newby , can you help my Neon ?
 

I drive a long way to work each day. My Dodge Neon gets an average of 29 mpg. I know it can do better ! I have a wife and 2 kids and need to save some money somehow. Any ideas.

Hi, welcome.

Need more info: auto or manual trans?

Describe your typical commute (length, speed, terrain).

Do you know your car's EPA city/hwy/combined ratings?

My commute is 45 miles of highway at 65 mph. I have an auto tranny (2.0 SOHC 4 cyl.) engine and an epa rating of 29 city and 33 highway. I would like to help the FE any way I could. It stays tuned up and tires inflated and all the usual fuel economy helpers. I do not drive aggresive. I am 31 years old. I'm past that. I don't even mind losing horses as long as FE is better.

Drop your highway speed down to 55mph. If there are any steep downhill inclines, allow the car to coast in N with the engine on as long as it's safe to do so and you don't exceed the speed limit. When putting it back into drive, rev the engine a bit so engine speed matches transmission speed (for me ~1500rpm@50mph) and there's less wear on your clutch packs. When you can, drop your cruising speed down to the slowest you can go in top gear.

What pressure? Most folks here are running maximum sidewall pressure (at least) for reduced rolling resistance.

I agree with omg, if your driving is all freeway, slowing down is the surest way to improve mpg. Drafting is another, but I don't like it because of the problem with forward visibility & anticipating safety issues.

Learn to DWL on hills if possible.

Definitely maximize the amount of time you coast, and minimize use of the brakes (try to coast to stops in neutral if possible). This forces you to only use as much fuel as necessary before slowing for a stop (instead of converting gasoline into heat & brake dust).

A comprehensive driving tutorial is linked in this thread: Excellent CleanMPG article on driving technique

What year is your car? If it's 96 or newer, getting a ScanGauge for instant & trip MPG feedback will pay for itself many times over if you're serious about this.

badgett,
Welcome! Is your Neon a 2000 or newer? If so, there isn't a whole lot that can be done besides slowing down. I had a '00 Neon with auto and about 35 mpg was the most I could squeeze out of it on the highway. In 2000 they lowered the final drive gearing so the car would have better get up and go.:(

Yup slow down to 55

Welcome Badget: It appears to me as if you have some diametrically opposed challenge's. "I have a wife and 2 kids and need to save some money somehow." I'm not very confident you can have a wife and 2 kids, as well as save money somehow. However, I think you'll find their are a number of people on this site who can empathize with your circumstance.

I acquired a 89 Honda Civic Wagon about a year ago, largely because I was getting very exasperated with having to visit the gas station. The Wagon was a fair choice, for me because when I need to take someone, or more than one someone, I can still do it and get fairly decent mileage.

One thing you can do, which will help a bit, is run your tires at a pressure higher than the max on the sidewall. When I boosted mine to 55 lbs I was really surprised at how much farther it would roll, compared to prior. It gives a little harsher ride, but I've been running them their for about 6 months and I haven't seen any other adverse issues, besides the ride.

Their are other things you can do, but if you can swing it, you should get something like a Honda VX, where you can get more like 45-50 mpg. Best of Luck:o

Since your commute is all highway start on the aero mods. They can be done rather inexpensively and will help out quite a bit.

Duct tape the grill. Seems to be the single Biggest improvemnt for my vehicle. Second would be the way I am driving now. Slower and more steady speed.

[QUOTE]
What year is your car? If it's 96 or newer, getting a ScanGauge for instant & trip MPG feedback will pay for itself many times over if you're serious about this.[QUOTE]

I agree, the scan gauge is my best mileage improver. tire pressure too! its free!
I know some people here don't think much of acetone but, some neon owners claim big mileage increases using it.

My car is a 2000 model. 3 speed auto. (no overdrive:( )I will defenitly hit the gas station this afternoon and bump up the air pressure in the tires. Also try some aero mods. What about cutting off injectors. Running on 2 cylinders. Will running on 2 cylinders hurt my engine? I know I have to find the right 2 to keep balance. On the highway , 2 cylinders should be enough power to keep me cruising.

Please post some pics of the car, that will allow everyone to suggest aero mods !

hope the attachment works. This isn't my car but the silver is easier to see.

Great, thanks. Good to see other people not working either. Here are some options. Front and rear wheel spoilers. Remove passenger side mirror. Partial grill block. Cover the top inches of the rear wheel openings (or get thinner tyres and cover the whole rear wheel openings). Put on moon disks.
Remove fog lights (weight reduction, and do you ever use them?).

For the rest, the car has quite good aerodynamics already.

what about unplugging a couple of the injectors ? Cylinder activation ?

See this thread: https://www.gassavers.org/showthread....t=deactivation

Disconnecting 2 injectors is just going to make it run worse. If your stuck with the 3 speed automatic, without overdrive and without a lockup torque convertor, I'd recommend finding a way to replace it with something that has a 5 speed stick, or at least a overdrive, lockup torque convertor on the transmission. With what you have, it's going to be pretty tought, IMO, for you to see any improvement, of much significance.

The big challenge it sounds like you have is the car is running at a higher rpm than it really needs to and you don't have any direct coupling to the wheel's.

All of the aero suggestions are worth trying, they don't cost hardly anything, or anything if you use cardboard and duct tape. If you use green duct tape, it works better, it's more ergonomically appealing, I hear. If the duct tape/cardboard works, then you can get coroplast, or something equivalent, that will hold up in wetter condition's.

I do have a lockup converter. It fills like I have an overdrive gear but I don't. Tried maxing out the tires Friday. With that and changing some of my driving habits I will see how it helps my FE. Thanks for the help so far guys. I may try some aero mods. I'm going to surf that section.

badgett, I looked at the picture of your car. I would cover all of the upper grille and also all of the lower opening. Your opening is very similar to mine. I have no cooling problems but did keep an eye on it till I was sure.

Suggestion. You could just use cardboard and duct tape to try this out. You can even cut an opening in the cardboard easily on the road if you think you need it. You can also peel the whole thing off if you want to. The tape will not damage your paint.

If it works for you(and it will) then find a more permanent and better looking blocking material. I can help you with that.

Sure , I will try it. If the card board helps I will find something permanant. I don't care if it is ugly.:D

Hello, I have a Neon 2002 2.0L SOHC, which is automatic 4 speed.

My MPG is really bad, I do alot of city driving. but i recently drove over 300 Miles on the highway

On the highway i did 30 MPG one way, 29 MPG the other
so its NOT that bad.

But my city driving is killing me, it's doing only 16-17 Mpg in the city

I am doing lots of small trips. but it should still be over 20 at least. i dont drive recklessly.

Could I get some ideas on what to look for?

THanks

I had a neon once and it was never good on gas. My Regal with a Supercharged engine gets better mileage. Personally for me it seems like after 65 MPH down goes the fuel economy on all cars. Just leave for work a little earlier and go 65.