Non car people and their crazy fuel saving ideas.

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J-MacsMopars

J-MacsMopars

Shade Tree Vintage Auto on YouTube
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As some of you know, I work as a service advisor at a car dealership. With this position I get to see some crazy things, recently with fuel prices getting higher, people come up with some interesting ideas. Everyone knows the trick of pumping up your tires a few pounds, how ever somepeople take this to an extreme. I have had people in here with their civic with 65+ psi. You try to tell them the damage that it causes and all try can see is that it may save them a buck at the fuel pump. Well today I heard a new one. A guy comes in for an oil change and says he ONLY wants four quarts of oil. Is vehicle requires 5.5 quarts. I tell him that the vehicle requires 5.5 and he declines and says he wants four in there as it is less restrictive and gets better milage. I guess that buck he may save will go towards replacing the engine.

What are some stories you see or hear?
 
J-MacsMopars said:
A guy comes in for an oil change and says he ONLY wants four quarts of oil. Is vehicle requires 5.5 quarts. I tell him that the vehicle requires 5.5 and he declines and says he wants four in there as it is less restrictive and gets better milage. I guess that buck he may save will go towards replacing the engine.
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thats a good one, what an idiot. should have told him to mix the oil with a little distilled water for less friction lol. ive heard a few, throwing it in neutral when going down hills, shutting the car off at red lights, filling the tank all the way up because the car will burn less fuel with more pressure lol
 
What a stupid ***. I hope yall wrote on that ticket in bold letters "NO WARRANTY"
 
One of the best I'd initially heard about was how my friend's grandfather disconnected 3 of the 6 plug wires on his '63 Dart's 170 Slant Six .
Even at age 14 I thought "this has to be a joke ! No one's *that* stupid !".

Then I actually saw this act of stupidity ! There he was poking around under the hood , and sure as **** , every-other plug wire was removed !
His "reasoning" ?
He seriously believed that his car would run on only 3 of the 6 cylinders , thusly saving him on gas !
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The one "gas saving" move which really , truly gets under my skin is when some cheap bastard runs 87 octane in a car which requires premium !!

"The salesman told me it's okay . He told me that whatever gas is used during the first fill-up , the car will always operate on it."

:knob:

I heard this nugget of knowledge when I worked at a full-service gas station . These wealthy assholes with their new Cadillacs , Acuras , etc. , etc. , insisting on 87 octane !

:finga:

Sure , your car will "run" on lower octane gas , but NOT to its optimum performance and economy !!
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I like that : "4 quarts instead of the required 5.5 quarts ! What a fuc:protest:in' idiot !!

Reminds me of the time when a counter person at "The Zone" told me I should be running Mobil 1's 0W-30 in my Coronet as it'd save me on gas .
When I mentioned something to the effect of internal tolerances and 130,000 miles , he just gave me a blank stare .
 
hey, I coast down hills in neutral and shut off my car at stop lights. helped me get 14 mpg in my cuda....once.
 
i run 160 deg thermostat i heard i will hurt fuel milage in my 360 small block
duster like i built the car for gas milage
 
My favorite is all the yokels who drive around with their tailgates down, then leave the truck idling when they go into the quicky mart.

I have found that trying to save money on gas makes people bad at math.

Well, I think this exhaust system/programmer/turbolater is going to save me some gas money....

Exhaust system = $500.00
Mpg before/after = 14/15
Gas = $4.00 per gallon
Cost per mile before .29 cents
Cost per mile after .26
Difference per mile .03
Miles to drive to *break even* on gas saving purchase...16,666

Or, I"m going to buy a harley to ride around to save on gas money....
 
LXguy said:
Or, I"m going to buy a harley to ride around to save on gas money....
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Yea i purchased a GSXR 750 Years ago. Figured i would drive it all the time in the summer and save some fuel.....No speeding tickets cost alot. :violent1:
 
Had a guy come into the shop with this soda can size contraption on his fuel line. At first I thought it was a filter. I found out it was some sort of magnet that is supposed alter the atomic structure of gas blah blah blah blah.
The guy insisted it worked and refused to have it removed.
can't say to much though, we sell BG snake oil every day.
 
gunbunny said:
Had a guy come into the shop with this soda can size contraption on his fuel line. At first I thought it was a filter. I found out it was some sort of magnet that is supposed alter the atomic structure of gas blah blah blah blah.
The guy insisted it worked and refused to have it removed.
can't say to much though, we sell BG snake oil every day.
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Was it one of these
avp-f3624_w.jpg
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AVP-F3624/?rtype=10
 
Aren't these the same folks who bought us those famously popular "hybirds" in the first place?
 
LXguy said:
My favorite is all the yokels who drive around with their tailgates down, then leave the truck idling when they go into the quicky mart.

I have found that trying to save money on gas makes people bad at math.

Well, I think this exhaust system/programmer/turbolater is going to save me some gas money....

Exhaust system = $500.00
Mpg before/after = 14/15
Gas = $4.00 per gallon
Cost per mile before .29 cents
Cost per mile after .26
Difference per mile .03
Miles to drive to *break even* on gas saving purchase...16,666

Or, I"m going to buy a harley to ride around to save on gas money....
Click to expand...

I've wondered about that. Does dropping the tailgate really help. I know around town it probably doesn't but at highway speeds it kinda makes sense. Anyone here ever done a mileage comparison?
 
MVRCorp said:
I've wondered about that. Does dropping the tailgate really help. I know around town it probably doesn't but at highway speeds it kinda makes sense. Anyone here ever done a mileage comparison?
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That actually has been studied. I think even the mythbusters did also.
There is no aerodynamic gain or gain of fuel mileage.
Riding around with the tailgate down is just redneck.
 
Fresh air intake,index your plugs,remove bug deflectors these three things are cheap,simple and work.
 
MVRCorp said:
I've wondered about that. Does dropping the tailgate really help. I know around town it probably doesn't but at highway speeds it kinda makes sense. Anyone here ever done a mileage comparison?
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Mythbusters said that having the tailgate UP actually is better for your fuel economy than having the tailgate down

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/m...tation/driving-tailgate-fuel-consumption.html

If you drive a pickup, common sense might lead you to think that opening the tailgate on the road is the more fuel efficient way to go. In fact, the idea that tailgates block airflow and increase drag became widely circulated, and some truck owners intentionally drive with the tailgates down to ease up on gas consumption.

But when MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage drove identical trucks under the same conditions across the desert — one with tailgate up and the other with it down — Jamie's tailgate-closed pickup outlasted Adam's by more than 30 miles (48 kilometers).

Closing the tailgate actually improves fuel efficiency because it creates a type of airflow called a separated bubble within the bed of the truck. As wind rushes over the moving truck, that bubble of slow-moving air deflects it over the raised tailgate. By guiding surrounding air over and across the bed of the truck, that vortex effect prevents added drag.

However, driving with the tailgate open eliminates the bubble effect, pulling the air toward the truck bed and creating more drag rather than deflecting the wind. Some gas-conscious pickup drivers still swear by leaving their tailgates open, but science sides with leaving it up.
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LH23H2R said:
One of the best I'd initially heard about was how my friend's grandfather disconnected 3 of the 6 plug wires on his '63 Dart's 170 Slant Six .
Even at age 14 I thought "this has to be a joke ! No one's *that* stupid !".

Then I actually saw this act of stupidity ! There he was poking around under the hood , and sure as **** , every-other plug wire was removed !
His "reasoning" ?
He seriously believed that his car would run on only 3 of the 6 cylinders , thusly saving him on gas !
____________________________________________


:knob:

G.M. thought that would work, too, with the V-8-6-4. It was supposed to start out on 8 cylinders and end up running on 4 when you got to a certain speed. It was a disaster.
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