »

I got 14.3 on my last tank...ouch! But that's the tank that sat over the whole winter with some warmups and lifter tick checks.

Still better than the 7-8mpg I get with my truck in the winter, or the 12ish I get in the summer. Haha


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
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Cam2363
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Re: RE: Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

woody90gtz wrote:I got 14.3 on my last tank...ouch! But that's the tank that sat over the whole winter with some warmups and lifter tick checks.

Still better than the 7-8mpg I get with my truck in the winter, or the 12ish I get in the summer. Haha
Sounds like most of my tanks during the winter[emoji23]. If I got like even close to 15 I was happy.

I'm gonna fill up today, I normally wait more but I have a little drive to go on, so I dont wanna run out. I'm currently at like 190 but have an 8th of a tank. Which normally I'm down around the line by now so this is definetly good!

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Cam2363
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

I got 15.09 today. Not happy at all considering thats a 1.1mpg decrease.

It kind of makes sense, as I went for an hour and a half joyride the other day with the windows down on mostly back roads.


Cam2363
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

Ok. Im excited. I got 17MPG today which is a new record. I think it was because I did about 30 miles highway on this tank, so I think my poor MPG is due to mostly shorter trips around. Nothing more than 10 miles at a time normally.


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woody90gtz
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by woody90gtz »

That makes a huge difference. I only get 16-18 most tanks to work and around town. But straight highway it's 26-30mpg.


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
Cam2363
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Cam2363 »

woody90gtz wrote:That makes a huge difference. I only get 16-18 most tanks to work and around town. But straight highway it's 26-30mpg.
Alright. So im getting about what I should which is good to know.


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Rettax3
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Re: Any easy, cheaper ways to increase MPG?

Post by Rettax3 »

It takes me ten miles just to get out of my neighborhood... :D Yeah, short trips are hard on an engine, and MPG. I still think you should be seeing better than you've been getting (remember that Woody's engine isn't stock -lots of top-end work, cammed, etc), but with the summer fuel mix coming in, it looks like you are getting something a little better. :good:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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