I guess this is bad for mileage, huh?

 

This is not always true. You are better off using your A/C rather than keeping your windows down on a long highway trip. This has been proven several times.

 

Yes.....this is what I said in my post. Perhaps you misunderstood me. Most of the studies I have seen indicate less drag and less of a mileage drop with the A/C compressor on than with open windows.
Of course, there are many variables, too....like the efficiency of the compressor itself, ( Honda has one of the most efficient ones), the drag co-efficient of the specific car's aerodynamics, air temperature ( cold air is more dense than warm air and therefore creates more drag ), and a number of other factors. In general, older cars have more air resistance and a higher drag co-efficient (cd) than newer ones and are more likely to be better off with the A/C running, although it must be taken into consideration that older cars also have less-efficient A/C compressors as well.

 

Look at the temperature gauge ( if it's working ). 7800 RPM on a cold engine...and 1400 past redline to boot? Naughty, Naughty.

 

isn't that sweet? car's not warmed up, gas gauge on e, no seat belt light flashing....

 

Would these be similar to those injection cleaners?

Thank you for the tips mmarshall

How about losing some weight?

 

It’s amazing just how wasteful using your cruise control can be. I’ve gotten into the bad habit of using the cruise when traffic permits on the freeways in town. I had the costs of this driven home again this past Sunday, when I decided to test the difference between using the cruise control (out of laziness}, and just maintaining throttle position.

Years ago I had a fair-sized motorhome that got miserable mileage. I discovered on the highway the cruise feature was costing me a fortune. Upon ascending a hill, the throttle would go to the floor trying to maintain speed, The throttle butterflies were snapped to the full-open positioin with little change in vehicle speed. With 7 tons and 318 CID, this was not going to be a fair contest Eight mpg was my usual average on the highway. Curious, I ordered a “cruise control” from J.C. Whitney – a simple device that only maintained throttle position, rather than speed. Result? 14 mpg!!

Moral: by holding throttle position rather than speed (within reason) you are not constantly accelerating and decelerating to maintain a constant speed. If you leave the cruise off and just keep your right foot still, you can save a lot of fuel. My test on the RX this past Sunday in mostly freeway driving indicated an average of 17.2 with the cruise control, 19.6 without.

 

Great post. I've learned that myself by experience too. Cruise control is stupid, often overreacting and downshifting at uphills unnecessarily at times. Our feet is capable of "feeling" from the pedal response the best throttle position to hold at for the most relaxed use of the engine power. Don't use cruise control unless you really feel like being lazy (and wasting gas)!

 

It's called bad photoshop job.

 

What I meant was turn the AC off, keep the windows up, and just use the vents....if it is cool enough. Yes...opening the windows does cause drag.

 

I doubt he thought a GS430 does 170mph and revs to 8000RPM

 

A GS engine WILL rev to 8000 RPM........ONCE.


There are production engines that will do better than that.....mostly Honda and Toyota VTEC fours with 8500-9000 RPM redlines.....but those kinds of RPM's, of course, defeat the purpose of this thread......SAVING gas, not using it.

 

What about if you have aristo visors and just barely crack the windows to the point where the window doesnt go lower than the visor? I know it still would cause drag. But wouldnt the drag be lower and to the point where it would be more efficient then using vents?