Prius' aren't lookin too bad
 

Just kiddin. I could never drive a car. But I am after any and every fuel economy tip avail to a first gen. I may even consider buying a 2wd for less weight.Please share all the tips and detuning you guys have done for making better economy. And, putting a block under my accelerator isn't out of the question. Also what kind of mpg do the 2 wd's afford? Anyone makin 24 mpg, accurately?

A valet switch and a light foot, and maybe a little more timing than the 1/8'' bump. Drive slower. Beyond that, it takes 'x' HP to get so many pounds moving, no way around it. Running a 21cm housing to reduce boost at cruising speed would also help, I imagine. I wanted to develop a way to open my wastegate (12cmhousing) while cruising. I unhooked the linkage one day and the engine revved a lot easier, of course, it wouldn't build any boost...

Stick the Cummins in a really light truck is what I'd do. My '78 slant six 2wd truck gets 25mpg on the highway, so a diesel in the same package would probably do a whole lot better!

Im debating on stealing rbrett's high gear ratio formula =D
Ive been casually debating with myself the idea of throwing a 3.07 rear end on my truck. But who knows. We'll see how high the oil barrons jack up the price.

Its either the rear axel idea or Im gonna start brewing bio.

get a regular cab 2wd 5spd in good shape, cover all the unnecessary holes in the front clip, take off any huge mirrors and replace with smaller ones, take out any big toolboxes in the bed and cover the bed with a hard tonneau cover, use the skinniest tires you can while keeping well inflated and VOILA. MPG master!

I dont know about master but that would probably the best you can do with a boxy ole 1st gen. Which, IMO, are the best looking dodges made.....

What you should do is make a quick microsoft excel sheet to figure out what combination of variables will save you the most money for the miles and how much money that is. If you are considering buying a 2wd then figure out how many miles at what better mileage you need to be able to save any money with the purchase cost, insurance, and maintanence.

So make the excel sheet with variables of diesel price, gas price, your fuel milage, the miles you travel a day, week, and year, then add the same stuff for other vehicles and compute the costs and compare. write in formulas so you can simply change any variable and see what the difference is. then when something changes type it in see what is best to do.

If I go for a 2 wheeler then I have to sell one of the 4x4's, so I will actually see some profit after the changeover. My 91 is non I/C and has 3.07's with a 3 spd. I just figured my last fuel mileage and it was 18mpg and I was whomping around. This time I'm gonna do the ole' (Gordon) Lightfoot routine and see. It is all stock so while it is pretty quick if you mash it, it is also efficient if you are easy on the skinny one. My commute is 35 miles round trip mostly county road with a short stretch of 50mph hwy. If I had to do all that on the interstate I think it would actually be worse on the tank. She is screamin pretty good at 65 and every old lady on the road passes me up. The lack of o/d really holds it back. Thought about convertin to an o/d model or gear vendors but that's money I don't have now. The other truck is bombed a little and will be sittin unless needed.

Just drive what you like; life's too short to be chasing after a few measly MPGs.

Even at 4-bucks per gallon, fuel is the cheapest part of driving a vehicle, after all the other expenses are factored in; it is just a more noticable out of pocket expense and makes one realize that driving is not cheap.

Many people strain at gnats and swallow camels, when it comes to fuel economy, which actually boils down to money shortages.

Like already suggested, do the math before doing anything silly.

At normal sensible highway speeds, improved aerodynamics actually save so little that scientific equipment would need be used to measure any difference, especially in a torque-monster such as the Cummins.

Fine tuning the engine/fuel-system will yield more measurable results than reducing weight and drag.

The son's W-250 non-IC will easily out-mileage most trucks around, big or small, with no thought whatsoever given toward trying to save fuel; so, sometimes, it's just luck of the draw.



It's plumb ridiculous the things I see people put themselves through, trying to save a few drops of fuel, when just keeping what they had to start with would have left more usable money in their pockets.


Also, unless you are buying fuel by the tanker-load, it isn't worth driving across a busy street to save 5-cents per gallon; a twenty gallon purchase will only save a dollar, which equals a quart of fuel difference, hardly enough to warrant the trouble.

I don,t know about you but fuel is my biggest expense ,drive for a while $75 fuel ,manit cost ? very little ,depreciation none

If I keep it around 62-63mph I get right around 27mpg. Thats using the trip odo on my navi unit so its about as acurate as your gonna get. If I run some around town and 75-80mph highway I drop to just over 20mpg, but never seen any lower than that. All the RP fluids really made the truck sun and drive smoother, so they must have helped.

I mainly watch my boost gauge kinda like and economy meter. I try and keep the throttle light enough to keep the boost below a certain number, when I do that the mpg is always pretty high. I bet if my IP wasnt leaking it would be a little higher too. lol

fuel...almost... $33.00 property taxes for me; $12,000/yr (with zero income...[redface]) But currently I'm doing some road trips to find a cheaper place to live and feeding the fuel gremlins. You don't get too far on $33., but I hope I don't exceed $12000/yr in fuel !! I have been flying to cheap destinations ($87) and using $14 priceline rental cars. Or having my 20 mpg Class C motorhome strategically located for trips. I would like to build a BT6 class C, or import a V6 VW TDI diesel for a Eurovan. Best econo camping I've seen is ~ 38 mpg in a 5 cyl Diesel eurovan, I only know of 3 units in USA.

I definately need to get the improved DTT TC installed for 1st gen economy; been waiting on finding a bigger truck since I run ~ 25,000 GCVW in mountainous territory, and more worried about our great brakes[dummy]

but... OP mentioned the Prius, and living in the PNW (greenie haven). & being a lifelong diesel-head' I have to rub soot in their eyes by having a bumper sticker made that says "50 mpg since 1976... Where have you been??" I have many friends with Prius' , but only a couple getting 50 mpg, many get 35 :o (earlier models) I get 44-50 in my beater VW's that cost me under $100, but my crown jewels are my (2) Passat's that get 52 mpg and have 18 gal tanks. ('96-'97 wagons have 25 gal tanks !!) It is real nice being above a half tank after 450 miles:cool: Too bad they only made these two yrs, they are like gold, and often have high miles, I recently looked at one with 550k for $5500. Fortunately I found both mine for under $2k, but you have to be quick. You have to build your own wagons from donor cars, as 10 yr old TDI wagons are going for $12k+. I'm planning to build a 75 mpg Scirroco, which will cost less than $500. My friend is getting 62 mpg, but hasn't done bellypad or fairings yet.

If you are stuck on driving a truck... get a shoehorn, and put on a VW diesel pickup (they are really tight, and Noisy). I've gotten ~ 46 mpg in the 3 I've had, and hauled my 1500# lathe a few hundred miles in one. I used one for my 2200# Heavy Equip bucket, and that was a bit too much [redface]. For bigger loads I go tandem and use "snowbear" (2000# GVW utility trailer), but the Dodge has to come out to do the Heavy stuff. I will have to be adding fuel surcharges for both the Dodge and my heavy equip this year, or take some time off [roll]

When are the diesel heads in US gonna put up their dukes and get our fuel prices in line with costs?? (I used to note 10% higher diesel prices, but lately 30% + ) I keep hearing the BS about Worldwide demand (which is true) , and heating oil and manufacturing needs. I thought we imported oil, not majority 'pre-processed'... my conspiracy theory is the sleazy politicians think SUV Americans are too greedy to think so far ahead as to recognize ALL their goods that are shipped via diesel are gonna go up in price PERMANENTLY, but are happier voters if their daily fix of gas is cheaper.[tapdshut] So the US is attempting to keep the masses happy (as well as inefficient USA auto manufacturers who aren't into the 'diesel-thing'. ) very Bad long term strategy. Inflation is gonna be real, as much as they dis- it.

For less than $.25 you can duct tape a raw egg to the fuel pedal and drive like you don't want to break the egg.[nonono] If the egg lasts a month, you REALLY don't want to break the egg.[yuk]

:o Those mpg are just pure magic. [laugh]

man diesel prices have gone crazy!!!!!! theres a place here wantin $4.12 a gallon