[ATM] OT: increasing mpg

["Don Clement" <clement.focuser@verizon.net>]

This may appear to be off topic for this list; I believe that most of us
drive to darker skies in order to use the scopes we build. I would like to
share a few things that I did to increase the mpg of my small truck used to
transport my scopes to a darker site. The things I did to increase mpg can
be applied to any vehicle. Before I made these simple changes, my 98'Toyota
Tacoma truck (5spd, EFI, ext. cab, tall Snugtop shell) averaged about 25mpg.
I use only the cheapest grade of regular unleaded gasoline. On a recent trip
up to Yosemite I averaged 32 mpg. This includes running the air conditioner
most of the way from Bakersfield to Fresno and up and down mountain driving.
The leg from Redlands to Fresno my average mpg was even better 33.5mpg!
The first and most important factor was to reduce speed and accelerate
slowly, particularly accelerate slower going up hill. I used to drive 70mph+
on the freeway. Nowadays and on this trip I drove a constant 62mph
(~100kph). I used the highest gear that would not lug the engine for minimum
rpm.
Another thing that I have done was to use lower rolling resistance tires. I
choose Goodyear Viva II and actually went with a narrower tire than stock,
195 from the stock 205. Goodyear Viva II tires are available from Wal-Mart.
I also ran high tire pressure of 45 psi. There are no government standards
for rolling resistance but here is a link with information that can help:
http://www.greenseal.org/recommendations/CGR_tire_rollingresistance.pdf
The last thing I did was to use low viscosity engine oil, I use 5-30W
recommended in Toyota manual. BTW, my truck has ~160K miles on it.
I hope this information might be of some help.YMMV

Don Clement
Running springs, California

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