Hello all
 

HI everyone Goofy1 here. to start off, i have NO experience in fixing cars. i've always paid to have someone else do it. but i have a 97 Toyota Tercel(blackhawk)it has a 1.5l inline 4 with a 3 speed automatic. I know most here have standard transmissions, but being Tall in a little car makes it very hard to drive stick. But anyways, i have been tring different things on the car(simple things really) and here are the Results(all results are mixed driving city/hwy. i drive between 250-300 miles a week)

1.Starting out i was getting 27-28 mpg
2.got rid of all un-needed weight. no change
3.Did The Gumout professional fuel cleaner(yes the one at Walmart) up to 31.5 mpg. a nice increase if i do say so.
4.Tune up with a K&n air filter(the normal one, not the cone) a BIGGER increase. 35.7 mpg and that was checked today.
Not but of start considering the epa on it is 29mpg city.
But i'm looking for more ways to increase the mpg. but i need more experience in fixing cars to save some $$$.
Any thoughts or ideas would be great.
Thanks for reading and many BIG mpg's for you all.

welcome. browse around, read about some of the methods used for higher FE. P&G is a tricky one for slushboxes, coasting is easier, driving slower is easiest. Knowing your route helps, so you can time the traffic and traffic controls (signs, lights, etc). If the budget allows, lightweight rims and low rolling resitance tires. There's more.

I disagree. It's far easier in my automatic than it is in my stick.

Anyway, a couple comments for goofy1:

- I think I'll try some fuel system cleaner, my truck has >170,000 miles on it and I don't remember if I've ever had the fuel injectors cleaned. Thanks for the motivation.

- It's highly unlikely that the K&N filter provided that huge improvement. Even removing the air filter entirely might not do that much. I suspect (most likely) that your old filter was awfully clogged (apparently they can be clogged while still looking clean; I'm not sure if I believe that); you observed environmental changes (did you change the filter as the weather was warming up?); or your measurements were inaccurate.

- If you were very interested in driving stick, perhaps a slightly larger car would do the job? What exactly is difficult about being tall and driving stick? Is it needing to have the seat far back and still reach the clutch and the shifter?

one word "scangauge"

it will make your mileage jump if for no other reason, because you can see what is sucking the gas. it is one thing to say, go up the hill easier, but when you see the MPG change when going up the hill and no one is behind you, you are more likely to let off the gas.

(big fan of the scangauge)

Theholycow.
the airfilter was chanaged with a the Tune Up. i was tired of having to change the filter all the time with those paper ones. with k&n it good for a all time as long as you recharge them. I have really long legs and have had three leg operations. the operations isn't the problem but the long legs yes, it's just very very uncomfortable on my feet and knees to drive stick. as if yet, no car has been big enough where it was comfortable for me to drive stick. :-)

Hey Beef
I would love a scanagauge. i don't have teh $$$ right now but it is something im getting in the near future i think.