I'm new.... Saturn and 4Runner w/ less than stellar economy!

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by rearviewmirror

Yep.. Changed all three (Trans/Air/Coolant) at ~100k miles. I'd like to see the Saturn hit 32, I can get 30 out of it on highway trips, but since it's a short distance commuter I imagine that's why I am just getting the minimum, plus I'm not very easy on the gas pedal. I wish it was a manual trans, I know I'd be able to achieve more in that case.

The graphs come straight from the fueleconomy.gov website, I've been tracking my fuel there for 3 years, I also track fuel prices in the comments section just to see how it changes over the years. I can also tell when something is going wrong with one of the cars because the economy starts suffering.

CFG83, he has already changed it. Now you get to be hit with a wooden spoon! See my first post in this thread.

[cfg83]

lovemysan -

Originally Posted by lovemysan

CFG83, he has already changed it. Now you get to be hit with a wooden spoon! See my first post in this thread.

I'm used to that, but it's usually one of the cats hitting me with the wooden spoon when he/she want's to be fed.

Yeah, the ECTS has been changed, but is it a *brass* ECTS (needed in the long run)? I am thinking it just HAS to be the brass one, right?!?!?!?

CarloSW2

[rearviewmirror]

Originally Posted by cfg83

lovemysan -



I'm used to that, but it's usually one of the cats hitting me with the wooden spoon when he/she want's to be fed.

Yeah, the ECTS has been changed, but is it a *brass* ECTS (needed in the long run)? I am thinking it just HAS to be the brass one, right?!?!?!?

CarloSW2

Yep.. I replaced all three with the brass variety, I got them from the Saturn dealership directly after having learned the importance in the car's operation.

[rearviewmirror]

Tire Size question:

The Saturn calls for a 185/65-15, my car has 195/60-15 on it currently. Could this wider although stiffer tire cause the fuel economy to drop by 1-2 MPG? I'm just curious, if this is the case I might consider switching to some thinner LRR tires sooner than later.. Of course being hasty would incur a cost that would take a long time to recoup in saving a few MPG's.

[cfg83]

rearviewmirror -

Originally Posted by rearviewmirror

Tire Size question:

The Saturn calls for a 185/65-15, my car has 195/60-15 on it currently. Could this wider although stiffer tire cause the fuel economy to drop by 1-2 MPG? I'm just curious, if this is the case I might consider switching to some thinner LRR tires sooner than later.. Of course being hasty would incur a cost that would take a long time to recoup in saving a few MPG's.

You can see the effect here :

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
Attachment 634

From what I can tell, when your tires were new, they were probably making it appear like you were getting more MPG than you were. Why? Because the odometer would be recording more miles over time than with the stock tires.

But the above is not proof because the odometer can be off too.

Assuming you are using your odometer to figure out your MPG, you should use a GPS to get the real scoop on your MPG :

New shoes (aka tires)
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread....ighlight=shoes

Based on my calculations, I am getting a 2% bonus over my odometer. That doesn't come out to 1-2 MPG, though. It is more in the range of 1/2 to 3/4 MPG.

NOTE : You're right about the cost. Since I drive freeways that have rain grooves (imagine the road lining up with the tread on my tire), I really feel the car "wiggle" at freeway speeds. Sometimes I feel like a phonograph needle. If only my tires had good songs on them !!! Because of that, I have not taken advantage of my 51 PSI rated tires. I will probably test them at 50 PSI for fun one day, but not for a living. Except for that, , they're very good tires.

CarloSW2

[tulsa_97sr5]

Originally Posted by cfg83

rearviewmirror -

You can see the effect here :

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Assuming you are using your odometer to figure out your MPG, you should use a GPS to get the real scoop on your MPG :

hey that's a great link, thanks! I second the recommendation to test MPH with a GPS. Also tirerack lists real sizes for most of their tires, as they are often larger or smaller than the rated size indicates by a decent amount. In my case I found that my speedo/odometer read high by a few % to start with, and then my new tires were almost an inch bigger than there rating suggested, so the net effect was that my speedo was off by a rather different amount than I suspected.