idea on how to save $ on gas.. any ideas on how to make it work???

[dmorlow]

Ok, I am sick of rising gas prices. My last car, it took about $15 to fill my tank up and it lasted about a week. Now with this 95 Aurora, it costs me around $35 to fill my tank up (using premium gas) and it usually doesn't even last a week. I am a poor college student that doesn't make a lot of $. I just liked these cars a lot so I bought one. But I know that the auroras northstar engines are nutorious for overheating and they have a safeguard in them that shuts down 4 cylinders in the event that you run out of coolant. What sparked the idea is Dodge is coming out with a new version of the hemi that is also known for terrible gas mileage. The new versions of the engine shut down 4 cylinders when the car is just crusing to conserve gas. Now what I am thinking is if there is a way to use the function that is already in the northstar engine that shuts down the 4 cylinders because of no coolant to shut them down when there is coolant in the engine just to save gas. What I would have to do is find the sensor that tells the engine that it is out of coolant and somehow find a way to trick the sensor into thinking there is no coolant (whether it is applying a certain voltage or taking away the voltage). I was thinking it would be too difficult to wire it so that it automatically just shut down 4 cylinders when it was crusing and not accelerating. But if I wired a toggle switch inside the car that when I wanted to conserve gas, I would just push the switch and shut down 4 cylinders. Now the one concern I have though is I doubt GM designed the engine to run on 4 cylinders on a normal basis. Probably they only designed it to do that in emergencies. So I don't want to do this and save my self a hundered dollars in gas and in turn have to replace my engine. Or, maybe the car isn't designed to run on 4 cylinders efficiently (only in emergencies) and maybe it gets worse gas mileage on 4 cylinders. If it was easy to trick the engine into running on 4 cylinders, I could take it on a test drive and see what my gas mileage is on the center console.
So I hope everyone can see what my vision is and start to give some input on ideas. Is it possible? Is it a stupid idea? Is it going to ruin my engine using it like this on a normal basis? I figure I could just switch it with the toggle switch to all 8 when I wanted to accelerate fast and then switch it off after I accelrated. Maybe it will cause premature wearing of internal engine parts while it stresses certain parts because it has to take on a larger work load.
And the other concern is if the sensor that detects if there is no coolant different from the sensor that detects the temperature of the coolant and the sensor that detects low coolant for the center dash. Because from what I understand, the temperature gauge can't read the temperature of the engine unless there is coolant in the engine. It measures the temperature of the coolant and that is the temp your temp gauge reads. So GM had to think of a way to tell if the engine was overheating without taking the temperature of the coolant. If there is no coolant in the engine, the temp gauge is going to read cold because there is no coolant for it to read the temperature. So the feature in the engine that shuts it down if there is no coolant in the engine would have to be a seperate sensor not reading the temperature of the coolant. So, if doing this and tricking the sensor in the car to thinking it is out of coolant, is this also going to make my temp gauge not read correctly or not at all? I don't want my center console alerting me that I have no coolant all the time. Then I will never know when I REALLY don't have any coolant. It will be crying wolf and I don't want that either. So I will now stop rattling on and see what all you you out there have to say on this matter.

[IronAuroraV8]

good idea but not worth the effort IMO , want to save money on gas? get a 4 cylinder beater and driver the Aurora on weekends.

IronKrakus

[HARDTIMER]

Hmmm, that may cost less also. LOL, Good Idea IronKrakus. Or you could do what I do just use your girlfriends car, LOL. Save gas and keep low miles!!! Trash the girlfriends car.

[dmorlow]

Remember, I am a poor college student. I definitely can't afford another car. Then I would have to pay for insurance on both also. It will take a long time before I would even break even on saving the gas. Plus 4 cylinders don't last as long as a v6 or v8 and I will probably have a lot of problems with it. Plus Aurora's are nice cars, but they aren't that nice that I am going to use it as a weekend car. A Corvette, Fararri, or a supped up classic car is a weekend car. An Aurora isn't a weekend car.
The only way I would justify buying a 4 cylinder car is if I sell my Aurora. (And with gas prices the way they are, don't think that hasn't crossed my mind.)

[IronAuroraV8]

Sometimes having second car insured through the same company wouldn't cost that much more especially if you pay for liability only.

4 cylinders are not exposed to the same amount of structural "stress" as V8 thus they last longer - for example take any early 90's Honda or Toyota 4 cylinder - they will have tons of miles on them and they will still run !!!! plus the resale value on them is sky high !!!

show me one early 90's domestic 4 cylinder that still runs.......

Aurora's are nice cars but there are not engenireed to last especially Aurora engines.

trust me i feel your pain - I drive my car everyday to work and i work in merchendising which requires lots of city driving - but my company pays for the gas otherwise this car is a gas hog !!!!

my brother drives 97 Maxima SE(auto 3.0V6) and he gets 26mph in the city !!! and his car is even faster than mine !!!!

IronKrakus.

[beachlover333]

Let's face it, we love driving the Aurora, so driving another car defeats the purpose. But cutting down to 4 cylinders when I'm on the highway, wouldn't change any of that, so Dmorlow's idea is possibly a good one....

[Auror_AH]

I'd ride my bike before I drove a honda instead of my Aurora... I'm horrible I know...

[RickyZ]

I run mine on middle grade fuel with NO decrease in performance. Others have told me they run on regular with no noticable difference. Engines are smart these days and know how to adjust / compensate for decrease in octane. I do, on occassion, put in a tank of Premium and fuel system cleaner.

[HARDTIMER]

Originally Posted by dmorlow

Remember, I am a poor college student. I definitely can't afford another car. Then I would have to pay for insurance on both also. It will take a long time before I would even break even on saving the gas. Plus 4 cylinders don't last as long as a v6 or v8 and I will probably have a lot of problems with it. Plus Aurora's are nice cars, but they aren't that nice that I am going to use it as a weekend car. A Corvette, Fararri, or a supped up classic car is a weekend car. An Aurora isn't a weekend car.
The only way I would justify buying a 4 cylinder car is if I sell my Aurora. (And with gas prices the way they are, don't think that hasn't crossed my mind.)

If youre a poor college student and youre already crying about GAS!!! Just you wait!!!!! If your trying to save money and youre a college student, YOU BOUGHT THE WRONG CAR!!!!!!!!!

[dmorlow]

I am told that putting in regular gas in these engines could cause piston knocking. And I figure the difference between premium gas and regular gas isn't that much. I don't know why everyone acts like it is such a big deal. So premium is 20 cents more a gallon. I am a cheap poor college student, but I am not that cheap. The tank holds about 15 gallons or so. So 20 cents times 15 gallons is $3.00!!! Big whoppie. I spend that on a candy bar and a slurpee. So many people act like getting premium gas is such a big deal and it costs so much money. $3.00 extra a week isn't going to make me or break me. And if you try mid grade, then you are saving around $1.50. I am not chancing degrading the life of my motor, or even worse, destroying it to save $1.50 or $3.00 a week!!! I am a poor college student. I definitely cannot afford $2,000 for a new engine because I cheaped out of $3.00 for gas!!!

[dmorlow]

And for the Honda thing too... I am not buying a Honda so I am with Auror_AH on that!!! A good portion of my family works for GM (including my dad). If you don't own a GM product, my family doesn't want anything to do with you. If you own a foreign car, they will stone you to death. (It isn't that bad, but if I bought a non-GM car, I would never hear the end of it. It would probably be the center of discussion at many family reunions.)

[MiS0]

Originally Posted by dmorlow

And for the Honda thing too... I am not buying a Honda so I am with Auror_AH on that!!!

Ride a bike then. And whats with the hatred towards Honda, they are American made nowadays. Their hybrids are awsome for city driving, especially the toyota prius. Being stubborn will only hurt your wallet. BTW, go test drive a NSX, you'll want a Honda.

[HiLife]

Hey There,

I feel your pain bud. Take a look at the following website for tips on increasing your fuel efficiency.

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/...tView=N&Text=N

HL

[Hesam]

I don't think simply shutting down 4 cylinders works. It requires many more computerized adjustments to engine and electronics.
The Hemi engine you're talking about had 390fp torque and 340HP and even 4 cylinders can push the car at cruising speed,
But on the other hand, Aurora has 4000 pounds weight and 250HP which is equal to a little 2800 pound car having 150HP, which is good but not great.
To save on gas I'd suggest replacing your spark-plugs with NGK Irridium sold at: www.NGK.com
I'm getting 29mpg with them on freeway and 24-5 city.
Also empty all the weight from trunk and backseat and lose a few pounds yourself jk

[Hesam]

I don't think simply shutting down 4 cylinders works. It requires many more computerized adjustments to engine and electronics.
The Hemi engine you're talking about had 390fp torque and 340HP and even 4 cylinders can push the car at cruising speed,
But on the other hand, Aurora has 4000 pounds weight and 250HP which is equal to a little 2800 pound car having 150HP, which is good but not great.
To save on gas I'd suggest replacing your spark-plugs with NGK Irridium sold at: www.NGK.com
I'm getting 29mpg with them on freeway and 24-5 city.
Also empty all the weight from trunk and backseat and lose a few pounds yourself jk
Oh, next time.........Buy a lowmile Toyota Camry or Corolla. No other car has their quality/reliablity