This is me

[chesspirate]

Hi everyone, i'm Chesspirate, don't dog the handle, i use it everywhere.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this site about a week ago and liked what i read, so i figured i'd hop on and see what i could do here.

My ride is a 1991 Chevy S-10 pickup 2wd with the 4.3L V-6 mated to an auto 4spd. It is my first and only vehicle, not to mention that it has over 286,000 miles on it. I've always been intrigued by mileage for some reason and power too, but since my rig isn't all that powerfull i don't really drive aggresively, not to mention i've always driven like an old lady (my mom says at least)

I am currently getting almost 22mpg on average with probably 80% highway driving. I have a K&N FIPK filter on top, an MSD ignition box, a different chip and i usually pump the tires 3-5psi over max. I'm also using Marvel Mystery Oil, Acetone, and an octane booster in the fuel to satisfy the chip, (darn californian 91 octane fuel).

On the other hand, my fiance has a 1987 Honda Civic sedan, four door, 1.5L 4cyl with an auto 4 (although it has a neet overdrive of fourth). Only K&N drop in filter and Marvel Mystery Oil added to gas (when i get to it, since it's not my car i don't get to baby it like mine). On a recent trip we pumped the tires 3psi above max, drove a lot of highway, drove conservatively and got just under 33mpg. I look forward to pushing that number higher, but with an Auto Tranny and my fiance driving it, we'll just have to see. Acetone testing is tough without me doing it, she doesn't want to mess around with that stuff. He car only has just over 43,000 toatl miles on it. Yes you read that right, special circumstances led to the vehicle barely being driven before we got it about a year ago with 31,000 on it.

We live a ways away from where we work so my round trip is 68 miles a day, downhill somewhat in the morning and then back uphill in the evening.

A side note is that we use Shell Gasoline almost exclusively and almost always at the same station.

Beyond all of that, i'm happy to be hear and look forward to improving both of our vehicles' efficiency.

[Matt Timion]

As I mentioned to you the best thing you can do for that civic is convert it to manual transmission. That is a tall order though, especially since it requires a bit of work and with a car that old most people would rather just buy another car than do all of that work.

If you ever do convert it to manual, you'd be best finding a CRX HF (High Fuel - honda's fuel efficient line) transmission and computer from the same time frame. I'm pretty sure that there were carbed CRX HFs in 84 and 85. if not you can also convert it to fuel injection. The parts are very abundant for such a swap in any local junkyard.

Considering the amount of work required, and considering it's not your car I would think that you'd be better off not doing it (unless you have a creative "mechanic" moment).

You might want to look into the warm air intake which is discussed on this site. you also might want to look into lighter wheels (like we talked about in private message). You can get a set of VX rims for around $200-$250 on ebay. The rims look like the rims on the blue car in this picture:



i'd also suggest getting the car tuned and clean out the engine with seafoam. You should also clean out the carb with carb cleaner.

A friend of mine managed to get 50mpg on his 83 civic in stock form. These older civics get amazingly high gas mileage when they are clean, sealed, and pampered properly.

YOur truck, however, is a different story. I'll have to think a little about that one. I think that DiamondLarry or others can help more than i can considering they have more experience and have done more legwork than I have.

[chesspirate]

I want to re-introduce myself, i've been away for a while but now that I've got a new car and it's a mileage machine this site should be a little more fun for me.

For those of you who haven't seen my other post, I'm a proud new owner of a 2007 Toyota Yaris. It is a Sedan with an Auto, and I like it! Pictures are coming shortly, murphy's law brought some dings and scratches, so i'm getting those taken care of before the "photo session".

And my first three fillups resulted in average MPG's of 35,39,38. And i'm not taking it easy on this thing at all, breaking it in (not crazy) and using A/C (it's been brutal here in San Diego.

I haven't made any mods to the car, but i'm open to suggestions, I just want to be careful with my new car. If anyone does have any suggestions, go ahead and post them (In the appropriate forums, I'll find 'em)

[95metro]

I agree with being careful with your Yaris in regards to mods. Dealerships are always looking for a way out of honoring warranties. Don't give 'em an excuse!

Driving technique will probably give you the greatest results, but the automatic has its limitations.