21783mike 17 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 11 days and 1350 miles after picking up the Clown Car I'm pretty damned happy. As I've now gotten the feel for how it wants me to drive it I'm getting damn near 42 mpg, my math not the dash. Here's what I've picked up on so far.... It is happiest at 60-70 mph(2800-3200rpm), it doesn't care if there are 4 ppl in the car or just myself (actually it sort of seems to prefer 4 on the Hwy maybe just a tad more since at the end of the 220 miles I did Sat with the whole family aboard the dash mpg was at 42.5?), it actually doesn't mind 4th gear at 25 mph when leaving my development or the industrial park drive at work. I had a hard time convincing myself to short shift a little high revving gas 4 banger but the way it's geared really makes revving past 4k in the first 4 gears unnecessary if your not in a heavy traffic area or you're pulling a steep hill. The one curious thing I've discovered is going down steeper hill is that it actually picks up speed if you take your foot off the gas pedal, some sort of a reverse jake brake thing the cvvt and injectors are doing I suppose.... it has almost no compression braking unless you down shift, so rather than push the clutch in to save some fuel on the steeper down hills I just let it in fifth and take my foot off the gas now and watch the mpg's on the dash climb. More at the end of the week after I hit the 2k mark Link to post Share on other sites
mrtwiggy 2 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I've been able to get 52mpg on the highway going 55mph. granted florida is pretty flat but I'm sure it would balance out anywhere. just as long as you're not in a hurry to get somewhere. lol i plan on taking my trip to north dakota strictly in the 55 to 60 mph range. Smikster 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Chevrolet Customer Care 25 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 That's a great review of your new Spark Mike! I am glad to see that you are enjoying it! That's great news. Jackie Chevrolet Customer Care Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Jackie, I'm sending you a private message. Probably nothing you can do, but please pass the I formation up to the highest level of management that will listen to you. Link to post Share on other sites
Chevrolet Customer Care 25 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Hi Greg, I just got your message and I will be sending you a reply today. Thanks for your patience. I apologize for the service manual release date delay. Jackie Chevrolet Customer Care Link to post Share on other sites
21783mike 17 Posted November 20, 2013 Author Share Posted November 20, 2013 I've been able to get 52mpg on the highway going 55mph. granted florida is pretty flat but I'm sure it would balance out anywhere. just as long as you're not in a hurry to get somewhere. lol i plan on taking my trip to north dakota strictly in the 55 to 60 mph range. Hmmm you need to share how you are doing that...Please start a thread tracking your mileage and how you achieved it if you would, I'm very interested. I assume you are doing the actual math and not going by the readout in the car. Have you deleted the mirrors and wipers? Different tires? Super light wheels? Gutted the interior? Run ethanol free gas all the time? Granted where I live anywhere I go it's uphill both ways but I'm a bit pessimistic about claims of anyone getting 52 mpg on any regular basis even if where they live it's downhill both ways... I hope you keep us posted along the way on your trip it will be interesting to see how or if the mileage changes with elevation and terrain.... BTW ya better plan on doing most of your driving at night, daytime traffic isn't real friendly to doing 55 in a 70 ;-) mrtwiggy 1 Link to post Share on other sites
NoSprak 17 Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 As for the lack of compression braking - the EPA doesn't allow the engine to draw a vacuum any more so there is no engine braking. However, letting off the gas going down a hill in 5th gear is going to cause you to get better gas mileage than pushing in the clutch or kicking it in neutral; the car has DFCO (deceleration fuel cutoff) - it turns off the injectors when decelerating in gear above a certain RPM. Link to post Share on other sites
mrtwiggy 2 Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Hmmm you need to share how you are doing that...Please start a thread tracking your mileage and how you achieved it if you would, I'm very interested. I assume you are doing the actual math and not going by the readout in the car. Have you deleted the mirrors and wipers? Different tires? Super light wheels? Gutted the interior? Run ethanol free gas all the time? Granted where I live anywhere I go it's uphill both ways but I'm a bit pessimistic about claims of anyone getting 52 mpg on any regular basis even if where they live it's downhill both ways... I hope you keep us posted along the way on your trip it will be interesting to see how or if the mileage changes with elevation and terrain.... BTW ya better plan on doing most of your driving at night, daytime traffic isn't real friendly to doing 55 in a 70 ;-) well I've been going by both, the readout and my own calculations. but i still have no idea how i got that 52mpg. hahha personal best is what i call it, but nothing is different about my car from completely stock. everything is original on it but i do run on mid grade gas. whenever i can find it i prefer non-ethanol mid grade. theres a few places near where i live that sell it, but it cost about 15-20 cents more then regular mid grade. now when it comes to the mpg I'm getting, the 52 has been by far the best I've ever gotten out of one tank and that was with A LOT of flat highway driving going no more then 55mpg and drafting behind a bunch of semitrailers. lol i used to work an hour away from my house so that was my morning and evening commute. i tried to be creative at saving fuel. lol i also didn't accelerate fast from red lights and such or stop too quickly. tried to throw it in neutral as much as possible as well. my complete averages though for driving those highway miles every week were anywhere from 44mpg(in a hurry) to 48mpg. and the readout in the dash would always be exactly the same as what i would calculate. now that I'm not driving highway anymore sadly I'm just getting around 39mpg to 41mpg. :/ i still do a lott of driving at 50-55 but with a lot of stop and goes. driving me nuts because i was having such a good record going. hahaha with moving this December i will definitely be taking pictures and posting results of the long trip. i will need to find a seat cushion to add to my chair though. lol these cars were not meant for one trips and i have a boney butt. anyone have any recommendations on cushions? preferably memory foam or something…hahaha Link to post Share on other sites
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