About 25 in the Miata, it sees the rev-limiter on a semi-regular basis, and 4.1 final drive ratio doesn't do much for it.. and 5th is BARELY over drive. 4,000 RPM at 80 mph. Woot.
Similar to Venkman's mileage in his Bronco with my wife's Bronco. I'd love to see anything getting 30 MPG haul a 3,000 lb trailer over the Rockies, though.
Yeah, my next car I'll deffinitly get a diesel or a hybrid.
Some advice that saves me some gas is....
#1-Coasting is nice when your on slight declines in the road
#2- Cruise control (Unless your going uphill)
#3-Tire pressure is slightly over inflated.
-Do you remember when your a kid, and you go down hill on a bike? The harder the tires, the faster your went. Same prinicpels apply, but dont make it to over inflated :^/
Coast, yes. Cruise, yes. Tire over-inflation? A qualified no. Let me qualify that no.
If you're talking about inflating past the maximum on the sidewall of the tire, don't. That max rating is there for a reason. Overinflation can cause serious problems with handling and/or braking. Your life is worth a lot more than a few drops of fuel. There's still enough around, trust me.
If you're talking about the inflation placard on the vehicle... well, I can't speak on the ones outside the US, but the companies that sell in the US always put numbers that are far too low on those. They say something like 32 PSI for my Miata, which is almost 10 PSI too low for me. I run about 42 front and 38 rear for the best handling balance (max tire pressure on the sidewall is 44.)
Other fuel-savings methods:
Thinner oil in the engine. Running 20W50? (I do, my engines are worth more than some gas.) 5W30 takes less energy to pump, therefore you save fuel. This is the ENTIRE reason some companies are going to 5W20, so if your car is rated for that piss-thin oil, go for it... just don't cry when your engine finally dies.
You can apply that to the rest of the drivetrain: thinner transmission oil (unless you have an AT, then you don't really have a choice, and if you have an AT, you're hosed mileage-wise anyway), etc.
Take belts off crap you don't need, or use belts that are short enough to bypass useless crap like Air Injection pumps, AC compressors, power steering pumps (takes more mods than just a shorter belt to work right). The only two items you REALLY need? The alternator and water pump.
Get an alignment. Your car probably needs one by now...
Take the excess crap out of your car!! Weight wastes fuel (and speed.
) Just ditching the crap that's sitting in your car for no good reason is a great start. If you want to get really crazy about it, pull the rear seat (if you don't use it), pull the spare and tools (carry a cell phone and AAA card), carpet, headliner, most of the dash, airbags... pretty much anything you don't NEED to drive. Combine this with ditching crap like the belt-driven AIR pump (older cars) and AC system, you're on the right track.
Turn crap off. Yeah, it sounds dumb, but running electrical stuff puts a load on your alternator, and that puts a load on your engine. It does in fact take HP to run your heater fan at high speed. Turn it off except when you need it. Disable daytime running lights, they honestly are wasting fuel. Keep your headlights off till it's dark out. You won't see much savings (you probably won't notice it) from those last ones, but it'll be there.
If your ignition timing is adjustable, have it advanced a couple more degrees. Advance it till it pings, then drop it back till it stops.
Bonus points: more torque across the range, and better engine response. Ping is bad, it puts holes in pistons as it robs power.
Note that I don't really follow those. I use a couple of them to get better performance/power from my vehicles, but I'm not trying for top mileage...
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