I apologize for making a new thread about this if it has been covered somewhere before. But after months of reading threads after threads of mods I can do to my lancer, mostly from evosoul, I am still not sure what is the best thing I can do to improve my gas mileage while not voiding my warranty.

I have considered a SRI and Axelback mods, and maybe installing pulstar plugs, but I'm still not sure if this is all I can do. And the fact that I have never done any major mods myself to any car, makes me feel very uneasy about doing anything at all in fear of voiding my warranty.

I really want my car to have a little bit more power when I push it, but at the same time have a much more fuel efficiency when I wanna grandma cruise my way to work.

I have a 08 GTS(CVT) with nav&sound package, and I average between 23-25mpg right now.

 

well, ive done both, cai and axelback and ive noticed a huge diff. in mpg. a 150 mile round trip i take damn near every weekend used to cost me 1/2 tank, now its only a 1/4. ive also switched to synthetic but not sure or not if it contributes or not to mpg.
also power was increased but i dont have any numbers for hp yet.

 

Keep your tires at the reccomended pressure, gas at the reccomended octane, go easy on the gas pedal, don't carry more cargo than you have to, and keep your alignment in check. If you want to stay strictly within the confines of the warranty, there's not a whole lot else you can do. Fortunately, the things I just listed account for the vast majority of what you can to to eek out the best MPG. Finding an alternate way to work can help a lot as well. For instance: I recently found a back road, so while the distance is 2 miles greater, I'm only stopping once or twice (instead of being jammed in traffic most of the way), which has had a huge impact on my fuel economy (in a good way).

And since you mentioned being a bit uneasy about modding a car - everything I just said involves no mod work at all If you want to dig a little deeper, you could make the switch to synthetic oil. It won't make a huge change on your MPG, but you can go almost triple the distance before you need to change it, meaning your cost of ownership would be reduced somewhat.

 

i find praying and talking to the car helps

 

same here!

 

I use Mobil1 05w30 full syntethic, and use 93 octane fuel. I also keep my tire pressure at 33psi all around, since the temp here reaches around 100°F here.

Btw, when I used to be on 87octane and dino oil, I was averaging 18-19mpg. I also only hit 4 stops on my 11 mile commute to work.

 

DON'T use 5w30 use 5w20, that's what the engine needs and higher viscosity oil will create less friction. (unless you really need to because of the temperature)
DON'T use 93 octane gas when the car needs 87 octane gas. Contrary to popular belief high octane gas "doesn't release more power" or provide better gas mileage. It's just more knock resistant and detonation is not an issue with a stock lancer.
Thatr will cut costs alot.

 

I don't use higher octane gas to get more power, I use it to prevent engine knocks. I have an 08 Nissan Frontier which uses the same synthethic oil but uses 89 octane, and it gets knocks every now and then during idle, until I switched it to 93 octane. I used 05w30 Mobil1 since that is what the dealer had to offer as a recommended synthetic oil, which is the same oil they strictly use on their EVO X oil change.

So I think the temp here does play a part on how well the car runs, and I've read countless discussions about this issue. But I do appreciate your opinions about the choices I make on my cars maintenance.

Anyway, the way I wanted to get more HP is through mods, and thankfully the mods I've been looking into does improve gas mileage. So I came here in hope to to get a more direct answers from people who does heavy mods on their CVT equipped GTS. And since this is the first ever car I plan to mod, I really want some solid recommendations on what kits to get and from where.

 

its just shy of 100 degrees here in dfw and i tend to get 22-26 mpg driving to and from work. as weird as it may sound, i've been driving the car total grandma style cuz i used to own a 99 chevy silverado and now that i have this average mpg guage i watch the numbers grow, lol. now i'm still just in my 3rd-4th week of owning the car but it seems that when i drive about 5-10 miles above the speed limit (still not rippin around or anything) but just not grandma'in it, that i tend to get closer to 25-29!

 

I usually drive with the flow of traffic, which is around 70, but I try my hardest to maintain 55 though, even though it embarasses me. Still, I get 330 miles minimum before the car tells me to refuel.

 

The problem with using high octane gas to get more power is that you don't get more power unless your car is tuned for high octane gas. (That's what Works ECU flash does). And just because your other car has a problem with engine knocking doesn't mean that you have to buy premium for your lancer too. The idea is that if you can't improve the gas mileage at least you can pay less for gas (regular).

Now about the oil, if you use 5w20 which is thinner, you will be able to get more mileage, because the engine will run more freely (less friction=less wasted power and gas). Check with your dealership if they recommend 5w30 or 5w20 in your area for the regular lancer not the evo. Since the evo is turbocharged it seems logical that it needs a thicker oil because the engine gets hotter, so the same suggestion doesn't hold true for a regular lancer.

 

In Houston it'd be a better idea to run 5w-30 or 10w-30 in the summer due to the excessive heat there. In the winter, going back to 5w-20 would be fine.

 

That is what exactly what the dealer said otter.