Hey guys I recently came to realize my car isn't fast at all,and I'm starting to feel like my car's gas mileage is pretty poor also. I was wondering if there were any mods that would boost gas mileage, im not worried about power just gas mileage, also i was thinking about throwing in the 3.4 would this help gas mileage because you would be putting a bigger engine in our somewhat of a boat car and would be easier for it to tow it around or would it decrease, any ideas would be great
thanks
Mitchell
PS i used the search button didnt find much.

 

A low milage 3.4 (or less milage engine that doesnt weight more)
Good TRUE air intake system
Cat-back
power crank pully
msd coil/8mm+ wires/brass cap/rotor
clean injectors
proper alignment
proper tire inflation
weight reduction
better tunned ecm/chip
inside vac guage to teach people how to drive

 

3.4 is a good idea. I was gonna swap in a 3.4, Instead i went with a v8, i drove it today for the first time. Used 1/2 of a 1/4 tank driving around 2 blocks twice

 

The factory tune is about the best setup for fuel economy unless your into burning custom proms. I'd suggest a full tune up (TomP tune up) and work from there. Filling your engine, axle and transmission with synthetic oils will also helps with fuel economy but not a noticeable amount. A EGR valve that works properly will help alot if your driving at constant speeds. A fresh O2 sensor (non bosh) will help. A plugged up exhaust system wont help much with power or economy. Also carbon buildup in the engine will reduce power and economy. CSK sells a Berrymen top end engine cleaning kit for $25 well worth the investment since the cleaning can setup could be saved for future use.

 

I have an MSD 6A, blaster coil, 8.5 wires, underdrive crank pulley, homemade intake, tranny cooler, good alignment, 30 lbs in the tires, highflow cat, 2.5 I pipe with 2.5 dynomax muffler,synthetic bearing grease (only in the front at the moment) and synthetic oil.

Right now i'm getting about 340 miles to a tank. I forgot to do the math today to get the actual mpg.

It should improve more soon as i fix the exhaust manifold leak, install roller rockers, isolate the air filter from the hot engine bay air, get new 8.5 wires, put synthetic in the tranny, rear diff, and rear bearings, get the headers with the Ypipe, get a new egr and maybe a tps (just in case) and just plain replace my 170K 2.8 with a 3.4.

And maybe a fiberglass hood and rear window (they make those don't they?) That would be like 400lbs

 

thats crazy you get 340 miles to a tank!?! i only get about 200 out of my 89 2.8l camaro. how is that possible i thought they both have the same size gas tank. and 15.5 gallons is the capacity. when my fuel gauge is at empty maybe i have a lot more miles i can drive but i dont think so. i just did the math 340 miles with a 15.5 gallon tank is 21.9 miles per gallon, 200 miles is only 12.9 mpg. now im upset help me out

 

i drive the car hard. does that have anythign to do with it? i hope not.

 

yes, driving the car hard is your main problem then. Getting the vac guage and going by it will net you the best mpg/per dollar. It will make driving boring, but whats your main concern?

I fill up at about 200-240 miles to a tank, and ranges anywhere from 9-12 gallons a fill up, 100% town driving. I know my gas guage is wrong, so I dont go by it.

 

my main concern isnt gas mileage if it was i wouldve gotten a toyota prius or a civic hybrid. ugh so ugly... but yeah ill just have to live with bad gas mileage.. what else could improve my mpg? new air filters? one of those engine cleaning gasoline additives?

 

Good TRUE air intake system
Cat-back
power crank pully
msd coil/8mm+ wires/brass cap/rotor
clean injectors
proper alignment
proper tire inflation
weight reduction
better tunned ecm/chip
inside vac guage to teach people how to drive

Ok got a few questions about the mods, Im in the process of doing tomps tune up, i still need to put 1 more spark plug in it, hard to get to, and the fuel pump and the transmission filter. My car only has 65k on it so im guessing i should stick with it for awhile before i put a 3.4 in it. I'm not sure what a msd coil/8mm is or how to get clean injectors, do i use some type of cleaner or something??? also my car has really bad allignment ive put like 2k miles on these new tires of mine and the inside of the left tire is already warn almost all the way down so thats getting done this week so that might be some of my problem. Also a better tuned ecm/chip what exactly is that do i have to make my own? And how much is an inside vac gauge and how hard is one to put in cause i would like to have one to teach me how to drive cause im only 18 and i think i may like to accelerate alittle too quickly.

I have an MSD 6A, blaster coil, 8.5 wires, underdrive crank pulley, homemade intake, tranny cooler, good alignment, 30 lbs in the tires, highflow cat, 2.5 I pipe with 2.5 dynomax muffler,synthetic bearing grease (only in the front at the moment) and synthetic oil.

what are the 8.5 wires in this and how much and how hard is an underdrive crank pulley. is a tranny cooler helpful in MPG and is it expensive. and with the synthetic bearing grease and synthetic oil what exactly is that, like a lube job or what??? Ive not been into cars very long and im learning so any help would be great thanks.
Mitchell

 

The 89'ish 2.8 air intake is the best for our cars. I adapted one to fit on my 3.1.

Msd spark coil (replaces the stock one)and is a more powerful spark, and helps burn whats in the chamber

Spark Plug Wires, they rate them in diameter..... 7,8,8.8,10,10.5 etc. Bigger isnt necessarly "better", its what they are made out of! Most 8mm+ is what you want. Anything under that which is "over the counter" is made from cheap stuff. Put them on with a cap/rotor that has brass terminals, not aluminum.

Injectors, you have to pull them out and mail them in to a company. Cost 11 bux an injector. cruiseinperformance.com?? (tomp, help me out here) is the suggested place.

A chip is something not everyone can do, and is expensive. Atleast 100 bux. Although this could net you the best mpg, I suggest you do it last. Takes a very trained person, and many attmepts to get it right.

Vac guage is cheap, and fairly easy to install. summitracing sells them, and if you look at the dial, it will say "poor, average, ok, good" etc. Thats the kind you are looking for! Pop a hole thru the firewall, find a place to mount it, hook a t in the vac line, and run a vac line. Very easy!!

Crank pully is fairly easy. The very lowest pully on your engine, it becomes smaller. 5 bolts, 1 might require an impact. If you plan to install lots of stereo equipment, dont do this one. Will require different belt length. (BTW, I have pully forsale)

Not sure a tranny cooler gets you more mpg, but it will make your tranny last longer. Heat is its devil! Cost depends on brand and size.

synthetic fluids have been dyno tested to net you more efficentcy and hp. My personal opinion is synthetic in rear axle, tranny, breaks, and any other fluid that isnt used as much as engine oil, swap it over. I just cant seem to justify spending the extra money on oil that will be pulled out in a month. Again, my personal opinion.

 

btw, heres my site...

:edited:

If you have any questions, ask away. If you search my user name WAY back, I had some of the same questions, its my time to return the favor.

 

Nice pictures dale. For some reason i thought you were older.

 

Thanks on pics
I am older, I just look young.

The 3 0 is knocking really close

 

dont feel to bad about getting 200 per tank i only get about 140 , but then i have come to the conclusion that my car sucks in the city, on the highway i can get it a little over 200, i think my guage is a little messed up to, sometimes it goes down to fast , i turn car off and let it set and when i start it up again it goes right back up...iv learned to ignore my guage and just look at my mileage, i know if i fill my tank up and im close to 130 i need to get gas soon

 

Hey i bought some wires and a new distributor cap and rotor a couple of months ago but i dont know what size the wires are or if the dist cap is brass or alum is there anyway to figure that out?
Mitchell

 

something to consider too when calculating mpg it's best to top off your tank, then when it gets down a ways, refill it and record how many gallons it takes to top it off again. Then divide the number of miles you drove by the number of gallons you put in. It'll be much more accurate than going by the amount the tank holds. Also the type of area one does most of his driving will affect all the outcome. I dont do as much city driving as others.

I did the math back when i was averaging 310 a tank and got about 25mpg. I did it several times and always got about the same.

I got the msd superconductor wires, they're a little spendy. About $80 a set, and you have to crimp the ends yourself.

The crank pulley is easy. When i put it on though i found out the belt # the instructions said to buy wasn't the right belt. I had to put the old pulley back on and drive back to the store, put the new pulley on again, and kept trying out different belts until I found a size that fit (ya gotta love serpentine belts) and bought it

BAD ALIGNMENT will hurt your fuel efficiency also

Synthetic oil is $4-5 a quart, so it's considerably more expensive. But once you put it in you can't go back to regular oil I've heard.

New air filters also helps and I've used some injector cleaner, tried a brand recently that is supposed to be good, and i think it helped ever so slightly. But I'd still like to send them off and have them cleanded and flow-matched

Just look at the color of the points on the cap

Wish i only had 65k on my engine. Mines going on 170k. Kinda tempted to see just how long it'll last before I put in a 3.4, but I would also like to just hurry up and do it.

 

odds are the wires are "over the counter" 7mm made with carbon fiber.

Cap is 50/50. Pull one of the wires off and look at the terminal color. Silver is aluminum, "gold" is brass. Don't go replacing them now if their new, wait tell they are worn, then replace with better.

 

I get 250 miles per tank in town.

1. Tire size. I run 205s.
2. Air pressure.
3. Alignment.
4. Keep the car waxed.
5. Keep the car tuned.

Firebirds have a definite aerodynamic advantage. I am going to install headlight covers and reinstall my stock RS grille and see what that does to the mpg. I wonder if lowering the car will improve mileage?

 

I was looking at the headlight thing today. But I'm wondering how a clear piece of plexiglass would look

 

I have seen some with smoke covers. Clear plastic would allow for night use. I think that a complete aftermarket headlight assembly that follows the original contours of the headlight bucket would be a big seller.

 

Another vote for TomPs tune-up here.

 

2.73 gears
synthetic fluids
5 speed
bigger tires?
use cruise control
tomp tunup
make sure all emmissions equipment is operating
clean injectors

 

I can't speak for everyone, but after doing quite a few ignition mods it greatly helped my mpg along with intake mod and catback. Tune-up always good idea along with synthetic fluids and feather foot on gas.

I currently get 300 miles on a tank in city and 400 miles on hiway, but I do not drive like speed racer.

 

a few other things that might help out

a higher temp thermostat
running hotter intake charges might help fuel efficiency also but then again might hurt them not sure on that can see both points there

bump the timing a tad

also heard that when accelerating from as top a little faster can get you a little better gas mileage again not sure on this one and again can see both points

run the air at the inflation pressure recomended

cut weight is a big one

syn fluids will help I would say

see if you can bump up the compression ratio a tad by either using a smaller gasket/milling heads/ flat top style pistons

porting the intake/valves for efficiency rather then power
have seen some results where porting the intake and exhuast ports can help increase both power and fuel economy even though they might only remove 2cc or less
it is they make it to where it flows a lot more efficient by reshaping rather then real porting to make larger


full exhuast should help being it reduces pumping loss from the stock cat/mufflers/exhuast manifold

intake filter might help a little but the filter genearlly poses VERY little restriction on the intake unless it is clogged

a system that will cause more negative crank case perssure should help out a litle also

new o2 sensor is a good one


SAFC with a wideband for tuning will help you out also by allowing you to lean out the mixture a little more in the lower end and might even help out with power unless you want to go with chip tuning chip tuning though woudl prolly be a better option though just stating this one thinking my car which has a chip that isn't tunable as far as I know

if I come up with anythign else will let you know

 

I thought V6's got better mileage than that, I get 21.3 with my L98.

Guess I'll stick with looking for 4 bangers for mileage.

 

Yeah nothing saves gas like a 4 banger, although the downside is lack of power