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.