Hey guys, with gas prices finally hitting 2.50 around me I am looking for any way to make my daily driver ls1 more fuel efficient. I know that 346 V8 and fuel efficient don't exactly go hand in hand but I know that these engines are capable of being *fairly* efficient. The biggest thing I could think of to increase efficiency is replacing my crappy air filter with a K&N. But I am wondering is it worth it ? I know its only like 50 bucks but if its not going to help me thats 50 bucks on 2 1/2 tanks of gas. I know it will give me some extra power , but horsepower is useless if you can't afford gasoline. For those of you that say if you can't afford it buy a honda... bite me. Any other ideas to increase fuel efficiency would be great.

I suppose the best way to save gas is to keep my foot out of the pedal. BTW I am currently getting an average of 21 - 23 mpg depending on how much I lay into it.

As always thanks guys

 

man thats really good gas milage already! i get like 17....but i get on it too much i have heard peopl gettin better gas milage with a lid and ram air im not sure if your gonna see a difference from the k&n though.....it nto gonna hurt anything though and in the long run it will be ccheaper then buying paper ones over and over

 

I don't think you will see a bit of difference. I can swap out a K&N and a paper filter at the track and not see a bit of difference in mph.

 

I dont understand the whole mpg with our cars. If you want to get good mpg's buy a civic or something. Yeah we get pretty good mileage with our cars but thats the last thing that I care about. Also the K&N is not going to help, my best advice would be to stay off the gas as much as you can.

 

Nope! I heard there's no difference!

 

-yea man gas is bout 2.44 right now -for the damn Supreme, but screw the price its worth it in my opinion.
__as for the k&n filter i say go for it
-- search ebay and you might come across cheaper deal.. the gas milage i dunno bout im getttin round 16-17 right now.
i just put on my slp lid and noticed a slight difference in my tank milage so ima keep an I on that,
-but thats me and i do need to change my spark plugs and o2 sensors real soon, when i do ill b making little better mpg...

---but if you dont see an improvement in gas milage slap the k&n filter with a lid and youll feel the difference... up to u man --go for it gl

 

K&N will get you around 1 mpg. My car is a 1998 Formula 6spd with no heavy aftermarket equipment on it (stereo, cage, etc). I have an SLP lid, Bo P&P TB, K&N, stock plugs and the stock exhaust (100% manifolds to tips). I drive 130 miles a day for work (mostly highway). I get 24mpg on average. If I'm only running highway and don't get on it much, I've gotten as much as 26mpg. If I were to dump the stock exhaust, I would expect a good rise. If I went with LT, no cats and a good flowing catback, I'd expect 30 mpg. I also believe changing out the stock plugs would help, but I doubt it would net even a 1mpg gain. Hope that helps.

 

I've seen pretty good gains in both power and mileage after installing the usual bolt-ons(including headers). In fact, I was getting over 30mpg on the interstate until I swapped the cam in, now its back down to 26-27 but it was well worth the trade

 

There is nothing magical about a K&N air filter lol! Might as well buy a turbonator!

You also have no right to complain about gas mileage, that's about the MPG a 4 cylinder or V6 gets. I however get about 14mpg in my daily driver LS1 (only 19 years old). yea, guys prices blow. I might have to get a second job just so I can afford to drive to my FIRST!

 

The increase in gas mileage, if any, would most likely be negated because of the thrill of hearing that sucker breathe at WOT. Also, it might take some time for that $50 investment to net you any gain. Just get a lid and call it a day.

 

[QUOTE=rice-eatin TA]-yea man gas is bout 2.44 right now -for the damn Supreme, but screw the price its worth it in my opinion.

youre lucky it about $2.75 for the good stuff in my area!

 

Ya MPG gain is small if any, only big plus is that it lasts forever....clean it and throw it back in, no screwing with paper filters again

 

well with the possibility of it screwing up the MAFF with their oil, I'd just stick with the paper! But, that is usually when people reoil them too much. I just bought a new lid that came with paper filter so I replaced the K&N. But, I still have the K&N in the basement just in case I want to switch

 

[QUOTE=transamsixspeed]
You think you have expensive gas. lol, Prices over here are silly.

92pence per litre at the current exchange rate thats $1.66 per litre = $7.56 per gallon . Approx $70 to fill her up. Fill up about once or twice per week. Darn tax over here sucks. Still happy with the car though.

I was thinking of getting a k&n, not for efficency, just think it will compliment the new intake manifold.

 

no, stick to paper...I use stp in mine

 

a couple of points:

1. Don't winge about the price of fuel, or go see how much it costs over here. There where reports the other day of petrol costing £1.10 per liter in London, thats well over double what you're paying. So count yourself lucky!

2. The K&N will be pretty pointless in more than one way.

a) it does flow slightly more air than stock but the stock paper filter can prbably flow enough air for a n/a 500bhp motor so its pretty meaningless to swap.

b) The K&N is no where near as good at filtering as the paper one, so it is more likely to allow more dust/dirt into the engine - this is a bad thing.

c) the oil required for the cotton fibre K&N can cause lots of problems if oil gets onto the MAF, which can be common.

d) cost, not just intial price, but a K&N will need cleaning as often as a paper one needs replacing. HOWEVER to clean a K&N filter you need a cleaning kit and some filter oil. This costs more than a replacement paper filter. So the cost will always be much much higher with a K&N. Of course you could just not clean the k&n but it will once the oil has evapourated let thru far too much dirt/dust then eventually block up reducing performance and air flow.

In my opinion there are only two options for air filters:

One - stick with the OEM paper one and a suitable air intake system such as an after market lid.

Two - use a synthetic fibre filter (these do not require oil) such as made by Donaldson (they make the 'Blackwing' for the C5 Corvette). This type of filter has much better filtering than any foam or cotton filter (remember filtering is the primary job of an air FILTER, this fact often seems to be over looked) but with much better durability and flow ability than a paper one.

3. Yes V8 performance and mpg should not be mentioned together. Your mpg seems pretty good, if you really are getting any better than that then there is no point owning a performance car as you would just be ***** footing around never making use of the power. If this is the case, by a more fuel efficent car - EASY.

4. Some claim that bhp mods will imporve mpg - basically this is RUBBISH. Any mod that increases BHP will reduce mpg. Let me explain, basically to get more power you need a bigger bang in each cyliner. A bigger bang requires more fuel and air. So intake and exhaust mods all have the potential to use more fuel. HOWEVER before people start claiming this and that, there is more to it. If you add say 50bhp to an engine with headers, exhaust and intake mods it will give you more power to play with, thus to acheive the same performance as before you do not need to drive the car as hard. This is where any retention or gain in mpg comes from. However if you take that same car and drive it hard at WOT and bouncing off of the red line it will certainly use more fuel. Weight reduction will imporve performance and mpg. As will reducing aerodynamic drag and frictional loss thru compenents and surface contact with the road.

Personally I doubt you'll see any difference (performance/noise/mpg) in buying a K&N replacement filter. A replacement lid or CAI is a slightly different story with the ability to affect all these factors, both positivly and negativly.

My advice would be to buy a second economical car and run that part of the time to free up some money for funding the Fbody. If you really only want one car and imporved economy there really is only one solution. Get a smaller lighter car with a smaller lighter more fuel efficent engine in it. Somethiing like a Caterham or similar, they weigh in at under 600kg (1320lb) and use regular 4 cylinder engines, usually 1.8 - 2.0 liter. You could have a low 13 second car that would out handle almost anything on the road and still see 30-40mpg for normal driving.

 

[QUOTE=RedWS6 00]Wtf man, how do you afford to drive anywhere besides the "petrol" station and home?

 

If you want a k&n I have one w/ about 200 miles on it that I'll sell you for $25 plus shipping. I took mine off and went w/ the k&n fipk. Shoot me a pm and let me know.

 

There's something about saying "Yup, my car gets 28MPG, has 336hp to the wheels and it runs 12's" Don't know about you, but saying that to someone and watching their expression just tickles me.

Oh, and sorry, no Civic for me. If you like them that's cool too, I guess.

As for better mileage. Just be aware of how you drive. Don't drive like others. I notice alot of people take off fast at lights. Don't try and pace them. Keep the revs under 2k and the car WILL return better mileage. I also skip gears i.e. 1st to 3rd...3rd to 5th. Doing these things I've gotten as much as 392 miles on a tank...filling up again taking 14 gallons. I've seen as low as 335 with a couple of top end bursts and races. About 98% of my driving is on the highway at non rush hour times which contributes to better mileage but it does get this good of gas mileage. I think driving habits would be better then a K&N any day.

Larry

 

I had a k&n, and switched back to the paper element and noticed no difference. The biggest thing you can do for gas mileage is to drive like an old lady! Also switch to synthetic engine oil and synthetic tranny oil. That MAY help a little.