simplecar

I started by removing the spare tire from the back, because I honestly don’t really need it, and it’s just a weight hogger.

Come up with something for me— is there anything else that I should remove? I wanna make this car lighter to see if I can achieve better gas mileage and acceleration.

maxSteel

I needed my spare in the last year.

When you compare a 1999 rx300 against a 1999 Camry V6 (same platform as Rx300) the MPG is pretty similar even though the RX300 is boxier and weighs a lot more. Mine is AWD too.

Over the years my MPG has declined. I think the decline is partially due to ethanol, and partially due to efficiency losses as the car has aged.

I'm not complaining though, my car is 20 years old and runs great. 296,000 miles on original engine and transmission.

I've become less efficient over the last 20 years too.

Androman

the roof rack

Lexmex

I did it over a decade ago, because it could affect me when I ran 1/4 mile. There are two weights/dampers underneath the vehicle, one by the catalytic converter that looks like a tiny hockey puck attached by a piece of metal and the other is a bit further back on the end of the car and looks like an upside down flowerpot, both of these are gray in color. You can also go with a lighter battery like a Braille. You won't really see much difference with gas mileage. Taking out the mufflers and going with lighter/smaller ones is another one.

salimshah

Owners manual
Car seats.
Door panels
AC
Claddings
Bumper skins
Carpeting
Wipers and wiper motor [legally you can remove the wipers once the motor is removed]

This is just a tiny list, but in all cases, you have to examine what you can do without till the vehicles becomes [ugly/less desirable etc].

Salim

ukrkoz

Rear seats. 180lb. Wife. 250 lb.

simplecar

How much did they weigh?

salimshah

Drive with as little gas as you can.

The above has serious implications as you can be stranded. Same is true with driving with no spare.

Salim

Bill Dowd

Try and clean the MAS sensor and the throttle body, I put a magnaflow muffleron my RX300 2001 it does have an attitude and little bit of a rumble.
I am getting19- 22.5 mpg in town and 25-26 mpg on the highway. I put a can of seafoam every 2-4 months and Lucas fuel cleaner weekly.
I also run 91 octane which does help keep the mileage decent, I us Arco and Cosco gas and no pinging or other problems.
I am running Maxlife synthetic transmission fluid in both the power steering and trans and Mobil one in the engine.
I am getting better gas mileage since I moved to all synthetic fluids.

TrueGS300

These aren't the vehicles for those that want to sip fuel. There are several good suggestions for the common weight reductions. Another is the CD changer if you don't use CD's.

The book calls for 87oct, but many have found running higher oct. works better. Id maybe run plus, probably not necessary for premium. The only reason a person would find better fuel economy out of a higher octane fuel than what a vehicle called for would be if there was a high amount of carbon build up on the pistons in effect increasing the compression ratio. Then yes, higher octane fuel used for higher compression engines would be a good thing. I recommend chevron with techron or shell for their cleaning agents to stop this from being necessary though.

As far as weight reduction, it's good for acceleration, but not so much an effect cruising. What kind of driving do you do? Once you are up to cruising speed, you are stuck with the fuel economy your gearing in the transmission gives you. Your rpm is physically where its going to be per the speed you are going. And fuel will inject at each rpm still.

I do agree with synthetic fluids in the engine and transmission reducing restriction. But I also believe that clean fluid in general is better than anything. This difference would be very negligible for fuel economy though. The benefit here is for component longevity. But everything helps I suppose.

I think you should make an effort to make the car run at it's peak performance. A good top end engine clean (induction and fuel system clean) clear out the carbon from the intake runners and tops of the valves. Make sure you have good plugs and the right plugs. Many replace plugs with whatever brand and experience poor economy because you really should be using what the engineers selected. Throttle needs to be cleaned and free of air blocking carbon build up. Air filter needs to be clean and free to flow. PCV system should be working and not sucking oil griming up the intake.

Tire pressure is important. I feel that the 30psi factory recommendation is insufficient. I run 35 cold in my RX. This will help fuel economy and actually wear the tires more evenly increasing their life. 30 psi wears out the edges way faster than the center. On my GS Ive found I have to run 40 psi to maintain even tire wear. Its different for different cars and even the brand of tires you use. Its up to you to watch them and judge. But 35 is good for these. Also having a good alignment can aid in economy. You need as little scrubbing as possible and the tires running straight down the road.

SVRX300

This is just a tiny list, but in all cases, you have to examine what you can do without till the vehicles becomes [ugly/less desirable etc].Years years ago I read a person in Nissan Maxima forum who did nearly the same to improve his 0- 60 time. In the end his Maxima was like a true bare bone, not a practical car.


How about besides the above, no driver in the car, use fancy remote control to drive it ... Sorry I am not serious