How to Increase Gas Mileage and Performance

The are many ways to increase the gas milage and performance of your vehicle. Yes, it will cost you some money, but its all worth it. There are some products that are quite expensive, but then there are others that are pretty cheap.

One of the most popular products that you can buy to increase MPG and performace is a air intake. An air intake allows more and cooler air flow to your engine. Depending on your vehicle they will add anywhere from 1-3 MPG and around 10-25 horsepower. It also depends on the brand. If you drive a gasoline vehicle then the most reliable brand of air intake would be K&N. K&N air intakes and filters have a lifetime warranty and you never have to buy another air filter because they are washable. For a diesel vehicle, the best air intake would be AEM. On a diesel engine you will see a lot more horsepower gains from just about any performace product than you would from a gasoline. But, you won't see as much of an increase on MPG as you would see from a gasoline.

Another popular product is a performamce programmer or chip. These reprogram your vehicles ECU from stock by changing your rev limits, shift points, temp. sensors, shift firmness, and more. The good thing about programmers is that you get to program your ECU to exactly what you want. Most of them also come with stages such as Economy, performance, extreme, or tow. making it to where you can reprogram your vehicle antime you need to. For a gasoline, some of the best brands of programmers and chips are Hypertech, Jet, Superchip. Depending on your vehicle, you will usually see about 2-6 MPG increase and about 20-50 horsepower increase, sometimes more. The best ones for diesel engines are Edge and Bully Dog. They will usually add about 2-5 MPH and, depending on what stage you put it on, you can add from 30 horsepower all the way up to 100 horsepower. I have a 05 Silverado 5.3 V8 gasoline with a Hypertech Programmer, and it added about 4 MPG and about 40 horsepower. It also gave me much better half throttle acceleration as well as full throttle acceleration. My brother has a 01 Dodge Ram Diesel with a Edge Programmer, and it added about 3 MPG and added 100+ horsepower when it was on extreme.

A cheaper product is a throttle body spacer. These also improve the air flow to your engine. The most popular ones are Airaid and Jet. They don't add much MPG or horsepower, but they do add a little. For a gasoline, they add about 2 MPG and anywhere from 10-20 horsepower.

A upgaded exhaust system also adds a good amount of MPG and horsepower. It puts less restriction on the air being pushed out of the engine. These can range anywhere from really expensive to not so expensive. There are many brands but I tend to like Flowmaster and Borla the most. If you want it to be cheap, then you can just purchase a muffler and get that installed, or install it yourself if you can weld. But, the more money you spend, the more MPG and horsepower you get. Some vehicles come stock with dual exhaust but some don't. If your vehicle didn't come with dualed exhaust then getting it dualed would be the best way to add MPG and horsepower. If your willing to go all out, then you should just purchase a complete exhaust system. That away not only will your MPG and horsepower greatly increase, but your vehicle will have a deeper, louder sound.

There are many websites in which you can read reviews on these products and they will also help you find them. TruckObsession being one of them, plus many others.

Here are some other tips to keep your MPG up.

1. Make sure your tires are always at the right air pressure. When they get lower than normal, your MPG decreases.

2. Keep heavy, unneeded items out of your vehicle. The less weight, the more MPG.

3. Stay updated with your oil. Check it every week. Make sure its not too low and make sure that it doesn't need to be changed. Even if you have a little sensor inside of your vehicle that tells you your oil level and when it needs to be changed, you still need to check it. I have one of those in my vehicle and its not that accurate.

4. Add a bottle of fuel cleaner to your tank every now and then. It will help clear the lines and help your fuel flow better.

5. Most importantly, your driving habits. Just because you got there faster does not mean you used less fuel. It is actually proven that a vehicle get the best highway gas milage at 65 MPH. In the city, try and keep your vehicles RPM's low. If you can usually keep them below 3 RPM then your doing good, but flooring it when every light turns green wastes a unbelievable amount of gas. Also, give yourself a reasonable amount of braking distance. Don't come up to a light or stop sign and slam on the brakes.

6. Get your vehicle tuned up. This costs money but if you know your getting less MPG than you should be getting, then your vehicle probably needs one. Tune ups can correct fuel ratio, replace bad spark plugs, and correct spark timing, along with some other stuff.

What not to do if you want more MPG.

1. Buying bigger rims and tires looks nice and everything, but they greatly decrease MPG and power. I upgraded to 20" rims and 33" tires on my truck and I can definetly tell the difference.

2. Getting a lift kit on your vehicle messes up the aero dynamics that came with your vehicle, making it less wind resistant therefore decreasing MPG.

3. Note: I'm not saying this is 100% true, but buying tornado's and all of those other spiral things to put in your air intake that are supposed to increase MPG do not work...for me atleast. Me and two of my other friends bought tornado's for our vehicles and saw absolutly no difference.

4. Putting high octane fuel in your vehicle does not increase you gas milage enough for it to even equal out with the price you would pay if you just used regular. It does add horsepower, but you lose when it comes to MPG