Trying to squeeze more out of every gallon

[pengyou]

If i lower the van 1" will it get better gas mileage? If so what would be the best way to lower it?

[ihatemybike]

What kind of mileage do you get now? Do you hypermile at all? Is lowering practical for you? I'm going to be trying a huge air dam on the front of Grumpy. It's going to be made of old conveyor belt and sit about 1.5" off the road, but will be flexible enough that it won't rip off or break should it make contact with anything.

Similar to this.

[GEJ]

Welcome to the site.You might want to fill out your signature so everytime you post a question we know what yr van you have and if it is a AWD or RWD and what you have done to it so far.You can do so by going to your control pannel,then click on your profile,then click on managing your signature.It will help us answer questions you might have.

I don't think a 1" drop would make that much difference.But that is just my two cents of a opinion.

[Smiliesafari]

I agree with Gary. You won't be able to measure any difference.

[blk lt awd]

you won't get any difference in mileage by doing that......remember..ure still driving something shaped like a brick.....lower for looks only.

[SoCalli V8]

My gas milage went up when I fitted a V8....

[pengyou]

My gas milage went up when I fitted a V8....

woahhhh dude! :^o

[ihatemybike]

A mild V8 can actually get better mileage than a V6 since its often not working as hard to move the van.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

You can also get better mileage by swapping in lower ratio gears, ie 3.73's or 4.10's in place of 3.23's or 3.42's.

[pengyou]

What kind of highway increase would I see if I put in the 3.7's or 4.1's? What effect would that have on my top end speed? Reduce it from 70 to 65? ;)

[Smiliesafari]

You'll still be able to do the speed limit. BUT.........if you push this box past 70mph your mpg will go down regardless of any mods you do.

[GEJ]

You'll still be able to do the speed limit. BUT.........if you push this box past 70mph your mpg will go down regardless of any mods you do.

I agree-but the question I have for you is how fast you want to go??.

[ihatemybike]

You could add a 2' Kamm tail and reduce the wake by roughly 54%.

Aero discussion about Grumpy on GasSavers.org
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=6921

[ihatemybike]

Aerodynamic stuff from NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/ ... H-2283.pdf

[LiftedAWDAstro]

A lot of the mileage increasing considerations rely on your driving conditions. Tell us about the terrain you drive on...hills, mountains flats etc. Do you drive highway, city or both? Do you do less than 10 mile trips at a time? etc. etc. etc. Let us know ALL these factors and I will tell you if doing a gear swap will increase your mileage.