Gas Saving Tips
05-28-2011, 08:54 PM
#1
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Gas Saving Tips
Ok so with the current crunch of how much can any car, even our s2000, go, on a tank of gas. Back in February, an older guy taught me how to drive standard properly. He told me that, for as long as I had been driving standard, I had been doing it wrong. At first I kept saying "there is no way, how?!". Well eventually I convinced him to teach me what he had meant. He said it would help me go 20% further or so. Damn right, I get better gas mileage now. I am just under half a tank now, and I have 300 kms on it. I did this last tank, and the tank before that I got 530 kms. As some of you know, I am not the slowest driver ever by any means 
. Now to answer the question "how have I been driving standard wrong all these years?!".
While shifting through the gears, is where we make the mistake. It is where we can save plenty of fuel if we use the proper technique. If our cars engine is at 3000 rpm at 20km/h, 2nd gears rpm will be approximately 2300. As soon as we press the clutch in, the rpms will start to drop. If we allow our engine rpms to drop below 2300 (2nd gear rpm) before we get the gear in and the clutch released, it will use more gas. Why? Because for our engines to get back up to 2300, it takes more gas to match the speed of the engine to the speed of the car. If the engine is at 1500 rpms, it only makes sense that getting it to 2300 to get it into 2nd gear will need more gas than just simply sliding it into gear if the engine is at or slightly above 2300 rpms. In very basic terms, shift much quicker. You dont need to press the clutch in ALL the way, then pull it out of gear to put it into the next. If you ever play with clutchless shifting, you can pull it out as soon as you let go of the gas. Im not saying go do clutchless, I screwed my camaro up learning clutchless shifts. Same idea though, to get the shifting quicker, just with a clutch.
I have also noticed during downshifts, when I do the throttle blip to do the rev matching, Ill use much more gas. If I downshift while holding my foot on the gas just enough to match, it will use much less gas. As cool as blip rev matching sounds with an exhaust, it can use more gas in the long run.
One more thing too, is to allow the car to STAY IN THE GEAR while slowing down. The engine will shut off the injectors, therefor saving gas. The engine is still connected to the transmission, which is being spun by the cars momentum. The momentum of the car, spinning the tranny, spinning the engine, is what keeps it still running. As soon as you press the clutch to put it into neutral, the car has to run on its own again, therefor using more gas. Keep it in gear until you need to put it in neutral.
Hope this helps everyone save some gas, for all those who already knew and to those who didnt know yet.
Edit: Forgot to add, always use shell 91 specifically, it will go further than any other gas station you fill up at. I guarantee this 100%.
. Now to answer the question "how have I been driving standard wrong all these years?!".While shifting through the gears, is where we make the mistake. It is where we can save plenty of fuel if we use the proper technique. If our cars engine is at 3000 rpm at 20km/h, 2nd gears rpm will be approximately 2300. As soon as we press the clutch in, the rpms will start to drop. If we allow our engine rpms to drop below 2300 (2nd gear rpm) before we get the gear in and the clutch released, it will use more gas. Why? Because for our engines to get back up to 2300, it takes more gas to match the speed of the engine to the speed of the car. If the engine is at 1500 rpms, it only makes sense that getting it to 2300 to get it into 2nd gear will need more gas than just simply sliding it into gear if the engine is at or slightly above 2300 rpms. In very basic terms, shift much quicker. You dont need to press the clutch in ALL the way, then pull it out of gear to put it into the next. If you ever play with clutchless shifting, you can pull it out as soon as you let go of the gas. Im not saying go do clutchless, I screwed my camaro up learning clutchless shifts. Same idea though, to get the shifting quicker, just with a clutch.
I have also noticed during downshifts, when I do the throttle blip to do the rev matching, Ill use much more gas. If I downshift while holding my foot on the gas just enough to match, it will use much less gas. As cool as blip rev matching sounds with an exhaust, it can use more gas in the long run.
One more thing too, is to allow the car to STAY IN THE GEAR while slowing down. The engine will shut off the injectors, therefor saving gas. The engine is still connected to the transmission, which is being spun by the cars momentum. The momentum of the car, spinning the tranny, spinning the engine, is what keeps it still running. As soon as you press the clutch to put it into neutral, the car has to run on its own again, therefor using more gas. Keep it in gear until you need to put it in neutral.
Hope this helps everyone save some gas, for all those who already knew and to those who didnt know yet.
Edit: Forgot to add, always use shell 91 specifically, it will go further than any other gas station you fill up at. I guarantee this 100%.
05-29-2011, 05:23 AM
#5
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great info, I will be practicing some of those techniques in the next coming weeks. I agree with the shell 91 octane comment completely. In my Si, I tried, Shell, Petro, Sunoco and Esso and nothing came close to giving me the mileage I got on Shell gas.
05-29-2011, 05:35 AM
#6
Excellent topic Fluky.
You know staying out of VTEC is the best way to keep fuel economy up, but then you may as well be driving a Yaris is you do that. For me this car is a pleasure use vehicle, I don't really care about fuel economy as my top priority but I can understand for people that use it as DD.
High rpms and high throttle input is what uses larger amounts of fuel. You need to find the best rpms where you use the least amount of throttle input % in cruising conditions. Short shifting on rpms will save fuel but you don't want to get into a gear where you need to use 75% throttle to keep the car moving and lugging on the engine/drivetrain. It's a balance between rpms and throttle input. I used to love having a VAFC on my other Hondas as you could read your throttle input % instantaneously, I remember seeing my throttle input % drop when the highway would switch from asphalt to concrete in highway cruising conditions. That was cool.
You are correct on throttle-blipping using more fuel. To get a proper and smooth double-clutch downshift you need to really stab the gas pedal and get rpms up to about 4000 on this car, so that will use added fuel. If you don't do it that way then it isn't worth even doing it so you are better off just downshifting like normal.
Outside of shifting and driving variables consider these:
Pump up your tires 2-3 psi above the recommended pressures, use synthetic fluids in the engine and diff. Make sure your plug gaps haven't opened up due to erosion of the center electrode as the miles rack up on the vehicle. Keep your brake caliper guide pins lubed on a regular basis ( I do mine once a year min.). How about top-up driving vs. top-down? , there can be a difference in drag between the two, and using the tonneau cover when you are top down driving. Lightweight rims and narrower tires ?, have you ever considered the weight of tires when you go to purchase tires, they do differ from brand to brand and profile to profile. I think an ap1 wheel tire combo would be the most efficient too bad they look like crap as compared to ap2 wheel/tire sizes. How about a lowered vehicle height ? . Things to consider.
Shell 91 will give better fuel economy as long as it isn't ethanol enhanced, as of right now it looks like it doesn't use ethanol, but if they use do ethanol in it then fuel economy will drop just like other brands of fuel.
You know staying out of VTEC is the best way to keep fuel economy up, but then you may as well be driving a Yaris is you do that. For me this car is a pleasure use vehicle, I don't really care about fuel economy as my top priority but I can understand for people that use it as DD.
High rpms and high throttle input is what uses larger amounts of fuel. You need to find the best rpms where you use the least amount of throttle input % in cruising conditions. Short shifting on rpms will save fuel but you don't want to get into a gear where you need to use 75% throttle to keep the car moving and lugging on the engine/drivetrain. It's a balance between rpms and throttle input. I used to love having a VAFC on my other Hondas as you could read your throttle input % instantaneously, I remember seeing my throttle input % drop when the highway would switch from asphalt to concrete in highway cruising conditions. That was cool.
You are correct on throttle-blipping using more fuel. To get a proper and smooth double-clutch downshift you need to really stab the gas pedal and get rpms up to about 4000 on this car, so that will use added fuel. If you don't do it that way then it isn't worth even doing it so you are better off just downshifting like normal.
Outside of shifting and driving variables consider these:
Pump up your tires 2-3 psi above the recommended pressures, use synthetic fluids in the engine and diff. Make sure your plug gaps haven't opened up due to erosion of the center electrode as the miles rack up on the vehicle. Keep your brake caliper guide pins lubed on a regular basis ( I do mine once a year min.). How about top-up driving vs. top-down? , there can be a difference in drag between the two, and using the tonneau cover when you are top down driving. Lightweight rims and narrower tires ?, have you ever considered the weight of tires when you go to purchase tires, they do differ from brand to brand and profile to profile. I think an ap1 wheel tire combo would be the most efficient too bad they look like crap as compared to ap2 wheel/tire sizes. How about a lowered vehicle height ? . Things to consider.
Shell 91 will give better fuel economy as long as it isn't ethanol enhanced, as of right now it looks like it doesn't use ethanol, but if they use do ethanol in it then fuel economy will drop just like other brands of fuel.
05-29-2011, 08:17 AM
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I actually just figured this out driving my buddy's TSX.
He mentioned that you don't have to clutch all the way. In fact you barely have to clutch to change gears!
Tried it in the s and it does actually get you more kms.
I just did this so it shifts smoother! But why not save gas while at it.
Good post man!
He mentioned that you don't have to clutch all the way. In fact you barely have to clutch to change gears!
Tried it in the s and it does actually get you more kms.
I just did this so it shifts smoother! But why not save gas while at it.
Good post man!
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05-29-2011, 08:49 AM
#8
The S2000 transmissions can suffer damage from overly quick shifting procedures used in the long term, I'd prefer to give the tranny a bit more time by using the full stroke of the clutch pedal on each shift. Saving a couple cents a month won't cover the expense and aggravation of replacing my transmission. My tranny shifts flawlessly with 95k on it, I'd rather not experiment with it at this point, plus I need to keep this car forever, lol. 
05-29-2011, 09:58 AM
#9
The S2000 transmissions can suffer damage from overly quick shifting procedures used in the long term, I'd prefer to give the tranny a bit more time by using the full stroke of the clutch pedal on each shift. Saving a couple cents a month won't cover the expense and aggravation of replacing my transmission. My tranny shifts flawlessly with 95k on it, I'd rather not experiment with it at this point, plus I need to keep this car forever, lol.
Not depressing your clutch and shifting gears as fast a you can to save $2? Cmon, Srs?
I though I owned a super exclusive exotic, not a Prius.
I get about 420-480km/tank with a 9k climax and am happy with that.
No need to drive like Ms. Daisy for an extra 20kms.
06-11-2011, 11:21 AM
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