Driving with a vacuum guage for fuel efficiency

[nonamejoe56]

This is what i'm putting in my truck, also to help during towing

[hempseed57]

My buddy has a 66 cuda that comes with an economy gauge which i think is the same thing. Cool video!

[outrider007]

There is NOT more energy by volume in higher octane fuel. Octane rating is nothing more the fuel's resistance to ignite. Running fuel rated higher than your vehicle recommends not only hurts your wallet, but can even hurt your mileage in some cases.

[DdgeShelby]

its a 2002 toyota tacoma.. Aluminum flywheel, oem fitment hd clutch, flexalite electric puller fans, atek monoblock competition wheels (14.9lbs each) lowered 3" front, 4" rear, doug thorley catback exhaust (it killed about a mpg) stock exhaust is where you want to be on a n/a engine, backpressure helps the bottom end tork and if your lookin to get some mpg's, low end is what you want so you keep your rpm's down. No bump stick engine here, just overhead cams :)

[DdgeShelby]

alua

[Rick258442]

I would imagine you have electric cooling fans? Another thing to think about might be a really hot ignition (knowledgy) and "Splitfire" type multi-diode or iridium plugs.

[Rick258442]

Other considerations would be high octane gas. It costs more because there is more energy in the same given volume.

I guess it really comes down to tuning your specific vehicle in a maintenance sense.

There is a new movement of people and I think they are called "Hyper Milers". They resort to whimsical tear drop body modifications to the rear portions of their vehicles. They drive barefoot and resort to a host of different methods for wringing mileage out of every drop of gas.

[Rick258442]

If you really want to increase your mileage, figure out a way to decrease your rotating mass. Lightweight wheels and tires will go a long way.

Proper pressures

Lightweight synthetic motor oil (Royal Purple, Mobil one, Red line gear oil)

Under drive pulleys?

High flow, low restriction exhaust with an x pipe and a K&N air filter

Roller rockers

You see where I'm going. Many of the things that make your vehicle go fast, do so by making it more efficient.

I'm guessing this is a GMC truck?

[Rick258442]

I'm an ex rig driver with about a million miles. I was an owner operator for a time and as you might imagine, I have seen it all.

Yeah, nothing wrong with the peripheral view. That's where my boost gauge was in my '94 RX-7 R2.

I had a buddy who constructed and attached a hydrogen generator to his 7.2 liter Ford Diesel. He said it didn't work.

[Rick258442]

What good is saving fuel if you drive under the back of a rig while looking at your gauge?

[DdgeShelby]

@Rick258442

The gauge is in my line of vision, your eyes never move away from whats ahead of you, you just give it a quick glance now and then, you don't sit there and stare at the guage.. It's just like anything else, your speedometer, water, temp, ect..

what else ya got?

[jakethasnake1749]

Full on vacuum tutorial while driving. This guy is a badass lol. This did help me tho!

[sr1215cl]

@spartacus1234567890 Wow what is that all about? Someone forget to change your diaper?

[ProjectCarTV]

What are you driving in, a Tacoma?

[DdgeShelby]

@ProjectCarTV

2002 Toyota Tacoma manual 5 speed 2.4 (2RZ) engine..

[QuattroStig]

A boost gauge in a force induction engine will give you the same data. Less boost or more vacuum= better fuel economy. A stable foot also is a huge variable. So cruise control is a must for ideal fuel economy. And draft trucks whenever possible :)

[DdgeShelby]

@QuattroStig

Yup, keep your foot out of the boost and you'll be pulling some decent numbers..

I'll have a T3/T4 Air Reasearch snail keeping the engine company within 2 months time..

[RABBITSMOGET]

i had one for years! does help! good vid :)

[thewhitenight]

i was wondering if its about 21 in. when you are at idle in gear or neutral (im using an auto)? mine shows about 21 in neutral, but in drive and stopped, it shows about 16-17, and i was wondering if that is normal. thanks

[DdgeShelby]

@thewhitenight

all gauges will varie a little bit, it sounds fine to me..

[steelysniper]

@thewhitenight

When you're in drive and stationary your engine is having to overcome friction in your torque converter, this means your engine will use more fuel while it's idling. You should always shift into neutral at red lights or very slow traffic, basically anytime you're going to be stopped for more than a few seconds. Or even better... Turn your engine off!

[hockie91]

@steelysniper do not shut your engine off, certain injection systems will dump fuel into each cylinder instead of only the one its intake stroke. this will waste fuel

[DdgeShelby]

@hockie91

Highly unlikely...

When ANY factory fuel injected vehicles ignition is shut off, the fuel pump relay is closed, the injectors are shut, ect..

Only way this would happen is if you have a defective leaky injector and it bleeds off static fuel rail pressure..

[crammage]

i got an epic vacuume gauge

it shows your mpg relative to your vacuum ,

its not digital but it was only $2! at a garage sale!

[DdgeShelby]

@crammage 

[thewhitenight]

can you describe how the vacuum gauge responds when you have cruise control on? or have a video? im curious if i should turn mine off. should i turn it off even if its a flat road? thx!

[DdgeShelby]

@thewhitenight

with cruise on the throttle darn near floors it well into the red to catchup to the speed setting..

go without cruise, your best cruise control is your right foot..

just depends on how bad you want better fuel economy..

[walkandlookup]

WHY A 2.3 L HAS MORE IDLE VACUUM THAN A 4.3 L I will appretiate the explaination

[DdgeShelby]

@walkandlookup

engine timing..

[MacGyver0076]

i did try a gauge on my 225 right after i rebuilt it, stepped on it just once, there came a scream from under the hood like a jet engine firing up, the gauge pegged all the way out and stopped working, another time, i stepped on it, heard a "pop" and when i checked fluids, the chrome filter kit was ruined and the filter was sucked flat.

[mojavedude250]

so the vacuum hose is connected between throttle plate and valves, not air filter and throttle plate right?

[DdgeShelby]

A hose is connected to the intake manifold..

[mojavedude250]

@DdgeShelby yes but you will get different readings if you connect it in front or behind the throttle butterfly.

[DdgeShelby]

@mojavedude250

negative, same results at idol. 

[DdgeShelby]

the only reading worth reading is the engines vacuum, thats whats moving the truck, not the air filter..

[mojavedude250]

@DdgeShelby okay, after research the answer i was looking for is after the butterfly. maybe i wasnt clear, or maybe you dont understand engines on the same level i do.

[DdgeShelby]

well, maybe I'm not on the same level your at automotively, but the butterfly is usually referred to as a "throttle body" lol

after the "butterfly" = intake manifold ;)

[brandun69]

Dude, that is freakin awsome, i would have never thought about this! 10/10!

[ZeroError101]

what is vacuum gauge for ??

[DdgeShelby]

google it

[popplewort333]

This was an informative video.

Vacuum is really important.

The 1976 Caprice Classic had a little vacuum guage in the instrument cluster.

Although, I never really knew what it meant except an 'economy' indicator.

Mighty Joe Young aproved !!!!

[MetaView7]

economy is a balance between cost of equipment and cost of fuel

[DdgeShelby]

point is?

[crammage]

why are mpg meters so expensive!?>>?/

[rawimpact]

because they require a computer.

[crammage]

ah////////////

[Hotrodx199]

My truck came factory with one i think

[krazymann15]

um. driving with vacuum? the car in front of you pulling you? no people. go to an auto shop. ask about vacuum and motors. you know those power brakes you use all the time... theres a hose that goes to the brake booster, that hooks to the intake. and the intake sucks air in, called vacuum, well vacuum is good to have. boost is good to because it means your pushing way more air than normally it would suck in. honestly ask a smart auto tech and he'll tell you why its good to have high vac.

[cherrybomb1493]

do you need to cut a hole in the firewall to install an intake mani vacuum gauge?

[coquivagabundo]

by the looks of it, hes a hypermiler or something like that. I'm sure he removed the trim just to remove weight from the car to improve FE. I mightbe wrong thoug.

[metalmoto]

Thanks for posting this video. I'm trying to get more than 8.5 MPG on my van. Buying a vac gauge this weekend. Think I need to replace my intake manifold gasket anyway...

[lunchboxsquatch]

gg man tryin to save money a legit way.

although he hardly understands the reason this helps, and i'm sure neither do most of you, i highly recommend everyone do this as well. my squad car had several instruments similar to this, CHIPs are looking for many ways/options to save gas since we're on the road a lot and this was one way it helped.

[DdgeShelby]

Its unclear to me, are you saying I don't understand how this helps?

[lunchboxsquatch]

basically it monitors the amount of vacuum pressure exerpted on your vehicle- more vacuum pressure = more pull, in a sense, the vehicle in front of you is helping your engine by pulling on your car... scientific community will laugh at that explanation but that's how it works, kinda. so anyways if you monitor this, you can keep your vehicl in line with another's, making your engine have to work less, saving you fuel.

[DdgeShelby]

I know what it does, I didn't buy it to watch it bounce around with the pulse of my foot..

Nothings pulling anything..

The car ahead of me isn't pulling me, its playing defense (blocking or doing the dirty work) in which my vehicle doesn't have to fight through as much wind resistance as I would by myself.

(For Example)

If 2 people sit on a motorcycle and you sit behind the driver, you don't feel as much wind as the person driving the motorcycle does, ya dig?

[MCRideout]

My vehicle doesn't have exerpts... as in excerpts.

Excerpts are published extracts from a book. Noob.

[jayguy173]

use diesel cars

[turtles24601]

ive always thought that. Petrol cars should not be used if economy is trying to be attained. the guy below said he is trying to get more than 8.5 mpg in a truck! Here in britain if a ford transit did less than 20 PEOPLE WOULD DIE.

[hgallegos915]

I would recommend a wideband gauge then tune for more efficiency . I squeeze 30 mpg on a v6 klze mazda mx3 regular driving

[DdgeShelby]

those little hatchback mazdas?

my neighbor averages 28-29 in hers with no mods.. A wideband guage only moniters the fuel, it doesn't allow for tuning..

I'm going to take it to the next level with an ECU piggy back setup where at 3/4 throttle or more it defults to the stock ECU programming to avoid lean conditions.. :)

[hgallegos915]

Mine is a product of removing a turbo.. lol it was a bad turbo, was left with wideband and fuel pressure regulator, it really helps you control the gas consumption. Mine is a v6 2.5 200hp engine. not the stock mx3 engine.

[DdgeShelby]

any pictures of your cars engine swap?

sounds like a sweet setup either way..

[hgallegos915]

Indeed, check out the videos under my user name. theres vides when it was turbo and vids before it was turbo. Well its non turbo anymore.. mostly due to gas prices and well an expensive turbo to replace.

Relating to this video, a vac gauge can help a driver "see" how much the engine is working and a wideband can help you determine if you are really wasting fuel for nothing. Not to "tune" but just to help us become more efficient drivers.

[DdgeShelby]

what part of TX are ya in?

I'll be out in SA mid June..

[hgallegos915]

el paso tx

[monkeyboy866]

ah... so that's how BOV's work...

[DdgeShelby]

exactly!  ;)

[elhigh]

It's engine vacuum - when the engine is running at part throttle, the cylinder that is on its intake stroke pulls a vacuum in the manifold. More vacuum = less load = better mileage (all other things being equal).

If your engine is fuel injected, don't worry about it. Get a ScanGauge II instead, and watch your instant and average mileage numbers.

[DdgeShelby]

the SGII is definatly on my hit list..  but I'm currently working on making a fiberglass tonneau for the bed, lightweight, inexpensive, ect.. :)

[mintsk8er]

What exactly is that the vacuum pressure of? I don't quite understand where you hooked that gauge up... I'm not really knoweldgeable about ICE's and stuff so bear with me.

[DdgeShelby]

hooked up to the engine..