at first I thought that the little MPG average reading might be off a little but. but when i filled up it came out almost exactly right on.
314miles and 9.02 gallons to top it off!!

Just wanted to share, Elevation were I live is around 500ft and with some hills. That is about 50/50 highway city. I bet I could get close to 40mpg on the interstate at 65mph.

I am wanting to get some 18" wheels and lower it on TRD springs. Anyone know if this will effect the MPG much?

According to GeoUSA on another thread, your gas mileage may be helped by lowering the car. He said:

"The lowering springs make a difference. Speed bumps and even smaller road anomalies can cause the RS1 to bottom out. A lowered vehicle is supposed to gain some fuel economy and many like the look."

deffinatly like the look

How many miles have you put on your car? Depending on how many miles are on the car you could still be in your break-in period on the engine and things won't "calm down" till after 1,000mi.

Changing to a larger tire size will effect the mpg, lowering shouldn't effect it as much.

Changing to a larger diameter (overall) tire/wheel combination will affect your mileage readings too.

I first considered the benefit of lowering (and possibly ground effects) after reading about the new Ford Flex and the sometimes surprising methods Ford employed to increase fuel economy. The article is here and an excerpt follows:

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/07/17/093305.html

Low Rider
One of the most intriguing features of the Flex is its wide, low-riding stance, which gave the aero team a little wiggle room to play with ride height - a major factor in a vehicle's aerodynamic performance. "The underbody creates a lot of drag so the closer the vehicle body is to the ground, the more airflow goes over the top, creating less drag," said Koester.

Flex's unique design allowed the team to lower the ride height by almost an inch for a ground clearance of 130 millimeters - the standard for most Ford cars. This inch equates to a .015 coefficient of drag reduction.

yea I know the larger tire diameter will effect the odometer witch would effect acutal readings and MPG calculations. but i want to keep the same size overall diameter just with 18's and lowered a bit.

Car has 350 miles on it

larger/ heavier wheels will lower ur actual MPG.

lowering decreases drag but only gives a neglible improvement.

mpg will go up while breakin it in. it started out at 29 now i'm around 33

I just got back from a 220 mile trip. Average speed a 43mph and mpg when i got home was 42.2mpg on the cluster. ONly burned 1/2 tank!! amazing!! My cruising speed was aronud 55-60mph with alot of up and down hills. I let the car slow going uphill then speed up going downhill.
If I set the cruise it would only get maybe 30 because it would be downshifting on these steep hills trying to stay at a consistant speed.

Upgrading your wheels/tires will only change your MPG if you increase the overall weight OR the overall tire size...

And lowering the car doesn't make a noticable difference in the city, but from experience I've noted a 3 MPG increase on the highway after lowering mine on DF210s. I also just installed my Fuhita intake and am hoping to find out how that helps/hinders my MPG...

I have lowered mine with NF210s and added 18" wheels and have not noticed any changed to my 37ish MPG. Just added a TRD sport muffler and have not seen a change from it either.

my rims made little difference in mileage. lowering the car was same result. it's about how you push the gas pedal.

Im drive an AUTO, lowered on TRD springs and have 18" Enkei rims with 225/40/18's and I consistantly get 33-34 between fill ups...I live in AZ and constantly drive with the A/C on,.,,

I swear it has to be the gas. :?

I swear it has to be the gas. :?

i'm at 24 mpg right now - yay :doh: