Alright, long story short, I topped up last Thursday with whatever moneys were left. I had two objectives:
A) Find out if granny-driving on a 2200-equipped Sunfire Sedan really did give much better gas mileage, and;
B) see if I could make it to my next paycheck (in six hours from now) to fill up the car again.
Results: Last bottom line on fuel gauge, I've got 440km. I typically get about 390. I gained an extra 50km by driving oh-so painfully slow.
Yea, to hell with that, I'm driving it like it's meant to be driven as soon as she's juiced up again.
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2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
You talking about driving a 2200 the way it's meant to be driven? You already drove like a grandma so you've already succeeded! Seriously, sometimes getting the extra mpg is worth it when you don't have the money. The world is just too busy to concern themselves with taking their time.
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* Student of the University of Oklahoma. Go Sooners!
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I once got 510 miles per tank on a 2200.........
AUTO!
It was 90% highway, but it's still impressive.
From driving both 4 and 5 speed transmissions under an MPG trip meter here's what I've gathered...
-Keep a light foot on the auto
-Accelerate on the manual at about 30-40% throttle, shifting between 2000 and 2500 RPM
-The auto will never shift into 4th below 40mph so cruise above this speed if possible
-The manual seems to activate injector shutoff above 1500 RPM
-The manual idles higher than the auto and therefore uses more fuel in the city
-A well-maintained 4spd is capable of 42mpg at 53 mph
-The 5spd does best in 5th gear between 35 and 55 mph
-Run your tires near, but never beyond max psi (I got 44psi tires for this reason)
-Keep the auto in D
-Maximize coasting and avoid idling
-Idle fuel consupmtion is 0.4gph for the 5spd and 0.3gph for the 4spd
-Coasting fuel consumption is 0.5gph for the 5spd and 0.3gph for the 4spd
-Unplugging the IAC motor on the 5spd will improve economy, but using the A/C may cause stalling
-E85 produces terrible mileage on our cars (and pretty much every other car)
-Using the A/C requires at least an additional 0.1gph
-Synthetic fluids can make a difference
-Cruising at a steady 45mph will pull your economy average towards 40mpg with either transmission
-Only about half the gas you burn in the city goes towards moving your car.
-On/off acceleration/coasting in 5th gear can be more efficient than maintaining a steady speed.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
I get about 100-115 (seen 120) miles to 1/4 tank... but i have a list of mods, which may or may not have helped..
and yes, i do only fill up to 1/4 tank... heh it keeps weight down
I'm always amazed by people who think the fuel gauge is a precision instrument (especially on the pre 2K clusters). If you don't have a trip computer, the only accurate way to know how much gas you're using is to keep filling up at the same exact pump (don't top off after the click) and then look at the receipt.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
I average 500km per tank in Newfoundland, in which finding a flat piece of road with no hills is far and few between! I have a 2200 with a 5 speed.
Proud member of
PreciZion
hmm, yup your 2200 sucks. I get around 525kms on a full tank reving the engine above 4000 rpm's all the time. But when I actually take my time and shift at about 3000 rpms, I get about 600kms to a tank.
Hills can yield greater mpg than perfectly flat road if you know how to take advantage of them.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
I drove 4 hours on a tank...From Ritzville WA, to Crankbrook BC
4 hours? A full tank will keep a 2200 going for 8-10 hours on the highway @ ~55mph.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
Good Christ, I can keep my tC between 75-80 MPH on the highway and go over 400 miles per tank, let alone 400km. And the tC's 5th gear is higher than Lindsey Lohan.
1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
How big is the tC's tank? EPA says it gets no more than 30mpg, the manual actually does worse at 29mpg.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
Matt Linke wrote:I get about 100-115 (seen 120) miles to 1/4 tank... but i have a list of mods, which may or may not have helped..
and yes, i do only fill up to 1/4 tank... heh it keeps weight down
if i'm wrong someone correct me (not in great length) but isn't it better to stay above 1/4 tank for at least 2 reasons with a J;
a) the fuel pump is kept cool by the remaining fuel in the tank and letting it run low adds undue stress to it
4) these fuel guages are, or at least have been known to be, less than reliable
I can't remember how far I go with a tank, but it gives me roughly 25mpg and that includes a lot of highway driving. This is with a bare bones, manual Sunfire that gets an oil change every 3000km and a tune up every 10,000. The 2200 isn't a bad litttle motor, but it's not that great with mileage.
yeah but wasn't the tc designed in 2003 the jbody was designed in 1995 i think your comparing apples and oranges here
I usually do fill at the same pump, and I have a habit of making down how much I put in the car, I had to do it with the van I used to drive, because It had a broken gauge. And I pull into the same gas station by work after work usually, and use the pump thats the easiest to get out of the station at.
I dont usually drive outside of to/from work, which is about 7 miles... haha My life is boring.
if you wanna complain so damn much go buy a civic!!!! damn ricers
I can make it from Bellingham, WA to Spokane, WA on a tank. Average speed = 73.8 mph... or rather, I could with the 2.2OHV
With the Eco auto, from Burlington, WA to just before Spokane (about a 40 mile difference) on a tank, I contribute that to the smaller gas tank capacity.
Now with the 3400, who knows...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, July 28, 2007 8:25 PM
You guys that are doing 70+mph on the highway will never get the best mileage out of your Js. I can always get at least 36mpg by keeping the car under 65mph. By doing 55mph, I can do even better.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
Solid Snake wrote:Hills can yield greater mpg than perfectly flat road if you know how to take advantage of them.
Not city driving around here, believe me. Sure you can coast down them, but using the engine as a brake saves your brakes, which is rather advantageous in these cars. lol
Proud member of
PreciZion
Quote:
Not city driving around here, believe me. Sure you can coast down them, but using the engine as a brake saves your brakes, which is rather advantageous in these cars. lol
I'm not talking about city driving, more like back roads. What is advantageous to your brakes and your fuel economy is to climb hills in a way that you don't need to brake or downshift on the way down. Use that momentum to climb the next hill.
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
Solid Snake wrote:Quote:
Not city driving around here, believe me. Sure you can coast down them, but using the engine as a brake saves your brakes, which is rather advantageous in these cars. lol
I'm not talking about city driving, more like back roads. What is advantageous to your brakes and your fuel economy is to climb hills in a way that you don't need to brake or downshift on the way down. Use that momentum to climb the next hill.
Ok, I see what your talking about and that is good advice if you have the option, or the roads to do so. However, it's not really an option around here where I live. The elevation changes are pretty extreme over very short distances. For example, the elevation of where my house is located is approximately 225m above sea level. Where I work to is approximately 30m above sea level. I live 2.7km away from where I work. There is no way I can get to or from there without either going ridiculously out of the way, or going up over one of many hills to get out of the downtown region. Going to work is rather convenient in that there are parts that you can coast and there are only 2 stop signs and 1 traffic light.
All the same, I'm happy with my fuel economy, and I changed my spark plugs the weekend, so perhaps I will get a little better fuel economy again!
Proud member of
PreciZion
My 97 Cavalier has the 2.2 OHV, and I routinely get 25 MPG city driving on a tank. I don't exactly drive like Grandma with the car, but then again, it
IS a 2.2 OHV. Not like the thing is a Camaro...
I can get well into the thirties on the freeway and that's at 65-70 MPH. My best mileage was 440 miles out of one tank at freeway speeds, keeping up with traffic, not driving 55 in a 70 zone. That's not quite 34 MPG...
I've done as well as 37 MPG driving like Grandma.
George (geozinger)
'95 Sunfire GT-my second Pontiac from Hell!
'97 Cavy Beater-still running like a champ!
'04 Sunfire - my kid's car, but I get the bills...
'09 Pontiac G6 - Sport Package 1
