Working to achieve better mileage

In an attempt to improve the mileage of my personal ride, which is a 1990 Geo Storm GSi, I've done several things over time.

The most significant thing I've changed is my driving habits. With the price of gas at $3 per gallon and possibly headed to $4 or more per gallon… it was time to teach this old dog some new tricks.

The FIRST was to SLOW DOWN! That was the hardest one to do… and it resulted in probably the largest increase in mileage for me. Believe it or not, it's true. I think that 55 MPH is stupid on an interstate highway designed to be driven at 85 MPH or more… but driving at 85 MPH in my little car just sucks gas out of the tank faster than I can put it in! So I decided to run a test to see what topping my speed at 65 would do for my mileage. I was shocked to see how much longer a tank of gas lasted.

No, I don't do much in town driving… I do a LOT of highway driving and keeping my speed down really did the trick.

The SECOND was to eliminate "jack rabbit starts" from my program.
When the light turns green and you're behind me… don't be in a hurry because we'll GRADUALLY come up to speed. This saves a LOT of wasted gas also! And, shifting at a LOWER rpm (if you have manual shift) helps too. Revving way up does nothing but waste gas. Save those high rev's for the race track.

The THIRD was to come up to the STOP light gently. Why RUSH from RED light to RED light? It does not make sense and this wastes two things… Your Gas and your Brakes! If you've priced a brake job lately, you know what I mean! And, if you time it right… you may not even have to come to a total stop. This saves even more gas as you don't have to "start the ball rolling" but instead just speed it up again… This is one of those laws of physics that really works for you… so take advantage of it.

A FOURTH thing that anybody can (and should) do weekly is to check your tire pressures. That does not mean the old "eyeball" check… but checking with an accurate Dial Indicating tire pressure gague. I have found that if I add five to 10 pounds of air, it helps a bit on my mileage (especially with lots of highway miles).

After changing some driving habits and remembering good maintenance can equal improved performance… remember to wash and wax your car regularly. Dirty cars do not let the air flow over them as easily as do cars that are clean and shiny!

If you do your own maintenance, consider using AMSOIL products at your next oil change. Our AMSOIL products are pure synthetic and offer less resistance when your engine is working so more of the power the engine creates can go to getting you "down the road" instead of being wasted internally in the engine in just "turning over".

AMSOIL offers Synthetics that are good for 25,000 miles! When used with our AMSOIL Air and Oil filter (both rated for 25,000 miles also) you can know that your vehicle will be giving you all it can while saving lots of money, both in oil changes and in improved mileage and performance.


When it comes to getting all the miles out of a car that you can I am often accused of working my way to the top of that list. The car that I drive is 17 years young and has over 260K miles on it. Getting 35 - 40 miles per gallon regularly is reason enough to not ever get rid of it! However, it is sometimes challenging to get parts for something that was not mass produced for a LONG time and one that is not popular with the young "tuners".

When the air dam finally came off I looked around for something "spiffy" to replace it with and was disappointed to find little available for my car. But being a resourceful person I finally found a great source of material to make my own!

I was in the Yard and Garden section at "Lowes" and I was looking for pavers to build a new patio when my eyes landed on a pallet that was stacked high with white plastic fence posts. These critters were THICK and nearly five inches square! BINGO!!! At just over $20 for an eight foot long post, I headed home for some measuring and cutting…

Here's the Label on the post that I purchased…



And this photo is of the raw version of the spoiler bolted onto the car…



And this is what's left after making just one… If your friends like what you've done, you can easily pay for your source material by cutting out a chunk and selling it to them… or make some good money custom cutting and fitting it on for them? An electric drill and jig saw are all the "heavy" tools you need… This is how much you have left after just one…




Anyway, with the spoiler fitted, I'll be pushing the air around to the sides of the car and not so much flowing under and causing DRAG. If you've noticed lately, anytime you see a race car that is on the track, it sits VERY close to the ground and the reason for that is not only for handling but to decrease the drag caused by air flowing under the car and slowing it down.

So, for $20 bucks worth of fence post and a few fasteners, you'll be lookin' good and getting better mileage.