How to improve fuel economy in VT Series II 3.8

[shawnshah]

Hi Guys,

Question is simple, other then driving slow what are the adjustments or things we can do to improve fuel economy in VT Series II 3.8.

[1dvsbstd]

well first of all.. is it serviced? .. are u running good tyres? what are u getting out of a tank?
running 98 is generally better as u get more kms out of a tank..
also replacing things help..

Cheers

[MikeCuzzy]

There's a lot you can do.

* Don't rev it past about 2500rpm.
* Ensure tyres are inflated correctly and aligned and balanced.
* Remove unneeded weight from the car (you know the fishing gear from a holiday 12 months ago and such)
* Run premium fuels such as 98 RON.
* Run a bottle of injector cleaner through the fuel tank.
* Don't use the A/C this can draw an extra 10% if fuel and power easily, and don't worry about having windows down. Unless you are going well over 100km, the drag coefficient of your car won't change that much.
* If you are looking to save money in the long run, perhaps swap to LPG?
* Again, shifting at lower revs is the easiest way.

Mike.

[edals]

3.8 V6 Fuel Economy Improvements Bang for Buck

This should help

[walesy]

other than what everyone else said if your still worried about fuel usage buy a prius ... lucky you dont drive a cammed LS1/2 then you would REALLY know what fuel usage is, funny how we never usually worry too much about it though, the enjoyment of driving outweighs the cost of fuel

[DLFHUB666]

Walk every 2nd day.

[pablo]

My well mantained 97 VT auto with less than 200K and NOT revved above 2000 (granny driven) with 42-4 lbs in the stock tyres running 91ron fuel gets 12.3-4. liters per 100K's regularly. If I put 95 or 98ron fuel in it, still the same economy, definatelly NO improvement (GMH will even tell you that). Same with ethanol E10, same results.

[shawnshah]

Walesy, man you are so right saying the enjoyment of driving outweighs the cost of fuel. But I went to the fuel station yesterday and saw $1.51 per litre, flippin heck man thats way too much for a litre of fuel dont you think.

I still like to hit pedal when red turns to green. But bloody hell the fuel prices are going through the roof.

DLFHUB666 I might start doing that once fuel prices hit $2 a litre.

edals, thanks for the link dude.

[TonyJZX]

VT = 1,6 ton

3.8 litres in a low compression pushrod package and 4 spds is never gonna be all that efficient

maybe change the 02 sensors

[showbags]

8/71 supercharged 573ci, two 1150 dominator carbs, in a 1200kg street rod=250km to a 90 ltr tank. I don't think you've got anything to complain about with your ecotec.

[pablo]

AH!..so YOUR the one juliar should be chasing for her friggin CARBON TAX bullshit!....BLAH!

[VYMAD]

My VY sits at around 10.2 lper100km. I have just cleaned the throttle body/plenum. I always run Caltex Vortex 95, and Nulon injector cleaner every 2-3,000 k's. Most driving is 60-80 km/h. I give it a bit now and then taking off, always use aircon and have a lot of added weight in body deadener, accessories etc. I reckon with 136,000 k's on the clock it's time for o2 sensors changed and then would expect 9.8ish. But then again if I reset the display on a long freeway/hiway drive it will sit around 8.8-9 lph.

[shawnshah]

@ 97 Bermuda Calais, dude I think you own a petrol station. Hey Julia here is the source of your bullshit carbon tax.

Fellas checkout the link below, your thoughts on this
HOLDEN VS VT VX V6 SPEEDWAY STREET STOCK STAGE 1 ENGINE (eBay item 290550417312 end time 05-Apr-11 08:57:48 AEST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats

[shawnshah]

@VYMAD, believe or not my VT likes shell fuel, I tried BP and caltex but the engine was dragging. Try shell standard fuel and let me know.

[DLFHUB666]

DLFHUB666 I might start doing that once fuel prices hit $2 a litre.
.

Fuel is $2 a litre here.

[MikeCuzzy]

Fuel is $2 a litre here.

Where do you live?

[DLFHUB666]

Nhulunbuy NT, Its in the middle of nowhere, Wouldnt suprise me if it goes to $2.20.

[tdirago]

- Clean Airfilter
- Clean Plenum Chamer and Throttle Body
- Put a bottle of engine/injector cleaner in your tank
- New Oil
- No Leaks


I use standard 95 unleaded and can get aorund 700kms a tank around town, but the most important part is to fill up on the cheap days, down in mornington peninsula its friday and saturday wierdly enough

[MikeCuzzy]

Ahh that explains it a little, I'm sort of lucky where I live (Warragamba, NSW) it's a little bit out of Sydney, our fuel prices are usually cheaper on average cause they don't go up and down all over the place. When we get a shipment a fuel the price is modified to go with it, and stays till the next. Though it's up at the moment to $1.40 for 91.

Don't want to even think about $2 a litre. I'd be paying $120-130 a week, I'm a student and the $85 it's costing me at the moment is hard enough to find.

[VYMAD]

@VYMAD, believe or not my VT likes shell fuel, I tried BP and caltex but the engine was dragging. Try shell standard fuel and let me know.

Nah, sorry, bnut I aint used Shell since they were the first to introduce half lead in the old days. Since then I've acquired some information on Shell fuels.... But I won't go into that now as I have discussed my opinion of Shell on this forum more than once in the past. If it works for you, though- hook in.

[wrx884]

id have 2 say i find using normal 91 gets me more KMs out of my tank rather than 95 and 98 not sure y. i still mostly use 95 tho 2 give it all a clean and it still gets 550-800kms out of a tank. fuel prices dont bother me im used 2 paying 1.50 over 5 years ago and its only gettin 2 that price now days in perth. so dont know y ppl should complain about fuel yet haha.

[schrinky]

i have found i am getting better fuel economy running bp91 and 1/2 a bottle of repco injector cleaner every tank, been doing some trials over the last few months, for a month i ran bp ultimate, was getting around 580 purely around town, started a month ago using 91 and injector cleaner and im getting 600-620 a tank, plus it works out cheaper buy the bottle of injector cleaner than spending the extra on the ultimate. that is only around town though, on a long distance cruise, run bp ultimate for two tanks before the trip and put injector cleaner in as well and you can get under 6.5l per 100.

the guy at repco that i spoke to said that the repco injector cleaner is the same as the nulon, its the same colour and come in pretty much the same bottle.

thats just what ive had through experience, everyone will have an opinion from their own experience

[shawnshah]

Vymad, care to give me the link to that shell info thread

[lufkin]

Schrinky whats the injector cleaner cost roughly?

[MikeCuzzy]

Schrinky whats the injector cleaner cost roughly?

From my experience it is $9-$12 a bottle. Which is roughly 350mL.