Fuel economy and improving it, among other things.

[sciroccos at earthlink.net (Jim Ruffi)]

Throw in a 1.1 L motor  ...hee hee
Maybe consider the fact that some tires give better mileage than others,
too.
And inflation, of course!

Here's a stupid project that I like (if your car needs it): repaint the
wiper arms, to make them look like new.  Maybe do the same to the window
trim if your car needs?

Some other ideas (all cheap):
Remove the door handles, disassemble the locks, grease the whole thing and
replace handles with new gaskets.  Something you'll appreciate every day.

Change your vacuum lines....cheap.  Maybe your WW hose, too.
Replace your brake fluid.
Remove and clean your coolant, washer and brake reservoirs.

Rebush your shift linkage.

Jim

>-----Original Message-----
>From: scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org
>[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org]On
>Behalf Of GGehrke
>Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 9:36 AM
>To: Scirocco list
>Subject: Fuel economy and improving it, among other things.
>
>
>So in the 43-whatever-mpg thread a couple people were saying they got
>over 30mpg on their sciroccos (w/o diesel motors).  I've been keeping
>a close eye on my mileage and such since I fixed my speedometer (day
>before cincy) and have not been able to get those sort of numbers and
>it's been essentially 100% highway miles.
>
>Since then I've gone 1174 miles on 41.731 gallons of 89 octane.  That
>comes to 28.1mpg.  Between individual fills I'm usually around 27.5.
>The other day on my drive home I drove for a while with nothing but
>fuel economy in mind for one stint across KY and went 150 miles at
>30.08mpg, but that required driving strictly 65 +/-5 mph, being
>extremely conscious of hills, very slow smooth throttle changes, and
>even drafting behind trucks.
>
>Is this as low as I feel like it is for the engine?  What can I do to
>improve it.  I have one more 600 mile pull left at the end of this
>summer, and I'd really like to get the best mileage I can.
>
>Yesterday I changed my air filter (still just a paper filter), cleaned
>my fuel return line (someone wrote about it as the "tip of the year"
>or something on vortex), and fixed my alignment.  I might pick up a
>bottle of fuel system cleaner today at autozone cause they're cheap
>and I haven't done it yet.  What else is there to do?
>
>And a spinoff question: What else can I do to my car now thats
>cheap/free.  I am going to replace my exhaust gaskets and do some body
>work, but other than that I'm basically out of stuff to work on!  I
>have a ton of free time and need ideas :)
>
>-Grant-
>