Top ways to get more mileage out of my 2002 neon

99blacksport · Post by **99blacksport** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:56 am

Hi guys looking for the top ways people are getting mileage gains out of our 2.0 neons, I'm not looking for the proper tuneup, tire inflation type stuff I have all that done

I'm looking for mods and bolt ons, I'm getting 28-29 mpg right now and wanna see over 30 mpg, where do I start? Inexpensive would be nice

Thanks guys!!
Kyle

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:06 am

Not sure if there are any bolt ons that would really help, at least not any that are reasonably priced. A belly pan front and back would reduce drag a lot, but that would have to be custom made or hacked up from another car. Lightweight wheels would help, or any kind of weight reduction really.

I've found that coasting to red lights and down hills will increase mpg. Stay under 2,500 rpms when shifting and don't go over 1/2 throttle. Try to travel at 50-55mph when possible, that's where you'll get the best mpg.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:47 am

Donkeypuncher wrote: Lightweight wheels would help

Good point.

I have noticed, (from hard experience) that different brands of tires, can weigh different..... As much as 4 pounds, on the same size !

Some websites will publish the weight of the tires they are advertising, but this spec can be hard to find.

It's a trade-off.
Some tires may have more steel belts, which will make them stronger and stiffer.... but this may come at a weight penalty.
A lighter tire, may have fewer belts, but will have less sidewall stiffness, which can hurt handling.

On the other hand, a stronger, stiffer tire, might help reduce rolling resistance at highway speeds.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing, is to be sure to properly inflate and stay on top of your tire pressures, no matter what brand of tire you are using.
Neons are very susceptible to low tire pressures, where rolling resistance is concerned - Even one tire that is down on inflation, will drag down mileage.

- Nick

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:28 am

You could bolt a restricter plate to the TB, but at the risk of dying if you truly needed to get moving.

The best way to get better fuel economy is personal discipline. In both how you drive, and putting cash and time aside for maintenance/inspection.
Keeping extra stuff out of the trunk, keeping the car clean, so it has less wind drag, etc.

Spend the extra $ for that o2 sensor every 50,000 miles. Things like that. I am guilty of not doing that, but then I was happy with my fuel mileage.

I have to admit tho, that a new o2 sensor ranks one of the biggest seat of the pants throttle response change of some of my other mods.

Did I get better fuel economy, not really, but that could have something to to with the throttle response thing.

The oem exhaust works well for the intended use of the car, so there really isn't much there that will give you any gain that would pay off.
Because if you are looking for economy, you aren't using the RPM range that will benefit from an increase in flow capability. A larger pipe diameter will only slow the volume of air down, creating more work for the engine to push it out.

(Why do you think those Hondas have teenie weenie pipes?) Tho I wouldn't recommend putting a 1.5" exhaust on your neon.

mrgoodbytes · Post by **mrgoodbytes** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:45 am

Donkeypuncher wrote:I've found that coasting to red lights and down hills will increase mpg. Stay under 2,500 rpms when shifting and don't go over 1/2 throttle. Try to travel at 50-55mph when possible, that's where you'll get the best mpg.

^This^

How you drive the car has a huge impact on your mpg. Also, try to use cruise control or keep your foot as steady as possible. Constant acceleration and deceleration can kill your mpg, even if its only +/- 2 mph.

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:33 am

NickKo wrote: I have noticed, (from hard experience) that different brands of tires, can weigh different..... As much as 4 pounds, on the same size !

Some websites will publish the weight of the tires they are advertising, but this spec can be hard to find.
- Nick

That's why I like tirerack, they list the weight of every tire they sell. Tire weights are weird, I just dropped 1lb going from 205/50 to 205/55.

Skinny tires also help get better mileage, probably more so on the highway. Keep your windows up and A/C off if you can. Instead of accelerating up hills, try to just maintain speed until you reach flat ground or a downhill section.

Cruise control is good, but it probably wastes gas going uphill. It waits until you drop below the set speed before accelerating, then damn near floors it to get up to speed; more so at highway speeds.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:44 am

Donkeypuncher wrote: Cruise control is good, but it probably wastes gas going uphill. It waits until you drop below the set speed before accelerating, then damn near floors it to get up to speed; more so at highway speeds.

This is more true with the ATX's maybe more the 41/40te, than the MTX. Mine keeps it pretty damn consistent, not much lagging at all, unless it is a very steep hill which I would need to downshift for anyways. A 60mm TB helps significantly I'm sure.

I know my brother hates his CC in his Sebring, it does exactly as you describe, and overshoots up to 10 mph over the set speed. It can be set at 60, and be at 70 at the top of a hill.

hotrodlarry · Post by **hotrodlarry** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:30 am

99blacksport wrote:Hi guys looking for the top ways people are getting mileage gains out of our 2.0 neons, I'm not looking for the proper tuneup, tire inflation type stuff I have all that done

I'm looking for mods and bolt ons, I'm getting 28-29 mpg right now and wanna see over 30 mpg, where do I start? Inexpensive would be nice

Thanks guys!!
Kyle

I can average 32-34 mpg on a tank full.Last time I tracked the fuel mileage on my '02 SXT with a 5-spd I got 33.5 mpg. I have a commute to work of about 50 miles round trip that consists of rural roads, with very few stop signs/lights and an average speed limit of 40 mph.

Only mods on the car are a K+N CAI and a Thrush welded muffler.I just switched over to full synthetic oil in the engine. I have stock size tires on the car, but part of that tankful was with a pair of snow tires on the front (175/70r14) I didn't use the A/C or the heater at all and some days I drove with the window down.

I try to use Shell 87 (E-10) every time every time I fill up.

A proper tune up, tires that are inflated to the correct psi and driving conservatively are the top ways to save gas. Also, empty the car out too, anything that could weigh the car down can effect fuel mileage as well.

DetergentCandy · Post by **DetergentCandy** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:39 pm

I've personally noticed better gas mileage on all of my Neons with a paper filter. Tried K&N filters and mileage has always been worse.

Maybe give a paper filter a try if you've got an aftermarket fabric one.

lilschmied · Post by **lilschmied** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:48 am

Biggest thing is the way you drive. Smooth throttle input will help you greatly.

If you have an ATX I would think you are going to struggle to get much better mileage unless you're 100% highway driving.

Also, a slightly taller wheel/tire combo will lower your final gear ratio. It makes your speedometer and odometer incorrect but you will see a mpg increase on the highway.

Just please don't waste your money on "power chips" and vortex blade intake gizmos.

I read this and you're trying to hit 30 mpg....I've been trying to hit 40 mpg in my 02 (39.3 mpg all highway is my best).

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:34 pm

run MS. on my trip out to carlisle in 2011 i was getting 45 mpg by simply leaning out from 14.7 to 15.7 in the cruising ranges

FlexdXJ · Post by **FlexdXJ** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:50 am

What, 32 mpg isn't enough?

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:48 am

I guess I should have specified, but the majority of these tips are for manual trans. The autos are gonna be harder to pull out more mileage.

NEON PARABOLA · Post by **NEON PARABOLA** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:48 pm

I average 22 mpg in my 03 sxt atx

FlexdXJ · Post by **FlexdXJ** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:35 pm

NEON PARABOLA wrote:I average 22 mpg in my 03 sxt atx

I'm getting 25 with a bad 02 sensor!

fusion210 · Post by **fusion210** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:53 am

Check out http://ecomodder.com/forum/
There is a wealth of information there in the form of articles and tests done by the members .

Someone there had a second gen with aerodynamic mods that could make you think.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.p ... 20741.html

I wouldn't dismiss peoples modifications on that forum because of craftsmanship. A lot of people there just want the benefit and aren't worried about the appearance.

You want extreme? Check out www.aerocivic.com

The basics are simple. You have drag from the size of the car in the form of frontal area, the shape of the car called the drag coefficient, the weight of the car and even down to how tires are constructed. Heck, even the alignment. In addition to that you have the efficiency of the drive train and the driver. I thought I was a decent driver, but I was able to improve my mileage by over 20% by using simple techniques like driving slower, pulse and glide, "driving without brakes" all while not being an inconvenience to other drivers. I don't pull out in front of people slowly and if someone is behind me and can't easily pass, I'll do 5mph over the limit.

You probably like me. I had two things in mind when modifying my first gen neon. I didn't want it to look ridiculous and I wanted a return on my investment. Any performance or comfort benefits were a plus. I'll give you the highlights.

Changed my driving style and bought an obd2 reader called a scangaugeII. As I said before, my driving style was already easy going and now it's modded. There are a bunch of alternatives to that obd2 reader now. I used it mainly for monitoring instant gas mileage and trip gas mileage, plus coolant temperature. Now I use it to look at instant mpg, trip mpg, speed (it's nice to have a digital speed plus I have undersized tires so the speedo is off, the scangaugeII has a correction for tire size,) and coolant temp. I believe monitoring coolant temperature to be important for me since I have almost the whole front end of the car sealed. Any gimmick you plug in to gain better mileage is obviously bogus.

My car came with a UDP installed, so that was easy. I deleted the power steering but kept the air conditioning by removing the vanes in the power steering pump and capping it off, then leaving the steering rack open. Most people loop the lines to the rack but leaving it open reduces the steering effort. It also however will likely ruin the assist portion of your rack shall you decide to hook it up again. It's not a problem for me, I'm a junkyard dog and a new rack is $12 or so. I kept the pump so I would be able to adjust the belt for the a/c and power steering, on the first gen there is no tensioner.

Blocking off air from entering the front end. Or at least entering it uncontrolled so it can just blow around and cause drag. It's really simple to choke the air going to the radiator. After some experimenting, I chose to use some plexiglass I had laying around. I attached it using zip ties. Very easy to remove and install. I don't think it's very noticeable either.

I tried to seal the hood to the engine bay. Using the weather stripping from a junked neon worked great for the fenders. I haven't come up with a permanent way for the front of the hood.
I attached it with double sided tape.

I also have a huge airdam from another vehicle, in this case junkyard experimenting showed me that the airdam from a stock bronco/ranger would work great. I haven't installed any kind of belly pan, so the air dam it is.

The more aerodynamic lips/airdams out there seem to do the opposite. While mine is the lowest in the middle, the others curve up in the middle and focus more on the sides to block the tires/suspension.
In that picture it also had dropzone lowering springs, lowering springs will also lower your drag coefficient and frontal area (frontal area by covering some of the tire.) I have however sold those as they rode horribly. Plus it scraped a lot.

At first I used a broken off apc/generic side mirror to delete the passenger side mirror..

But then found an OEM mirror delete at the junkyard. Plus OEM painted door handles and a matching hood to make it less beaterish.

Looks a lot nicer. When you aren't weaving in and out of traffic and stay in the slow lane, not having the passenger side mirror isn't a big deal.

I did dabble with a driver's side mirror that was not only smaller, but could fold in.

I wasn't happy with it though. I'll be keeping my OEM driver's side mirror.

Removed my antenna from the fender and placed it in the a pillar.

Radio reception was diminished a little, but it was only noticeable on long trips away from Charlotte. They sell kits that probably have better reception, I believe they move it to the windshield?

I used big OEM mudflaps as airdams for the front tires.

I never did test how they were. They aren't on there anymore.

That about does it for aeromods I've done that you can copy.

The next time you get tires, get low rolling resistance ones. You can even get larger diameter low rolling resistance tires to lower the effective final drive for more mpg. Since my commute involves a lot of pulse and glide, but not a constant cruising speed, I chose to try 165/65/14 Bridgestone RE92s from the first generation Insight. While I believe that size is the only low rolling resistance one of the RE92 line, it's supposedly the tire with the least rolling resistance I could have bought at the time. It's also a very light weight tire at 12.5lbs. They were aired up to 60psi or so (rated at 51psi) and I had no issues. In fact, the higher you go (up to max psi

) the lower the rolling resistance AND load handling. On these tires I did not have abnormal wear. They did however only last 30k miles (with some life left, but I replaced them anyway) and are thus a bad buy. There are a bunch of low rolling resistance tires out there rated 50-65k miles.

Even the mighty prius gained 4-5% in going to a different low rolling resistance tire. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/tes ... p?ttid=121
Dry traction suffered a little but wet traction improved greatly.

I've also done minor weight reduction, my own alignment using fishing string to dial out a lot of toe and little things like making a hot air intake and advancing the camshaft with a cam gear I had laying around at the time I changed my timing belt. I can't tell you how much the cam gear did, but it felt perkier at lower revs. It's somewhere between 3-4* advanced.

I don't plan on keeping my car for too much longer, the only modifications I could see myself doing are a belly pan made from a material called coroplast (plastic cardboard) that I found pieces of for free and wheel covers. The wheel covers would have to be cheap, someone made them out of plastic serving trays from the dollar store, but mine doesn't have those trays. I wouldn't spend $80 on steel/aluminum "moon eyes."

I also use Mobile 1 0w30 synthetic for it's synthetic qualities and smaller pumping losses when it's cold.

An engine block header would also help, a lot of energy is used in getting the engine up to temp. I never installed mine, too lazy.

And my mileage? Easily in the high 40s per tank on my commute that has stops, traffic lights and traffic. On long trips I won't hypermile, but I'll do 5mph over. Going to Ohio from North Carolina and back is one tank each way (560 miles each way). Even doing 75mph a lot of the way (in all those 70mph NC, VA, and WV zones), it's around 46-47mpg. I top off, fill on an incline and rock the car back and forth, then top off again on long trips. I believe I can fit 13 gallons in there.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:03 pm

fusion210 wrote:
Looks a lot nicer. When you aren't weaving in and out of traffic and stay in the slow lane, not having the passenger side mirror isn't a big deal.

ARE THOSE the Chrysler Imperial rims ??

- Nick

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:38 pm

K&N, mag intake, udp, free flowing exhaust, and your basic regular maint, good alignment, etc. Drive sanely and you should rip off 46imp mpg or 40us mpg no problem on the highway.

fusion210 · Post by **fusion210** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:28 am

NickKo wrote:
fusion210 wrote:
Looks a lot nicer. When you aren't weaving in and out of traffic and stay in the slow lane, not having the passenger side mirror isn't a big deal.
ARE THOSE the Chrysler Imperial rims ??

- Nick

Yeah buddy. The only set I've seen in a junkyard, of course I had to buy them.

2GN.ORG

Top ways to get more mileage out of my 2002 neon

Top ways to get more mileage out of my 2002 neon

Re: Top ways to get more mileage out of my 2002 neon