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I got a chevy cobalt 06. Racing seats which knocked down the wieght alot, a k@n intake, and 17 inch tires with lighter rims filled to 32 psi. What advice if any can you guys give me to increase my Mpg. Thanks and God be with you

Welcome!

First, have you read the articles along the right side of the home page, especially the one titled "Beating the EPA"?

The biggest and easiest FE tweaks for most cars include pumping the tires to sidewall pressure and slowing down.

Feel free to read the article, ask questions, and check the glossary on the left side for unfamiliar terms.

Welcome. I see that Chevy wasted no time in letting us know that the Cobalt is tops in MPG in it's class of American vehicles.

It will be interesting to see how well you are able to beat the pants off the EPA estimates. Take it slow, learn and incorporate one thing at a time. Be safe. Slow starts, gentle stops (or better yet, no stops) will do a lot. Learn to gauge the traffic signals on your commute, so you can catch most (if not all) when they are green, so you don't have to stop. If you do get caught by a light changing red as you approache, shut down the engine and coast to a stop. Restart just before the light changes to green so you can keep out of people's way. Stay to the right lane whenever possible, and keep to the speed limits (or less). Those are the easy ones. Other tips require a bit of learning. Read and ask, you'll be amazed at your progress.

Oh, forgot to mention:

Will Chevy upgrade your ECU to the new XFE map? That should give you 2 MPG or so.

I bumped up my tires to about 50 psi, and im watching my driving alot better. I was hoping to get the ECU tuner from HP tuners but thats a good 400-700 bucks. I dont know if chevy will scan the computer.

Sounds good unkerns, hoping the wind will always be at your back! There are a fair number of things you can do, to make your commute more efficient. As you learn one tip at a time, and put it in practice until you are good at it, you will just get more motivated as you see the improvements that you are making.

Welcome to the club. There are lots of helpful people and articles here.

did some research on too new substances for hypermiling.

1. Boric Acid - in oil mixture put as much will mix into it (slickens oil, grabs to metal, and cleans off carbon)

2. Acetone - in fuel, one ounce per 10 gallons (make the fuel more combustable)

I would be interested to know if boric acid and acetone work well, but It seems unlikely that big manufacturers would not have already tested and used any cost effective substance that improves their product.

Both boric acid and acetone work, but not for boosting your mileage. Don't bother with them. Synthetic oil works well. And keep the acetone for removing nail polish.

Im testing them out as we speak, but I also dont know where to get 0w-30. Does autozone carry it?

Hi Unkerns:

___In the case of Acetone and Boric acid, the magic elixirs are only there to fill somebody else’s wallet. Even if it is your local pharmacy ;)

___Use what is given and your Cobalt should be in the mid 40’s in no time.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Ive been trying all the hypermiling tecniques for instance shutting the car of when coming to lights, driving slower, slow acceleration and acting like there are no brakes when stopping. The all work in my wifes care but not the cobalt. Any advice that might actually work for me. Oh yeah inflating the tires to 50 psi helped, now im up to 28.5 mpg

Unkerns, these techniques should work in any car. Go back to the beginning, and just do one thing at a time until "you are at one with the pavement."

Only then should you try to learn another technique.

Chances are that the Cobalt is too much of a blast to drive, and it is impossible to keep your foot out of it right now. If that's the case, get used to your new car first. Then use mind over matter to control your right foot rigidly. It ain't always easy, but that's what makes it the challenge that it is. Man versus Machine.

I'm expecting your Cobalt to be up into the 40s, easy.

Ive been trying all the hypermiling tecniques for instance shutting the car of when coming to lights, driving slower, slow acceleration and acting like there are no brakes when stopping. The all work in my wifes care but not the cobalt. Any advice that might actually work for me. Oh yeah inflating the tires to 50 psi helped, now im up to 28.5 mpg

Do you have a scangauge or something similar?

the on-board computer lets me know what my mpg is. Ive had the car for 2 years now. It was hard driving those tecniques at first cuz all the other drivers were getting really mad. None of it seemed to work it actually knocked down my mpg by .1 lol

the on-board computer lets me know what my mpg is. Ive had the car for 2 years now. It was hard driving those tecniques at first cuz all the other drivers were getting really mad. None of it seemed to work it actually knocked down my mpg by .1 lol

Have you tried to pulse and glide? It even helps my ancient Caddy post good numbers.

Whats pulse and glide and how do i do it