V6 Economy

Since I am pretty much stuck with this car for another year, what are some ways to improve city MPG?

I am currently getting 15-17 in town. It used to get 20 occasionally, but I think that was with some mixed highway/city driving. At $3.50 a gallon, i get to the pump and say to myself "Damn, forgot the KY jelly." I figure it's costing me around $0.20 a mile to drive, which is unacceptable, considering the average pickup is only a couple cents more.

My friend with his LT1 makes fun of me constantly for getting worse MPG than him. I think he's full of shit, and probably gets the same or worse. Any tips or cheap ideas? Would....um....operating on my kitty net me any MPG gains? This week I am trying to drive like a grandmother to see if my fuel mileage improves.

only two things net better mileage on a car.

as stated, driving style, light on the throttle, accelerate slow, drive four blocks ahead of you, anticipate when youll have to stop, and drive so that you use your brake pedal as little as possible. every press of the brake pedal is wasted fuel. think that way, i do, and it works.

the other, is to have the car operating at max possible efficiency. meaning make sure your tire pressure is good (around 32psi), air filter is clean, fuel filter is in spec, clean and properly gapped spark plugs, clean fuel injection system, etc. etc.

im not very familar with the 2.8L, or any non V8 engines for that matter, but i assume it is a distributor based ignition. contact MSD or Crane Cams, and look into an aftermarket, capastive discharge, high voltage ignition system. someone must make something compatable. ive read of people picking up as much as 3 mpg with a fully upgraded ignition system. It will probly be the next mod the IROC gets after i actually get it running right to start with. you can take further advantage of the aftermarket ignition by putting larger gaps on the spark plug, producing a larger spark, and exposing more fuel to the kernal, promoting a faster flame propogation. translation, better burn, more power, better efficiency and mileage.

as to your friend getting better mileage, it actually is probably the case, although not by much. the camaro is a heavy car for a 2.8L, 3600lbs is pretty big for an engine that small. and that little engine will be working way harder than the 5.7L to accelerate that mass. the harder the engine works, the more fuel it burns, and the 2.8L wasnt exactly known for setting efficiency records to begin with ;)

if you wanna get crazy like a fox, you could always look into putting an HHO generator under the hood :runaround:

im neither advocating or saying not to do it, but ill be doing tests of the concept myself this summer. ive seen alot of heresay both ways regarding the effects of running the gas in a car (including cars running off nothing but the HHO gas produced off the electricity from the alternator), but never any hard data. i hope to accumulate some myself and see if it works or not.

From what I've learned, the most efficient engine gets the most mpg (kinda common sense but still) so you get the best mileage when you have a free flowing intake and a free flowing exhaust system. Ignition is also key to getting maximized mpg. An upgraded msd box or just new plugs can get you a few mpg. After I had my intake system, trick flow exhaust elbow, airfoil, headers and exhaust I was getting 30mpg highway, but thats because it's a manual. Those were the mods that got me the best mpg though. If the car has some miles on it and could use new plugs, wires, fuel filter etc.. those are some of the first things I'd change.

another option would be to swap a 6.2L diesel in there :)

my truck is 5200lbs, on 33in tires, with no overdrive, and 3.08 gears..... and gets 21mpg on the highway :)

imagine..... 3600 lbs, 24in tires, overdrive, 2.73 gears, and wayyyyyy better aerodynamics???? you might get better than 30mpg on the highway easy. throw a turbo on there and get 35 maybe ;)

haha I think that might drain his "kitty" and then some.. but that would be bad ass. You could always switch over to propane and start swiping peoples grill tanks... kinda actually surprised you haven't heard that on the news yet...

I changed the wires and plugs back in May-Juneish. I'll look into new filters this week.

definatly heard of propane conversions, but didnt hear about the gas grill tanks disappearing... although it makes sense. although from what i understand, propane dosnt get any better mileage, its just a little cheaper per gallon.

That's why I use methane, White Castle baby, keeps the hunger pains away,then get's recycled for the boost, and the bonus: NOBODY will tailgate you with that stuff coming out the pipe. :icon16:

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the recommended service intervals for air and fuel filters? I've only owned the car for 20K miles. I changed the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter about 10k ago(got another one due now, should have done it a few K ago though.) and the plugs(champions) and wires shortly after that. It's really hard to find time to do anything to this car between school and work.

I do air filters every other oil change due to city living, I think the "norm" is about 15K miles? :dunno: And again, the fuel filter given it's location atleast twice a year (spring and fall) so it doesn't get a chance to sieze on the fuel line and due to the change in gasoline blends of winter to summer. :2cents:

Both items are cheap insurance to insure both max. efficiency, and as stated, makes the job MUCH easier then waiting 30K miles and potentially a few years for the fuel line to rust up.

Side note, not a big fan of Champions, they say seem foul prematurely. :(

I see where you're coming from on the fuel filter seizing. When i changed it last spring(10k miles ago), it was a sumbitch to get the old one off. Apparently the last owner was even worse than me for maintenance. He had let the rear end go without oil, so now it whines anytime i'm over 40 mph. I have a few hours hopefully before i go to school today, so i'm going to stop and purchase a new air filter and new fuel filter, and I'll pop the new air filter on it. I'm not gonna do the fuel filter with nobody around though, since i'll probably have to lift the car up for that, and the last time i put it on ramps, it crushed them and could have crushed me had I been under it, and with nobody around, that would have been a messy situation. Now i have a 2 ton floor jack and two 2 ton jack stands, but I just want to be safe.

What would be some signs of a fouled spark plug? Just want to be sure, in case it happens. I don't feel a miss, but it is running rich, so I wonder if one or two of the plugs isn't igniting properly?

Easiest way to the fuel filter and feel safe: carefully put the driver side tires up on a curb :thumbsup:

Fouled pllugs would be black and sooty, hence the rich condition. I just don't think Champion has a good heat range to their plugs in a GM application the way AC/Delco was designed for.

Bought new fram air and fuel filters today at the local Parts Plus. Installed the air filter right away. Man was that old one dirty. It has been on there for a long time I think. I'll change the fuel filter when I can get safely underneath it. I don't have a curb at all in my little small town neighborhood. My friend's grandpa has a shop with a pit in it, but I only go in there with my friend, and he's only in town maybe one weekend a month. He should be over here again shortly, then I'll change the fuel filter, oil, and oil filter.

Side note, not a big fan of Champions, they say seem foul prematurely. :(
They are junk in anything but a lawnmower you mean. (and thats questionable)
I had a street bike about 10 years ago that got a whole 3 miles before 2 failed. It was a 4 cylinder and the failed plugs were on seperate coil packs. I did, ALMOST, make it back home to the garage. (the 20 yards or so walk was icing on the cake for hateing Champions forever :mad: )

Ugh, I hope they don't go out too soon. I hate changing the ones on the passenger side with all the smog crap in the way.

everything everyone has said is true, but without spending more than basic tune up (i agree with the champion).. try simple pumping gas tricks.. dont pump at full pump.. pump slowest setting possible.. you get less air.. and try colder temps when fueling.. early morning..etc.. gas is denser and you get more for your dollar.. it does work.. i've tried it.. i live in mass and its getting higher every day for gasoline.. i drive truck for work.. desiel is like 420 a gallon..

Friday I replaced the air filter with a fram from Parts Plus, and i've spent the last week driving like grandma. I filled up yesterday. 4.778 gallons. $3.27 a gallon(3.42, but i get a $0.15 per gallon discount). 87.3 miles. It came out to 18.27 MPG. That equates to about 18 cents per mile to drive it. Down from the 19 cents per mile last fill up, with 16 MPG, which is down from the 23 cents per mile at 14 mpg. So I am saving 5 cents per mile now, and I drive around 4-500 miles each month. That's almost a $25 savings per month. Not bad. Now I just need to get the new fuel filter i bought for it installed. I think I might just keep this car until it sends a pushrod through the hood.

EDIT: Also, am I the only geek who keeps track of mileage and fuel costs in an Excel spreadsheet?

UPDATE: It has gone from 18 mpg to almost 20 mpg. I'm lovin it. This air filter has already paid for itself.

Glad to hear that it's improved. In the last month, I've:

Changed the spark plugs (went to iridiums.... the platinums from before had 94,000 miles on them)
Changed the plug wires (went from stock to some MSD's)
Changed the coil packs (was getting a misfire from the 3rd cylinder because of 1)
Changed the muffler to a high-flow Dynomax
Changed the catalyct converter (old one was fucked up bad)


I was getting 24.5 mpg before I changed all this. Can't wait to see what it is now (I have only gotten to do city driving since then)!

I don't think I have much to say that hasn't already been said, but next time you get an oil filter, I'd recommend something other than FRAM. MOST (not all) of their filters are crap... and as much as I hate to say it, the new AC Delco's are, as well. Turns out, Bosche makes one of the best you can buy.

EDIT: And I don't use Excel, but I do keep up with my mileage, and I can pretty much tell you what everything has cost me in the last month.

Referring to the oil filter topic, here's a link to a site where they test them and rank them

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilterstudy.html#fram-ph8a

Got some more done yesterday. Changed the fuel and oil filters, as well as the oil itself. Put in 5w-30, of the parts plus flavour. The fuel filter was fram, and the oil filter was whatever parts plus gave me. I also got some loctite epoxy putty and sealed up the 3 inch long crack in my exhaust, which seems to have quieted it down a bit. I also learned my friend absolutely hates any sort of humor while working in a garage. He was looking for the right wrench to take a filter off of his car, and i jokingly grabbed a 2 foot long, heavy SOB wrench and gave it to him, and he marched out of the shop and wouldn't speak for 15 minutes.