Am I the only one not hitting the mark
 

Am I the only one that's not meeting or exceeding the EPA? I've scanned a few vehicles in the Garage and everyone is at least %10 above the EPA ratings. Me on the other hand I'm 3.5% below. Granted my drive to work is only 4 miles long, so this could be a huge factor I think. I pumped up my tires from 36 to 40 and installed the scan gauge. According to the Scan Gauge I'm currently averaging 19mpg. I've been using the gauges, coasting with engine on, and turning off the vehicle at stop lights. Hopefully my future mods will bring me to at least 25mpg.

it will come trust me. just work on it every day and it will show some sighns

I don't do the engine off thing in the morning, but in the afternoon it's really hot here. SVOboy suggested that I ride a bike but I have to take a bridge over an Interstate, and there's a no pedestrian/bike sign. The only alternate route is another bridge that would take about 12 miles to get to work. I guess I'm screwed until I have a longer commute. The best I've done was 26mpg when I drove about 200 miles to Louisiana going 60mph with no AC.

I would have to agree with theclencher. If you have a safe route (read: sidewalk) that you can use, this could be the best way to get to work. Save the motor-equipped vehicle for longer trips. Riding a bike, you will be getting the best mileage of anyone. 0 gas. An added side benefit is that you will improve your health! What isn't to love??

Four miles really is too short of a distance to see good mileage from though. I doubt if there is anything you can do to significantly improve it. Keep in mind though, even at 19 mpg, you are only using approximately 2 gallons of gas per week. People with excellent mileage who drive long distances are getting just that -- excellent mileage. Overall fuel consumption for them sucks though. YOU, even with your below EPA mileage are the winner. Using less gas is the main objective. The best way to do that is to live closer to work. Most people on this board would gladly (at least I would anyway!) trade their mileage for being able to work closer to home. It makes economic AND environmental sense!!

And don't be afraid to dust off the old bike, get the tires pumped up, and get a good workout every once and a while!

popimp,

How about instead of "turning off the vehicle at stop lights" try "shift gear from D to N?" Maybe the gas you use for the engine restarts is more than the gas you're trying to save by turning the engine off. Then when the light turns green, pop the gear from N to D, wait for the transmission to naturally shift from N to D, then smoothly and slowly accelerate away?

Also you mention "coasting with engine on." Is this coasting done on the highways or streets?

I still say you should get a scooter!

4 miles? go go gadget scooter!

Don't worry, your not the only one. You can view all cars and there was quite a few... 4 miles is tough, especially since your probaly not getting on the freeway for those 4 miles.

4 miles and you're never going to warm the engine up enough to get into the good FE range. You could get an engine block heater (EBH)that might give ya about 10% but with 4 mile that a really tough commute. Keep after it you'll see results in time.

Try driving 2 miles to work in the dead of winter.... I got 17 MPG out of a 2002 Saturn SC2 that got high 30's on the freeway. Too short a distance to get the engine temp up.

But a 4 mile drive is better than 40, 50+ any day!

I'm in the same boat. I work at home and the most I drive is to pick up my son from preschool, about 2 miles away.

You can think about installing an engine block heater to get your engine warmed up before you drive. They've been shown to work wonders, especially in the winter.

My friends have a Red Grand Caravan V6 Auto with about 90k miles on it at least and I managed 29 on the highway with just the tires pumped up to 40psi. It does suck gas at idle 0.6gph as I recall so you have a loosing situation there - maybe jack up the wheels and check for bearing and brake drag would be a good start and wheel alignment too - uneven wear in the front and the rear tires. Get it parked the easy way out when the engine is warmed up so when it is cold you start and drive away. That is the first big hit you take when the engine is cold. Get it to upshift asap when cold and maybe try some Torco GP7 in the gas.

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With the caravan I'm capable of getting 20.x on even 1 mile trips. Since you don't have a lot of opportunity for tricks/getting the engine warmed up etc. the critical factor is how many stops. I don't turn the car on in my drive until I see that I won't have to sit idling at the corner.

And coasting/not coasting is as much about timing making a turn or timing cross traffic as for the direct coast benefits. The first "mistake" where I pull to a safe stop and then can't immediately continue will bring it down to 18 with a quickness, and two bad stops will make it 16.5.

Is the unsafe bridge crossing a short distance from your house? Can you park on the other side of the highway and bike from there? It'll be a shorter, crummier mpg trip, but maybe you can still save half your gas.

My wife gets baaad mileage on our Ody in her regular short trip driving. Like 17 mpg. We get 28 mpg on the freeway, though. Anyway, she doesn't drive for FE. She holds the gas until the second she switches to pressing the brake. Ugh.

Yay for scooters! Anyways, I don't remember who said it, but HELL YEAH! So your getting low MPG... DUDE YOU ARE ONLY USING 2 GALLONS A WEEK! I fill up 3 times a week, about 30 GALLONS!!!!

Try the shifting to Neutral thing too while leaving the engine running! Might work!

And seriously, if my Yamaha Riva Scooter could go the 65 miles to work, I'd ride the darn thing! It gets between 70 and 80 MPG.

Yeah the only thing I could say is wrap the exhaust up to the CAT and O2 sensors and see if you can lower the idle setting when cold - those things race like crazy when cold for no reason. Put a little GP7 in the gas and maybe some STP gas treatment and Marvel Mystery oil too. Burn less fuel and lubricate the friction will get you better gas mileage.

I coast in the city and on the interstate. While coasting and at stops I put the van in Neutral. It usually brings down the consumption to .5gph at a stop. I would consider parking my van over the bridge but Southern Mississippi isn't a place where you want to leave your vehicle unattended for too long. I doubt I have dragging brakes or an alignment problem because the van only has 2k miles. I really want to get a scooter but the wife says it's too dangerous, but she is ok with me riding a bicycle (does this make sense?) I've considered buying an EV bike kit or an EV bike but they cost about the same as a cheap used scooter.

Tell her that a scooter will be safer than a bike, better brakes, :p

You can also wear full gear on a scooter and not look crazy!

Four miles to work...what an ideal situation for a plug-in electric car...if you can get one that is fast enough. Even if you can get up to 5MPH under the speed limit, you shouldn't hold traffic up too badly in 4 miles...however, if its uphill, all bets are off. Hope you're electricity is generated by hydro or other renewable sources...let it not be coal.

4 miles? I'm guessing that's through the city.

How about human powered transportation? At least a couple of times a week. Even once a week.

What to you do? If you are in sales or have to wear a suit and can't go in all sweaty, or you work in Canadian tundra, feel free to ignore my suggestion.

But most of us (I'm the worst) could use a bit more exercise. I would give anything to have a 4 mile commute.

What helped me a bit was take out extra stuff that I'm not using. I don't need that guitar amp or my golf clubs to be in the back all the time. I'm also looking at taking off the luggage rack, which I've never used but has proven to be more tricky than I initially expected. Also, I'm looking at taking off the tow package. I have used that 2x in 3 years. Taking off the luggage rack will reduce drag, and taking off the hitch will reduce with weight about 30 lbs.

For me, it's lots of little changes.

Of course, the best thing that I did was slow down.

ma4t

dude i would just ride a bike!! and drive when its really bad out

As he's said, there is a dangerous bridge on his route...I wouldn't want to cross one of the bridges around here on a bike either!

Ugh, the TV volume. Blasting or muted. :-p

remove the 2nd and 3rd row seats for less weight. I'm not sure if that would help a bunch in the short ride. every 100lbs is 1mpg I think. and .1 faster in the 1/4 mile dragrace ;)

I'm really considering just saying screw it and riding a bike regardless of the signs. Ohh by the way I'm in the Air Force. If anyone wants to review my route on google maps the beginning address is 10480 Auto Mall Parkway
Biloxi, MS 39532 to Keesler Air Force Base, MS. If you look on the map what's killing me is crossing I-110.

Hmmm. Looks like there's no public transit across 110 either, right?

Can't tell where the base gates are.
It looks like the parkway and 110 ought to be fairly easy. Can you enter on the east and park just within the perimeter say on F street for security and avoid all the small streets on the base? Google maps tells me that's only about 2.8 miles. That saves 30% on miles and I suspect crossing the base is 25mph and full of stop signs. (?)

Or even park just outside the gate if there's a visitor lot. Saves on idling at the gatehouse. Hope things are pretty reasonable now, but I remember creeping along for 1/4 mile entering Wright Patterson for 100% ID checks after 9/11.

Yeah, on really hot days when our A/C doesn't quite keep up, we still have to lower the set point a few degrees to "make it cooler" in the house. :-)

Four miles? Bike the trip. It isn't that far, and you are allowed to bike in traffic. It's actually safer to bike in a lane than on the sidewalk or on the bike lane in my opinion. Turning cars who don't like to look for pedestrians or bikers tend to see you a little better when you're holding up traffic.

lol your on the same base my brother was on last year for training. i hear its crazy hot there.

Dude quit beating yourself up. You drive 8 miles a day. That considerable less then most here. Do the best you can with what you have. If possible try carpooling with someone else that work the same hours or public transit. If that not an options continue to do what you can to get the best out of what you got. I'm sure the Airforce would love for you to blatantly break the law or get run overed by some knuckle head talking on the cell phone. Let's keep it in prespective.

zpiloto your right. The only thing I can do is live with it or make my van more effiecient. I started my grill block yesterday. I'm gonna ask metrompg and svoboy about building wheel skirts in the future.