How do you modify a car so that it uses less gas?

Answer 1

Several ways to make a vehicle use less gas. 1. Driver awareness- pretend egg between peddle and foot. Don't race up to a stop light and stomp on brakes. Go up hill same speed as down hill. Don't use A/C.; stop buying gas guzzlers; Keep vehicle maintenance records up to date; etc. 2. Vehicle: install hotter thermostat; Reduce vehicle weight; install EGT gage and modify carburation similar to an airplane so that the leaness is measured buy how hot the exhaust temp is; Always use about a pint of diesel per gas tank every 4th tankfull to keep things clean; Keep vehicle exterior clean and streamlined; etc.

Diesel fuel will ruin your oxygen sensor, causing you to use considerably MORE fuel. Consider going to an alternate fuel, such as propane. It's about half the price of gas (here in Canada, anyway), but bear in mind that the cost of conversion will only be offset if you put on a lot of miles. P.S. Your engine is fuel injected and does not have a carburetor.

let me elaborate a slight bit. depending on your location and your local emissions laws you may be able to bypass your o2 sensor and just add a resistor of the appropriate value. currently i'm running 12% soy in my Ford 300Ci it displaces some of the gas in my combustion chamber, not to mention it makes my engine run smoother, quieter and cooler. my o2 sensor hasn't been attached in almost 5 years nor has a cat conv.

ANSWER

Reduce weight (junk the back seat,get a carbon fiber hood etc.), use synthetic oils in engine (0W20 or 0W30) synthetic ATF in transmission and synthetic rear end grease, over inflate your tires, make sure front end parts are tight and align car with zero toe in, get a lockup torque converter with overdrive transmission, replace ring and pinion with a higher gear ratio. rebuild engine with better parts (lighter crank rods and pistons) balance and blueprint engine, clean up the vehicle aerodynamics or you could go out and buy one of these new VW diesels that gets 75 MPG. Just don't go left of center and hit my Suburban while I'm towing my race car. That's about 11,000 lbs of mass and there won't be much left of you. There is an upside to that too. You won't have to worry about fuel mileage anymore.

:

Forget about using a lighter crankshaft, this is used only for racing and performance. What it does is make a car accelerate (ramp up) and decelerate faster due to the lighter weight. Use a stock crank that has been internally balanced (balanced and blueprinted is better, as prior answer suggests). On the crank you want centrifigal force to keep the motor turning at speed. Lightened cranks won't roll down the road as far, they slow down, decelerate, quicker just as they accelerate quicker. Get Electronic Fuel Injection if you don't have it, and a manual tranny with a tall final gear. I have a 5 speed with a modified .59 5th gear. At 2000 rpm it goes 78 mph. At 65 it is using much less gas than a normal automatic. Get an aluminum drive shaft, it does not effect the ramp up or down of the engine and lightens rotating mass, freeing up horsepower and improving economy. Get dual exhaust with an x pipe configuration for better exhaust.