gas mileage?

Replaced my 96 Cavalier with a 2004 Cavalier and it appears that I am going to be disappointed with the gas mileage of the newer one. Should a 2004 ecotec 5 speed get similar gas mileage to a 96 2.2 automatic driven about the same speed? Both cars have identical mileage on the odometer.

There are lots of other variables. Time of year makes a big difference because winter gas is designed to burn easier, but it takes more of it (less energy density). I got 4 MPG better in the summer than during the winter with the same tires. Winter air is also more dense and takes more energy to push through it. Tires make a big difference, I got an 8 MPG drop going between whatever came on the car (narrow, hard tread=low rolling resistance) and my snow tires Goodyear UltraGrips (wider, larger diameter, very soft tread=higher rolling resistance. Under inflated tires drop the MPG a lot. How the car has been maintained also makes a difference. An induction flush on a neglected engine can increase the MPG by 15% if the intake/valves are carboned up. A bad O2 sensor can make it run rich and waste gas. The brakes tend to drag on this design of caliper due to rust buildup around the slide pins. A bad wheel bearing dropped my MPG by 1-2.

When I first bought my '04 M/T, I could get 38 MPG highway driving it easy. Snow tires dropped it to 30 during the winter, including extended idling to let it warm up in the mornings and doing lots of doughnuts/"drifting". Now with a supercharger, I have got as low as 24 and as high as 31 (still havn't gone easy on it for a full tank). I had a '96 Beretta 2.2 M/T that could get 34 MPG, but that was before I learned a few driving "tricks" that improve mileage slightly. I would expect that everything else being equal, your '04 M/T would get better mileage that the '96 A/T.

Thanks for your reply. I think I'll go through the car and do a few maintenance things to the car that the previous owner neglected. I've already installed a new air filter and changed oil. The engine was filthy so I gunked it off. I think the purge canister has a vacuum leak somewhere around it so I'll repair it next.

I've noticed that I get better gas mileage switching from regular valvoline to valvoline max life(partial synthetic). Also changing the plugs if they need them, and the driving tricks that I've learned are pretty simple:

"feather" the accelerator at the stop light. Like just use the least amount of gas to get going.

on hills(going down) or when you're up to speed barely if at all hit the accelerator, you can usually keep it to speed with little to nothing.

on hills(going up) you don't need to push down much since you're going to be able to gain more speed on the other side.

Try to use the brakes as little as possible when coming to a stop, let the friction slow you down.

....i just realized how painfully common sense these were and now feel stupid writing them lol. But yeah, try to keep as little weight in your car as well. I hope this helped a little.

Simple, yes, but I think a lot of people don't know that... I'm sure people where you are drive just like they do here... start going at the speed limit, get half way up a hill and realize they're 10 below the speed limit and floor it to get up to the speed limit again, then start speeding down the other side and hit the brakes :)

One thing I would change a bit is you actually get the best MPG by slowing down going up hill and speeding up going down hill. That can be annoying to drivers behind you since that makes it incredibly hard to pass the driver doing that (slowing down going into the "No passing zone" and then speeding up when it's clear to pass). I have a scan gauge for my car that shows instant gas mileage, that is how I got 38 MPG... it makes a huge difference, I got 34 MPG holding it at 55 MPH and 38 the way I just described. Both the average of my drive home from work for a week each, so not entirely scientific. I'm 100% sure 38 was my best, but I'm less sure on the 34 although that's close. There is a point where slowing down too much will get you worse gas mileage, so you would need something to show exactly what you are getting and just how much you can let off the gas. A general tip would be to hold the accelerator in the position you need it in to go the speed limit on level ground all the time, then if you get to 45MPH up hill give it enough gas to hold it there, my car took a dive in the low 40MPHs from 28MPG up hill to 17MPG. Of course I would advise against speeding going down hill ;), so you may need to let up on the gas ;). Another thing you can do before a very long hill is speed up just a little bit before you get there to have a bit more momentum... just not over the speed limit ;) Got it? That's the key to better MPG ;). Seriously though, one speeding ticket financially cancels out all the gains you ever got, so watch it.

For accelerating from a stop, I'd just hold the throttle at the position I needed to hold it it for a cruising speed of the speed limit. Scan gauge also has a TPS readout which makes that easy. Took a while to get up to speed, but again great MPG.

Another way to save is start paying attention to how stop lights are timed. If you hit the brakes to slow down, lets say to 25 MPH in a 45 MPH zone, well ahead of time when you know you're going to hit the light red, you can keep coasting a long time, and generally I was able to never come to a complete stop, and usually stay in 2nd or 3rd gear. Of course if there was much traffic at all I wouldn't do it to that extreme, just be courteous to other drivers.

I have a radar detector :) out of all these tips of gas mileage and money saving things for my car...this has saved me the most lol

scanner > radar detector

i own many, ALWAYS have at least 1 in my car....

What's the diff? I've never heard of a scanner.

I checked mine out last week...I got roughly 26 miles per gallon driving it easy. I'm still getting used to the 5 speed, since I haven't owned one in about 5 years, still a little jerky.

Not 26 highway I hope, I get 30 hwy with a supercharger and maintaining 65 mph with the A/C on. Since you mentioned shifting, I hope you meant 26 city...