I know its the antithesis of having a sportscar, 'specially a 7 but many of us use it as a daily driver. So lets discuss improving gas milage, whether its a power robbing idea or not. Thinking of starting a similar thread with comparisons of peoples actual mpg. And how their car is setup. Should I just keep that here?

 

yeah gas is goin up fast . hope it will get better

 

EFI and self control..........dont know how else you can fight it, 'cept for maybe a Renesis.

 

Most important tool in the fight for good mpg is the driver, Steve is correct. Its free, and totally reversible in an instant should you want/need gas guzzling performance.

Pretend theres an egg between your foot and the gas pedal. When accelerating, dont break the egg.

Pretend theres an apple on the hood. Dont make it roll off when accelerating.

 

Since I have converted to mechanical secondaries, one of the nice things is that you can feel the increase in resistance when you start opening them. So, when I am trying to conserve fuel, I just make sure that I don't push past that point. I can usually manage to do this for about two minutes, then I just say screw it and floor it anyway. Due to that problem, I have no direct comparison available as far as an increase in mileage. I never did have much self control. Maybe I should just completely disconnect the secondaries until this crunch is over (which personally I don't think will ever happen).

 

and stick with the stock carb :P

 

the best way to improve the gas mileage is to quit driving all together the is the best mileage you will ever get and for us tho need to get places just put a brick under the gas pedal that should do it.

Right now I am getting about 22 city and 28 highway in my 12A cant complain

 

Also I should add, drive like there's no one behind you.

 

Renesis? Doubtful you'd have much more success there. Worthless EPA estimate aside, Road & Track has the RX-8 listed as getting 13.8 miles to the gallon, Edmunds has it at 17.1, and in Car and Driver one long-term tester said "L.A. to Phoenix, all freeway, and this thing is getting only 19 mpg. It's a six-speed, for Pete's sake!". Even my stripped-down, Mikuni-fitted, ultra-abused 12A can get 19 on the highway.

 

Too bad we couldn't organize a nation-wide gas strike; like in the time frame of four days where nobody buys fuel, say fri. to tues. just long enough to put a huge dent in the pocket books of the fuel CEOs.

It'd never happen but it'd be a thought.

Also, making sure your car is in top running condition, and propper tire inflation are big helps.

=Eric

 

we have it good compared to other countries. i spent most of the summer in nicaragua and gas was 65 cordoba/litre. thats about 3.75/litre not gallon. and the gas was leaded. people complain about our gas prices going up but we are just getting a taste of what the rest of the world deals with all the time.

 

I never cease to be amazed by how many people think this would actually work. Do they just assume oil corporations are incapable of understanding the concept of time? Using your example, on the fifth day consumption would spike and those same CEOs you consider so stupid would make sure a price spike was waiting for you. After all, they would be just as aware of the length of the boycott as you. Greed does not go hand in hand with stupidity.

That's part and parcel of being the last superpower. Also, many of these put-upon non-superpower countries tax the living hell out of gasoline, which is what in large part causes the price difference. Crude oil is a world market after all.


Other than my bitchy little rants, I have nothing of help to offer. The rotary just doesn't seem to be able to develop past the 20MPG level on average. I always enjoy the "I get 24/29, and drive like I want!!!1!one" claims.

-dave

 

yea, seems like an average of 20mpg is about as good as the rotary can achieve unless you want it to be as slow as a lawn tractor. In a world of 8mpg H2's and all that worthless **** I think we're doing ok with 20mpg. And I also agree with what was said earlier, if you guys think the prices are gonna come down then you're dreaming. Just gotta live with it.

 

This is from the middle of August... http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/19/news...bal_gasprices/

Check out the price of gas in Europe and then in South America. We are not the only ones who are getting hit hard. As a matter of fact it looks like we don't have it too bad right now.

On the other hand it would be nice to have a president who didn't have a vested interest in the oil industry and the rising prices filling his bank account. It would be nice to have one who could manage money instead of causing 3 different companies to go bankrupt before becoming president. Oh and one more thing a president who would pull us out of a warring situation even though it would mean him losing profit because he is not selling as many tanks...

As for what I am doing, my 7 is not on the road right now anyway. I feel fortunate to have a company vehicle parkedin my yard. I try to pick anything I need up while I'm out during the day. For those of you with your own personal vehicle plan your trips in advance and try to get everything done in one trip rather than multiple short trips.

Toxic_d

 

Proper tire inflation, as mentioned before, is significant. Maybe even over inflate a pound or two - although be careful on over inflating too much as it will change handling and braking.

 

Just set a cup of coffee or a can of coke on the space between the shifter and the radio, drive so it dont spill,and no cup holder can finally be a blessing. An open can that is. or have your wife ride with you at all times, cant think of a better wet blanket on driveing style.

 

Put on the skinny "stock-size" wheels and tires. Less tread-surface = the less friction and resistance. It makes a difference. With stock wheels and tires, I was getting 300 miles per tank. Now, with 205 (rear) and 195 (front) wide tires, I usually get 250 to 275 miles per tankful.
btw, although I have a stock Nikki and stock 12A; with a RB streetport exhaust and I have all my emissions intact with the air pump blowing to nothing.

 

Fortunately for us, the FB series, prior to the GSL-SE, gets fairly good mileage (30/21, according to spec).

As for how to improve that mileage, please don't forget that a mechanically sound motor, with clean, functional air and fuel intakes, good timing, and a strong spark will get much better mileage than a clogged up, poorly tuned motor with a bad trailing igniter, for instance.

Also, if you've been putting off changing that bad shutter valve, replace it. Apparently it improves overall mileage by about 20%. I'm not sure if I believe that or not, but I'm sure that its effect would be noticeable.

>_>

<_<

First post! Woo!

 

Um, maybe for you? My wife loves my driving style. Nice being married to someone that is just as big a car enthusiast as I am.

As for gas mileage. I'm getting around 17-19 in town and 23-25 on the highway. That's with no emissions, no a/c (do all the weight reduction you can, this helps too), hollowed cat, and a good tuneup that includes changing the air filter and fuel filter. Plus I'm running the FC direct fire mod too (no not with the additional transistor mod though).

And as for those that think a strike would ever work, Refineries run 24/7 and they produce what is in demand. If gas demand goes down, that crude gets converted to something else instead, it just doesn't sit there. We're also at +97% capacity as far as refining goes. We simply don't have any extra capacity and the red tape and ROI on building another refinery is ridiculous (read "not in my backyard" syndrome). We already refine 90% of our gasoline (we import the crude) and the other 10% is imported mostly in the north-eastern states. Losing a refinery is a big hit to us, losing a pipe that delivers crude from offshore tankers is also a huge hit to us.

With all that said, I still believe the $0.20 raise in gas Thursday afternoon was pure profiteering because of the holiday weekend, not because of the hurricane. I'm just glad I only have to put in 87oct in my tank. Unfortunately my other car has to have 92oct now because the compression has been upped enough that anything less tends to knock. 89oct is good for a about a tank, then back to 92oct. 87oct in that car, not way!

 

Gas mileage is doomed for my car. Streetported 6 port 13B with 600 cfm carb feeding it, exhausting through a custom dual 2.25" exhaust that collects just behind the rear axle. thats what my setup is going to be like. Car probably won't be running untill next spring though, when gas prices are even higher. 10mpg here I come!

On a better note, I've been managing 20mpg city, 29 highway out of the V8 in my 97 t-bird. Not bad for a V8. My moms dodge SX 2.0 only does 28 city and 40 highway on a 4 cyl, and my dads Ram 1500 with the Hemi only does 13-14 city, 20 highway. My sisters 99 cougar V6 does about 23mpg city, 33 highway.

I haven't seen the same effects on a rotary, but on my t-bird, before I did the CAI and exhaust, I was getting about 17-18mpg in the city. After I did both mods, I've been getting 20 mpg consistently.

 

On the bright side, gasoline and oil prices tend to increase during the summer driving months, and decrease after labor day. However, the 3rd world industrialization will continue to place a heavier demand on energy.

The question remains at what point is the pain at the pump going to exceed our rx-7 fanaticism? And when does our rx-7's become to expensive the keep??

 

yea honestly, you guys need to get what like to call "the daily beater". i have a junky honda accord that gets atleast 25mpg city. most of my friends have beater old mazda/ford ranger styel trucks getting the same mpg. if you can score one of these cars for under a grand i would say it's worth it in the long run. i have my 7 parked for the weekdays. even with the turbo on there, it's mpg arent very far off from how it used to be. i can get about 250/tank of 93octane. i'm just scared right now that if i put "93" in at a gas station that was just completely out of fuel... is it really going to be "93"???? so i'm waiting for a couple weeks. hahaha

 

$4.09/gallon here for 89 octane.

 

Actually I think it is realistic to believe the prices will go back down. Back in the early seventies when the "gas crisis" hit, prices quadrupled. We had mile long lines to get gas, and in Denver, we were on allotment. We could only get gas on days of the week that corresponded with the last digit on our license plate. Odd number = odd days etc. Most everyone on this board is WAY too young to remember that mess. I was buying gas for around 25 to 45 cents a gallon, then the "crisis" hit and price went above a dollar. But, 25 years later in Topeka, I was paying 75 cents a gallon again. That was only seven years ago. So, wait and see. Wait and see.

 

self controle is number one I can get 250 miles out of a tank if I stay out of the throttle, but only 190 when I play!