92 Eagle Talon
 

Hello,
I know this car does not come stock with good gas mileage. I am wondering what sort of modifications I can make to the vehicle to increase its gas mileage. I have seen a similar car which claims to get 40 mpg. Basically, I want to know "how can I do that?" I am brand new to this subject, so please take that into consideration. It is currently a stock AWD Turbo.

Thanks in advance!
Donovan

Welcome, Donovan. GasSavers has a member with a 90 Laser. Don't know how similar that may be to yours. His car is turbocharged and he beats 40 mpg regularly. I know he works hard at it. His member name is DRW and he is willing to share what he has done. You can find his posts by searching DRW.

https://www.gassavers.org/search.php?searchid=135483

Donovan -

Welcome to GS! Like CO ZX2 says, DRW is your man.

CarloSW2

Hi Donovan,
Welcome to the site! My motor is almost all original with 217k miles so far. I've replaced the oil pump, water pump, crank bearings, rod bearings, valvestem seals and springs. The head has never been off, still using original pistons+rings. I've done some mild bolt on mods which are listed in my profile.

Most of the stuff you can do to save gas is common to other cars, so take some time to browse the site and read the stickies. When I first found out about the Gas Savers website I was very happy to be getting around 34mpg. Now that I've been reading and learning about fuel economy my mileage has steadily increased for the past year. I'm sure it'll get even better in the future.

The first mods are easy. Start by pumping up your tires to at least 40psi. Read the label on the sidewall of your tires to see what the max pressure is. If you can handle the harder ride quality, try raising tire pressure to the max.

Make sure your motor is running well. Fresh sparkplugs, plug wires, and O2 sensor are always a good idea, especially if you don't know the last time they were changed. Our cars are getting older and vacuum/ boost leaks pop up unexpectedly, so do a boost leak test. If there are any leaks it will throw off the airflow sensor readings and the ecu will be out of it's sweet spot. This is something I spent a lot of time working on.

Change the oils in the transmission, transfer case, and rear diff to lightweight synthetic oil. The lighter weigh oil will have less drag, and the synthetic formula will still provide good protection. I recomend Redline Lightweight Shockproof in the rear diff and transfer case. My tranny prefers Penzoil Syncromesh or Redline MTL.

If you have the money and drive on the freeway often, consider getting a TRE 10% taller 5th gear. They cost $235, https://teamrip.com/GENUINE_FACTORY_AWD_PARTS.html
I got one for my fwd Laser about 6 years ago, so it's more than paid for itself in saving gas.

Here's a tech article I wrote showing how to save gas. There's more good info there, too. Enjoy!
www.DSMTuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254223

welcome.

Welcome indeed, what kind of mileage have you been putting down already?

Welcome with you DSM!

Welcome! I always liked your the AWD Talons and admired their perfomance (I used to live at the foot of Pike's Peak, they always did well in the climbs)

My week end car is a Galant VR-4(same engine/tranny) as DSM (Talon/Eclipse/Laser)

2 friend of mine run a Talon engine in there Colt and run 8.66@169.2MPH. on quater miles.

Talon AWD turbo and good gaz milage does'nt go together :D

transmission
 

Manual or auto?

Welcome Donovan,
I have read about auto trans, full time AWD owners pulling a fuse for the AWD
that keeps it from kicking into AWD making it FWD.
You could put a toggle switch inline and have a FWD/AWD like the newer cars have. (if your trans is auto)
I had a 95GSX five speed that got 31mpg highway driving at 70mph. I won't tell you how fast I drove to get 23mpg highway. That's part of the reason I sold the car, I liked driving it too fast.

Me too! I have a 92 GSX (AWD) turbo. I'm only getting about 22mpg. There is a guy with a '90 laser getting over 40mpg! How is that possible? If you look at his logs, he mentions lean burn mode program for the ECU. I want to find out more. There was a guy on the BA dsm list that was doing something similar.. I wonder if that's the same guy (this guy is now in florida and has a prius).

Gary

Ps if I can get 35+ mpg with this car, that would be great.

Hi Gary,
Yes, I'm also on the BADSM list. Actually it was Tom Stangle who moved to Florida and got a Prius.

The only way to get Lean Burn code is to get an eprom ecu and learn how to program chips, or have an experienced DSM'er (:wink:) burn a chip for you.

This Dave Womer?! I'm on the baDSM list too! Funny to find you here on a gas saving board..
I can't believe you're getting 44mpg on your dsm. So, can you burn me a chip? :)

I don't think I can realistically get 40+mph due to AWD. The AWD system drags down mileage/FE and trap speed in the quarter mile.
Gary

Yeah, that's me! I know it's kinda odd being on a gas saving board, but I have a long freeway commute, so I have plenty of time to think about ways to squeeze more mpg out of these cars. Sometimes life throws a curve, gotta go with it.

Sure, I could burn a chip for you. Lean Burn Code (LBC) is the trickiest part of a chip to get right. It requires that you have a unmolested MAF since LBC forces the ecu into open loop, so there's no O2 feedback to correct the A/F ratio. It's also required that your fuel trims are close to 100% and steady. It also helps if there's no boost leaks at all, since that will add unmetered air and lean out the A/F ratio by an unknown ammount.

I can add stuff onto an existing chip if you already have a modded eprom. I can PM you a list of stuff I can do if you're interested. I'd recomend you read my gas log since I have some good details there, then think about what you want on your chip and get back to me if there's any questions.

Happy Boosting!

I didn't see this part at first, it looks like you edited it out, but somehow the 'QUOTE' button saved it? Odd. Anyway, I think you're right. The fwd lightweigh Laser is a better platform for mpg, but only by a few mpg.

Dave,
What do I need in order to run the chip? The GSX is totally stock, although I plan on putting in an EVO 16G this year and perhaps a boost controller from my supra.

You just need an EPROM ECU, preferably one that's already socketed.

Is the stock 1G ECU socketed?
Gary

You have to open it to see.
Here is a link to compare with your ecu to see if it is eprom
https://www.dsmlink.com/faq-eprom.html

If you have an eprom ecu, you can have it socket it for a few buck.

Best chip to have is a DSMlink. Best upgrade ever on any of my DSM's

If your ecu are not eprom, you can have one on dsm forum, dsm trader or e-bay for about 200$

Yes, we have some DSM freaks here! LOL!

You know, I haven't been in the ECU in years. I actually opened it up and changed all the caps. I'll go in there when I get a chance.

I never had the urge to modify my DSM mainly since I had been pumping money in my Supra. The DSM was just a paint project which i ended up falling in love with and ended up keeping it. If you want to see what it looks like, check it out here:

https://www.zannel.com/viewupdate.htm?id=16FAEY6UUJ
https://www.zannel.com/viewupdate.htm?id=R9NL1NJXWP

Feel free to make comments on that list. Oh, my other car projects are
there too ( supra, typhoon, civic vx, ...).

Gary

Hey, gang.

I just signed up to this looking for a way to better my own mpg ave.

I'm also in the bay area and I've got a 135k mile '91 Galant Vr4 (426/2000). I'm getting between 22-24mpg with mostly highway and I'd love to get over 30mpg. Car is bone stock and does have dsm link. Very happy to catch this dsm filled post for sure. Good place to start other then try and keep it out of boost? I'm kinda weary of grill blocking on thses cars as the engine bay gets mighty hot at times.

Yeah, I wouldn't put a grill block on a GVR4. It might block the puny stock fmic, and it needs all the help it can get. I have a fmic on my Laser that covers the entire bumper opening, so it acts like a partial grill block. On the freeway the coolant temps hover around 203-206, I wouldn't want it to go any hotter.

See post #4 above in this thread for other tips and links to more info.

Well seeing ad your in the bay area can you recommend any good dsm shops someplace around here? I've got some work I'd like to get done (evo III manifold, etc) on it and I'm living in a condo at the moment so I have no place to do car work. These galants are kinda quirky so I'd like to take it someplace that even knows what it is. Hell the dealership was clueless.

No problem, Full Function Technologies in Hayward is the best DSM shop in the bay area. All they do is work on DSM's and Evo's. They even have an AWD dyno. It's where all the high HP guys go to get tuned. Check out www.FFtec.com