New and Improved scanguage II

Now the scanguage II is even more powerful and useful than ever! I use the scanguage on my 2001 F-150 everyday and I cannot live without it now. The trip features are amazing and includes the ability to monitor and track items such as, maximum speed, average speed, coolant temp, driving distance, fuel used, and the fuel economy for that trip.

You can also use the scanguage II display as a set of digital gauges to display many of your vehicles important systems including,

Fuel Economy
Fuel Rate
Battery Voltage
Coolant Temperature
Engine Speed (RPM)
Vehicle speed (MPH)
Engine Load
Throttle Position

Using this information can not only help you improve your fuel mileage but can also help you find any mechanical failures before they leave you stranded on the side of the road.

I have found the best place to buy the scanguage and all of the accessories to mount it and install it in many different vehicles is through the following online store, Scanguage Store.

ScanGuage II

With all this talk about fuel mileage I just realized that most people don't have an accurate way to measure their fuel mileage. For the past several months I have been using an awesome tool called the ScanGuage II to help me maximize my fuel mileage. The ScanGuage II plugs into your vehicle ODBII which all vehicles manufactured since 1996 are required to have. The OBDII port is usually under the dash on the drivers side or on the firewall behind the dash on the drivers side of the vehicle.

The ScanGuageII has two main functions for gas mileage, the first is the instant economy gauge that will show you what your fuel mileage is at any instant. This can help you notice any driving habits you have that may be causing some fuel economy issues. The second feature is a robust trip computer that can show you the distance of your trip how much fuel you used, your average fuel economy, the distance left until empty, and the amount of fuel remaining.

I have now purchased two of these wonderful products and I have found the best place to get them is through the following online store, Scanguage. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

Know what to expect

With all the talk of getting better fuel mileage and saving money I realize most people have no clue what they are currently getting for fuel mileage. Before you start trying any of the methods listed on this site you need to get a baseline for your car and your driving habits. Once you have this baseline you can compare that to what the EPA says your vehicle should get to make sure you don't have some major problem. Often times you will find you are getting considerably less fuel mileage than other people with the same model due to some mechanical problems. This baseline will also allow you to measure the increase in mileage after any changes you make.

New hydrogen engines

I know this has nothing to do with saving you money right now but I thought this was some very interesting news from Ford Motor Company. The new hydrogen based engine will be a supercharged 6.8L V-10 which will power fords E-450 shuttle buses in early 2007. The engine will have forged pistons and connecting rods to handle the 20psi of boost provided by the 3.3L twin screw supercharger. Horsepower will be around 230hp and 310lb-ft of torque at 3000 RPM. There has been no mention of what kind of mileage will be expected and also how they will handle the issue of having no where to fill up. Currently there are only 3 hydrogen fuel stations in the world with only one of those being in the US at the ford plant in Detroit. The power numbers for this engine are very poor compared to a gas engine of the same displacement and boost numbers. A 6.8L supercharged gasoline engine would be expected to push somewhere close to 1000HP and 1000 ft-lb of torque at the rated 20psi of boost. The lack of power out of this engine leads me to believe it is very inefficient and will more than likely have a much higher operating cost than its gas counterpart.

Finding the best deal

This tip will not increase your mpg but it will help you stretch your fuel dollars a little further. Once you have done everything you can to increase your mpg it is now time to find the best fuel prices in your area so you can get the maximum benefit from your changes. The main website I use to track fuel prices is http://www.fuelbuddy.com using this site you can view prices reported by other users and you can also post your own prices in your area. Using this site I often found gas that was .10-.15 cents cheaper and it was only a mile or two further than the gas I would have purchased. Another very good site is http://www.gaspricewatch.com I have not used this site as often as gasbuddy but it does have better data for some areas.

Fuel additives

This isn't really a tip as much is it is a topic for discussion. I have been reading several sites that talk about adding small amounts of acetone to your fuel to improve the fuel mileage so I did a little research. To my surprise I was unable to find any proof that adding small amount of acetone to your fuel actually causes damage. Of course there are the people saying it destroys engines but they have no solid evidence to back it up. One site I found very helpful in the research of this topic was this one www.pureenergysystems.com

After reading this site and several others like it I am thinking of trying this in one of my vehicles but I can find any solid information on doing this with a supercharged engine. If anyone has actually done this in their vehicle please let me know what kind of results you experienced.

Nothing for today

Today is my 4th anniversary so I will be taking the day off from posting. I will be back tommorow morning with another great tip.

Smart planning will save money

This tip is yet another one that can save you money at the pump and wont cost you a dime! If you can combine as many of your daily errands into one trip as possible you will save fuel by keeping your engine warm and you will cut down on your overall mileage to get your errand done. It has been proven that a warm engine gets better fuel mileage than a cold engine due to the better atomization of fuel by the warm engine. So if you can keep your engine warm instead of letting it cool of between every errand you will increase your fuel mileage and it wont cost you a dime! You can also use some of the new Garmin GPS systems such as the Garmin 1350LMT with the ecoroute feature to help you plan the most fuel efficient route possible.