With gas prices raising anyone know how to increase mileage. i read about pure acetone and putting it with your gas. kinda hesitant about that one any other tips though?
Get a Honda? But seriously. Mainly just make sure the engine is in good tune, tires properly inflated, have the front end alignment checked. Skinny tires are best for economy. And the main number 1 factor, how heavy your right foot is. Keep it under 70 mph.
Agree with that Get a crappy small car to use as a daily driver, v8's are too expensive to be used every day IMO.. Especially up here Sorry for the off topic answer
I have heard that the acetone thing is to raise the octane level. Like has been mentioned before, good tuneup, properly inflated tires, no jackrabbit starts, unload the excess weight from the trunk, keep the car clean, no prolonged idling, etc.
Acetone will not raise your octane. It is not a good thing to put in your gas. Octane has no bearing on what kind of milage you get. You will get the best mileage with a good tune-up, tires inflated to the max (but that will wear tires faster) if you inflate the tires to where they have a rectagular wear patch then you get decent mileage and tire wear. Make sure your vacuum advance is connected and in good working condition. (test it with a vacuum pump and a vacuum gauge - if it leaks down you need a new advance unit. Set you timming at 3000 - 4000 Rpm to 34 degrees total with the vacuum advance disconnected and the line plugged. Make sure your hot air intake is functional and the point gap (if you run points) is set with a dwell meter as close to 28 degrees. Install a vacuum gauge and keep your manifold vacuum above 12 - 14" of Mercury all the time. Coast when traffic gets in the way but try not to break. Drive slower and smoother. Leave a lot of room between your car and the one in front of it so you don't have to use your brakes. Run as hot a thermostat as you can for your car and don't let the car completely warm up before you start driving it.Keep your idle as low as you can without stalling out all the time. All of these things can have a real benefit on fuel consumption.
Acetone is a solvent it has no octane rating - add it to your gas and you lower the octane. I would have to look at the chemistry to see if it would add any power but I really doubt it. Like adding moth balls to your fuel - it is an old wives tale.
Wish there were more parts out there for engine conversions to a smaller engine, one thing I find odd is that some 4 bangers get only 25 mpg... yet some injected v8s get the same... I wounder what engine would get the best mileage for a maverick? I think if someone went to small it would use up gas trying to move the car and to large (i know, I know, there would be such a thing if it wasent for the gas situation) it would use up gas just idling... I wish I could figure out the weight/power/engine efficiency/etc ratio to find a engine that is efficient within it self and with enough power to move a maverick efficiently... am I high jacking this thread... sorry if I am...
I have been thinking about this very thing a ton for the past coupe of years. Keeping it in the Ford family, the best engine I can see would be the 2.3L I4 Duratec out of the 2001.5 and up Rangers. You can read more about that engine here: http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209177 It would require a Mustang II front end to install the engine in a Maverick. Or the 3.0L V6 Vulcan V6, also out of a Ranger. I actually test fitted this engine in my '73 Maverick, and it fit great between the shock towers. It was out of a 2001 Ranger, and those are the stock Ranger manifolds on it. The problem is, the oil pan is rear sump, so it hits the steering linkage. And it is impossible to change it to front sump due to the way the oil pump is designed. This is the main reason I want to go to Mustang II front end on that '73, so I can try any engine I want.
Think about it this way: If all the losses remain constant it takes a certain amount of fuel to push a certain amount of load at any given speed. That means that if you have a 3500 lb car and it get 27 MPG with a 4 cyl. then it is capable of 27 MPG with a six or 8 cylinder. My Mavericks get about 20 to 25 MPG with 302s in stock trim and a decent tune-up. If you want better mileage then streamline the car, get rid of weight, tune for economy, put skinnier tires on and inflate them to the max. After you do all that and you are still getting 16 or less MPG then start driving like every drop of gasoline is GOLD. Accelerate slowly, use your brakes as little as possible - lengthen your following distance and coast instead of braking. Plan your trips by the shortest route instead of the fastest. In short drive like all those people you hate to follow - like me.
DON'T use aceton as it WILL dry out the rubber parts in the fuel system. There are many things that can improve MPG. How much do you want to spend to save a gallon. Add on EFI, RV Cam, smaller carb, recurve timing for MPG, increase tire presure to the max allowable, skinny radials, better ignition... Saving fuel may cost ya more then the fuel you save.
If your car is a daily driver, an AOD conversion is something to consider. I plan on going AOD on my street/strip car but for a differnet reason. I don't have a trailer(no room at my house) to haul my car and 4.11 gears will make for a long slow ride home from the track with a C4 (90 miles round trip). Anybody that is upgrading or replacing their C4 should consider this. It really helps us guys with 3.55+ gear ratios to have performance AND highway cruising capability. The AOD cost more than a C4 in general(look for a deal!), but it will pay for itself over time more or less depending on how many miles are being put on the car. If the car is only driven a few hundred miles a year then who cares about mileage.
I got on this and started thinking about getting a new car and I came up with this http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?p=460150#post460150 :bananaman
Make sure your fuel filter and air filters are clean. This does make a big difference. All the other things mentioned are good as well.
