5.0 AWD fuel economy

[koda2000]

i know we're getting off topic here, but...

safety technology is great, especially with all the distractions people have while driving today, but i prefer to be responsible for my own safety. i wear a seat belt, but i don't like the government telling me i have to. air-bags are fine with me, but i'm not willing to spend the money on technology to have cars talk to one another, remind me that i'm not staying in my lane, that i'm following too close, or applying the brakes for me. someone has a commercial out now that has the vehicle warning the driver that a vehicle 2 cars ahead is about to have an accident. i don't know how they accomplish this, but i really doubt that another beeping noise or blinking light is going to give anyone enough warning to avoid an accident. for me anti-locks brakes aren't a particular necessity. in the 20+ years i've driven ABS equipped vehicles, i can't recall once that they saved me from anything. people today want their cars to drive themselves, so they can text while they ride. maybe that's where we're headed.

i guess i'm just an o'l fart, but i don't even understand the fascination with texting, or the necessity to have a phone stuck to your head constantly. i seldom have the radio on when i drive, and never have my phone turned on because i enjoy the peace and quiet.

 

[SoNic67]

I hate the commercial that shows a distracted mom driver, with a kid in the back of car, that does not pay attention to the road and the CAR brakes for her!
That's what's wrong those days, no personal responsibility for any actions, people expect that somebody else will take care of their problems.

PS: Eventually technology will fail.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I don't even like ABS.

Regarding safety - how about the Buick commercials with Tiger Woods rolling up the window so he can't hear the guy standing beside the car? How safe is a car that's so quiet you can't hear sirens, horns, etc?

Technology - they're advertizing cars that can parallel park themselves now. I saw/have a video tape that shows a Mercury concept car doing just that - back in something like 1962!

 

[koda2000]

in Germany it's really hard to get your driver's license, if i remember correctly you might have to wait until you're 21. the German's take their driving very seriously. back in the 90's they couldn't understand why we wanted cup holders in our vehicles. that being said, Mercedes is right up there with new "safety innovations". i guess that's because that's what the consumer market wants. my '01 EB has more than enough technology in it for me. about the only thing i'd add (if i traveled more) would be SatNav (which i could do buy upgrading my radio, using a smart-phone or visiting Radio-Shack). SoNic67 is right, technology will fail. if you depend on it 100% you'll be screwed when it does. just think how your life would change if a gamma-burst took out our satellites tomorrow?

 

[1998Exp]

No argument, but a bit of a different experience here: after changing the fluid in my 3.73 Limited Slip Diff for the first time in 150K -- with Royal Purple synthetic, I got exactly 0.1 mpg improvement.

One of the biggest thing I found is proper Diff maintenance. Changing that fluid will sometime net almost 1-2mpg if it has never been changed before.

 

[SoNic67]

just think how your life would change if a gamma-burst took out our satellites tomorrow?

If Russia or China (or anybody else) detonates a nuke at high altitude, the resulting EMP pulse will take out all the cars, power plants, water plants...
People like me, living in a city, will be dead in weeks/months, right after we eat all the pets and squirrels in the neighborhood and shoot ourselves to get access to clean water (not polluted by waste and corpses).
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-10-26-emp_N.htm
Oh well...

 

[1998Exp]

Same here. However, I can clearly recall how my ABS-less '85 LTD spun out on an icy road and ended going tail-first in the opposite lane, with a child on board. Luckily, it didn't hit anything, but ABS would have certainly prevented that harrowing experience. Stability control, which did not exist at the time (and which I still don't have) might have even been better...

i know we're getting off topic here, but...
...
in the 20+ years i've driven ABS equipped vehicles, i can't recall once that they saved me from anything...
.

 

[koda2000]

No argument, but a bit of a different experience here: after changing the fluid in my 3.73 Limited Slip Diff for the first time in 150K -- with Royal Purple synthetic, I got exactly 0.1 mpg improvement.

years ago Hot Rod TV (or whatever it was called at the time) checked the fuel economy on a mid-late 20xx 5.0L Mustang with the car on the dyno. then they replaced all the fluids with Royal Purple full synthetics and retested. the result was that it actually got slightly worse MPG afterwards. so what does that tell you?

 

[SoNic67]

Well, they might protect better.
Going 5W20 instead of 5W30 in our 5.0L engines probably saved some fuel, but increased the wear on long term.

 

[71cutty455]

years ago Hot Rod TV (or whatever it was called at the time) checked the fuel economy on a mid-late 20xx 5.0L Mustang with the car on the dyno. then they replaced all the fluids with Royal Purple full synthetics and retested. the result was that it actually got slightly worse MPG afterwards. so what does that tell you?

It tells me that somebody got fired that day

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Be sure to check your O2's and the rest of your systems are working correctly. The whole winter I had been running without my post cat o2 on bank 2, resulting in 10.9-12.2 MPGs, on top of the Winter gas which is more volatile... Hopefully with summer gas, a slight weight reduction, and the o2 fixed I will be around a 15-17 MPG average, with city and highway driving mixed. BTW, just because the check engine light is off doesn't mean the computer didn't send a error code, my bulb burned out, that is why I went all winter with a bad o2 sensor, she was over fueling like a mother!!!

 

[SoNic67]

I am sorry to tell you, but POST cat O2 sensor does nothing for fuel economy, it is there just to check that the cat is still doing it's job.

Winter MPG is bad because the pump gas has a lot more ethanol. And that doesn't have the same caloric content as gasoline.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

I am sorry to tell you, but POST cat O2 sensor does nothing for fuel economy, it is there just to check that the cat is still doing it's job.

Winter MPG is bad because the pump gas has a lot more ethanol. And that doesn't have the same caloric content as gasoline.

I should of also said that I am replacing the pre cat o2's aswell, since this is my second time replacing an o2 I figured I might aswell get them all, hopefully this will go better then my first attemp, it took 6 hours and I had to go through the trans tunnel. The long term fuel trim has been high aswell, so I am suspecting that the factory sensors are lying to the ECM , this was also happening dying the summer aswell.

 

[SoNic67]

I tried to do that too... My O2 sensor is rusted in the pipe, I tried a breaker bar with the O2 key and I managed to damage the exhaust manifold gasket with that torsion (had to replace it).
Still no luck in replacing it.

 

[rb142]

If you are trying to get really rusty sensors out, you need lots of PB blaster and lots of heat. If you get enough heat, it will come apart eventually. Multiple heat-cool cycles may help break the rust free. You are throwing the sensor out anyway, so cut the wires off and put a normal deep socket on it. That will let you put a lot more torque on it than with one of the O2 sockets that are slotted for the wires. (Some actually spread open when a lot of torque is put on them.) Save those for the install. This also lets you put an impact wrench on it, which can also go a long way to helping break it loose. Combined with a torch, it should come out.

 

[jremington59]

I've done all kinds of things to gain mileage and the one thing that did the most was keeping the Mass Air Flow Sensor clean. Mine had never been cleaned and I gained a little over 2 MPG. My next best decision, thanks to Turdle, was purchasing a Scanguage 2. This lets me see at what RPM's I'm getting the best mileage at.

 

[pbnj22]

. My next best decision, thanks to Turdle, was purchasing a Scanguage 2. This lets me see at what RPM's I'm getting the best mileage at.

this. I got an "ultragauge" but same thing. lets you see what gear what rpm and what your instantaneous mileage is. that will change your driving habits and driving habit is probably the biggest factor of mpgs! plus you can clear trouble codes, read trouble codes and monitor lots of sensors which can be entertaining.
mine was 60 bucks and easily has paid for itself.

 

[SoNic67]

I have an ELM327 Bluetooth adapter and Android phones/ PC laptop to use it with.
However, I don't see diving habits being so much an issue as people tend to think. Maybe I know to interpret the results?
A quick excursion to 4mpg (acceleration) followed by a long steady 17mpg (constant 45mph) is better than a loooong 8mpg (slow acceleration) followed by a shorter 17mpg period (because both will reach the next stoplight eventually).
The total gas used it's calculated by integration, instantaneous MPG is worthless by itself.