Mods to reduce fuel consumption?

[I-S]

My pockets hurt...

Are there any easy and FREE mods that will lower fuel consumption (other than driving with pillows strapped to your feet)?

For example, increasing the unmetered air flow by undoing that infamous screw... that would presumably lead to more efficient burning of the fuel that is injected assuming the GLS to run rich? Of course, it won't lower how much fuel is injected....

Anything else? And the FREE bit is important because otherwise you might as well just spend the money on the little extra fuel...

[Brunty]

Hmmmmmmm......

Low cost fuel saver

[Kieran]

Not free, but what about the Ecotek?

[I-S]

It claims only marginal improvement on EFI cars and £49 will buy a lot of "marginal" petrol. Since all mods are likely to only show marginal improvements they have to be zero cost or very low cost (like a couple of zip ties or something) to implement to be worthwhile.

My sceptic hat doesn't like the magnets. But then it didn't like the green pen for CDs either...

[enigma]

You could always get your bike out!!

[I-S]

Indeed. However, between my house and work there's the pennines... If it was flat and away from cars going at silly speeds within inches of me then I would have been doing so for ages.

[strapping young lad]

ease off the foot?

or buy cheaper fuel (dont use optimax if you do currently)

what mpg are you getting now? as there arent quick fix solutions as suich to increase mpg other than the lead foot problem.

drive without aircon increases mpg too so im told

[I-S]

I'm driving with a very light foot and using cheap fuel and not running the AC. Currently getting 33.5mpg for a mix of steep hills and town driving.

[Kieran]

To be honest Issac, to get much better than that out of your GLS would probably involve pushing it!

[ritch_w]

To be honest Issac, to get much better than that out of your GLS would probably involve pushing it!

or changingg the 2.0 to v6

[I-S]

It would do better with a devil's gearbox.

I might put a spike on the throttle pedal...

[strapping young lad]

what fuel economy are you looking for?

maybe worth selling your galant and buying a 1ltr biddy car

[I-S]

Well, if I can get the car to run on air only then I'd probably be happy...

Honestly I doubt I can keep the 33mpg going. Driving perfectly good A-roads at 45mph is just wrong. As for selling it.... nah. I need the estate, I hate diesel and any other petrol auto will only be marginal if any improvement. And it's just about run in now (with a sixth digit about to appear in the next couple of months) and has a year's MOT, tax and 9 months insurance all paid for.

Now, if I was to hang on to it for a really long time LPG might be a plan... although I should really have done that 30000 miles ago when I bought the car...

[strapping young lad]

lpg is still a viable option, and even more so with the rising fuel costs.

http://www.lpga.co.uk will have all the info you need

[I-S]

Well, it's not because I only cover about 8k per year now, so it would take three years to pay for itself. If I'd know how long I was going to keep the car, and the mileage I ended up doing I'd have had it done long ago.

[Paul Beazer]

Without wishing to teach you to suck eggs Isaac. Nobody here bought a Galant of any kind because of their frugal fuel economy.
Theres times that i wish mine was a bit more economical to run, 'cos i need all the pennies i can get! Then again what the hell! I dont regret buying mine, even though i could really do with the money at the mo. I need something to keep me sane when i cant get out on the FSR!

[I-S]

Sure paul, but when I bought mine petrol was 68p/litre and I lived at home. Now I have a mortgage, bills, etc and am cutting back left right and centre. Since there's more cost involved with changing a car, I'm looking to get what economy I can out of the galant. I don't regret buying it for a moment, and I'm just looking at how to keep it more economically.

[strapping young lad]

u dont live in the easiest part of the world for good roads, loads of windy and hilly roads.

maybe travel by train instead and keep the car in the garage?

change insurance company?(saved 180 quid a year doing this myself recently)

change to a cheaper garage to get it serviced?

[scc]

When I had my GLS, I wasn't happy with the fuel economy either until I did the following:

1) Changed the panel filter to a replacement KN panel air filter.
2) Use optimax - found it to last longer?!?!?!
3) Changed the engine oil to use Mobil1.
4) Changed the spark plugs to iridium types (Only minor improvement - probably not worth your 8000 miles)
5) Driving habits -> Use the steep hills to your advantage (when going down hill ofcourse)
6) Have correct tyre pressures - found the car to be better the next morning when I gas the tyres at night
7) Removed the bonnet prop

Got ~40-50 miles extra just on 1) and 2) alone!
Averaged >450 miles before I decide to fill up again.

Scc

[I-S]

The train isn't an option... I'd have to go from west yorks into manchester, change trains and come back out west again to get to oldham. Would take about an hour and a half each way.

Change insurance company every year. This year was £800 cheaper than last year (not a typo). And it hasn't had any garage attention for some time (although it's not far off a service now I fear... cambelt will be up before too long too).

scc- Thanks for the tips... was yours a manual? Oil might be an option at the next change, otherwise there's not much there that I can do (optimax would defeat the point of the exercise). The bonnet prop one is interesting though... that suggests that the engine runs rich or struggles for air if it improves mpg?