i want better mpg

[Hottmonkey]

what could i put on my 2002 sxt neon to raise the mpg, BUT at the same time make my car pickup faster? any links would be greatly appreciated

[99 Neon R/T]

Dude gut your cat!! er..uh...catalytic converter I mean.

[das2123]

Originally Posted by 99 Neon R/T

Dude gut your cat!! er..uh...catalytic converter I mean.

That is highly illegal ...

Generally the amount of money you'll spend on modifing the car in the hopes of better mileage is offset by the cost of the part itself. If you spend $200 on an intake, and get 1mpg better. You'll have to drive over 100,000 miles just to break even on the cost of gas.

That said, I've heard the best mileage comes from skinny tires. You could also do some weight reduction to make the car lighter.

Now if you just want to go fast goodies, check out www.modernperformance.com

[neon_rt]

Regarding tires, you can increase the air pressure in the tires 5psi or so. Make sure you do not exceed the tire's MAX psi. The ride will be rougher but you don't get anything good for nothing. Driving habits probably do more for mileage than anything else. There are a lot of things you can do to increase your mileage by up to 20% just by careful driving, you don't even have to go slow to save (although you could save even more by doing so).

[Hottmonkey]

thanks alot, the skinny tires and increasing the psi helped out. why would getting rid of the cat get me better mpg though?

[theFREAKnasty82]

less restriction; the freer your exhaust can run, the more power it can put out. But as das2123 said, that's very illegal if you live in a state that has mandatory emissions testing. Not to mention, you could set all kinds or error codes in your PCM giving you more grief, an '02 Neon has two oxygen sensors, one pre-cat and the other post-cat. If the post-cat oxygen sensor is reading lean all the time, the PCM will try to dump more fuel, i.e. waisting gas. If it reads rich all the time, it'll take away fuel leading to lack of performance. So in other words, don't gut your cat, leave it the way it is. One last thing to know, you could void the emissions extended warranty on your car; it usually goes for about 80,000 miles and could spend up to $400 just to fix your cat out of pocket instead of it being covered by federal emissions warranty.

[skatendestroy]

unpug an injector heh heh.......

[theFREAKnasty82]

with gas prices over $3/gallon, the easiest way to get better mpg is to change your driving habits. It has been proven on edmunds.com that if you "feather" your way through the gears, going 0 to 60 in 20 seconds instead of 0 to 60 in 10 seconds, you can save 39% more fuel than aggresive driving. Another thing you can do on steady, highway driving, (if you have equipped) set your cruise control. Your throttle will stay at one position where you can't always maintain a set position thus decreasing fuel mileage. Another area, though not highly as effective as the other two, use your A/C as less. If you just got in after work and it's 90+ outside, than running the A/C is a must. But if you're going to the grocery store and your car is not hot inside, roll the windows down, you'll save up to 1-2% on your fuel mileage. In addition to routine maintenance you can achieve the most fuel economy by not driving aggresively, using cruise control and not using A/C as much.

[neon_rt]

A few observations for vehicles with 4-speed auto trans:
There is a "fuel cutoff mode" in the fuel injection computer that is triggered in the following conditions (observations only, I'm not an engineer from DCX, anyone with additional info please join in): AC must be Off for "fuel cutoff mode" and engine warm.
At highway speed, when you let off the throttle, there is a three second count and then the fuel is cut off, the fuel is turned back on when the rpm drops under 1400 or you apply the brake. If you are coasting down a long hill that causes you to increase your speed, you can shift down to 3rd to continue to stay in "fuel cutoff mode" otherwise you can stay in OD and put on the brake and use fuel and wear your brakes down. I have been working on exploiting the "fuel cutoff mode" in my '00 GC 3.8l. I am now up to 25.8mpg in combo driving (city,back county roads, highway with lots of hills). Before knowing about the mode, I was getting 21 to 22 mpg.

[theFREAKnasty82]

the "fuel cutoff mode" is basically when you let off the gas in a decel situation, the PCM automatically shuts down the fuel injectors and turn them back on at a certain speed, either vehicle or engine RPM. All fuel-injected vehicles do that, that's another advantage to fuel injection over carbureation b/c when in a decel, you don't have to worry about losing unnecessary fuel when you don't need it.