we're going to burn the ____ out of the rest of our fossil fuels and all the ethanol we can grow. because it's had such a profound effect on our economy and population growth for the last century+.
i hope you got a better idea. cause the government just bailed out most of the auto industry, and not for nothing

 

The 10% Ethanol found in most grades of pump gas today most definately reduce our mpg. It takes roughly 40% more Ethanol to produce the same power as gasoline. OTOH it does have advantages too. Ethanol has a RON octane rating of about 110 and we don't have to add dry-gas any more to get water out of our fuel systems. A lot of boosted engines really benefit from switching to E85 where available. The high octane E85 permits much more ign timing advance, cooler intake charge and the lower cost of E85 generally negates the loss of mpg. Plus it's a lot greener than MTBE.

 

I am thinking of lowering it a tad. I would think this may improve mpg as well as looks. Also, I am wondering if my cheap after market wheels are heavier and cause more drag than the factory steelies. Here is my ride. what do you think?

 

However, instead of saving cracked dino-era crude, consumption is roughly the same for the same vehicle distance. What the hell good is that in terms of energy conversation? Not to mention the increase in cost per MPG for us vehicle owners? Will someone please explain to me how this corn alcohol bull ____ is anything other than a boondoggle for the corn industry (gives the finger to exporting to the world's foodless, while boosting the corn industries profit margins and screwing us drivers with higher fuel cost per mile and greater likelihood of engine misbehavior)?

 

Drop it on NF210's... mild 1" drop up front, slightly heavier 1.7" drop in the rear that will even out the jacked up rear ride height a lot, and provide a very comfortable ride. I would not expect any improvement in mpg with the drop. I have NF's and saw no measurable change in mpg when I put them on, which was 36k miles before I got rid of the steelies.

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=124875

Those Hot Wheels have to weigh at least 5 lbs. more each than the steelies, so yea, they will definitely lower your city mpg. The heavier wheels have the most negative affect on acceleration and mpg in stop-n-go driving, but not so much when up to cruising speed on the highway.

 

Well, it does reduce the amount of imported crude oil and keeps some dollars here in the US. I'd like to export our excess corn to the world's foodless too but they can't afford to pay for it and until we stop spending roughly half of our annual budget on our military (excluding the cost of present and future "wars") I'm afraid that we just can't afford to not only give the corn away but foot the bill to ship it and provide the military security to protect it to ensure that it gets to the hungry for which we intended it.

BTW, E10 (10% ethanol) at ~60% the efficiency of gasoline is still an overall gasoline savings of 4%. Not much, but it's something. AFAIK US made ethanol costs about 2/3 what gas costs and the loss of mpg is only about 3% so the cost to us is small.

 

Christ, perhaps it's only in the neighborhood of break even for the driver, but what's clear is it's dollars into the corn industry (spelled subsidy) and Washington politics at its finest. This has nothing to do with conservation and everything to do with preferred subsidies. There are countries interested in purchasing US corn (Russia for example), but the US farmer sees better prospects in US gov't subsidies in the guise of energy conservation to satisfy political lobbies. What was that Supreme Court decision last year where the court majority decided there is no substantial difference between a Corporate entity and an individual citizen? Do any of us actually agree with that? Do we all believe that's what the Constitution was intended to say?

Sorry, I'm just a little ____ed at the moment. Perhaps I should sign off 'til tomorrow ! Best, y'all !

 

NP, you appear to be a lot closer to and better informed on this corn subsidy issue than I am. FWIW, I've pretty much resigned myself to the idea that our government is the the most corrupt pseudo democratic republic the world has ever seen.

 

It looks a lot nicer lowered. I think I will go for those, if I decide to keep the box. I guess I will have to wait until the factory tires (goodyear eagles) wear out before switching to nicer and hopefully lighter 18s. I won't go cheapo on the rims this time around. I would hope that lowering would give at least 1 mpg. I was looking at the new honda civic and they have a 41 mpg version and the only diff between that one and the regular honda civic (39mpg) is that it is lowered 1", has different wheel covers, and the underside is enclosed. So, 1 mpg would be the expectation on lowering the box. I was just wondering if anyone else saw mpg improvements after lowering.

 

Cionide, as the resident wheel expert, can you recommend some 18" wheels that are "ultra light" close in weight to the factory steelies or less? If there is such a thing. Just need to be ready when I change out the factory tires when worn.

 

Light weight usually means forged & expensive... depending on what you consider expensive. I suggest you check out www.TireRack.com where you can enter your car, select 18" wheels in the "filter by" section, and then select weight in the "sort by" section. Plenty of light weight O.Z. wheels, and a number of light weight Enkei wheels that are less expensive than the O.Z. wheels.

 

How much does the stock steel rims weight? I was thinking about getting some lighter rims to see if I get better mpg.

 

I just took my 2012 XB on a break-in cruise to the Fla Keys (around 300mi round trip) starting at 428mi. 1/3 turnpike (70 - 80 mph) and the rest on the overseas hwy (lights 30 - 55 mph).

I calculated the milage by hand and it came out to 30.9.

 

Steelies are in the 20-21 pound range.

Make sure you get light weight tires also.

 

i was actually shocked to see 29mpg on my 360 mile trip with my 19's.

 

I just put 5 psi more than recommended pressure in each tire to see effect on mpg. Looks like +1 mpg. Now getting about 26 mpg in 80% hwy @ 70 mph. It does ride rougher though. Thinking about going back down.

 

Just checked my air pressure and all four were down to near 30psi ! Bumped them back up to 35psi and should definitely see an mpg improvement. That's what I get for not checking for eight months !

 

Whats a good 18" "lightweight" tire (same diameter as factory)? Seems like the 18" will have less rubber than a 16" given the same diameter tire and thus should be lighter.

 

225/40-18 is the size that is as close as possible to the 205/55-16 OEM tire diameter. The 225-18 has a lot more tread than a 205-16, and that's where the majority of the rotational inertia will need to be overcome.

A good light weight tire would be the Continental ExtremeContact DW (dry/wet) or DWS (dry/wet/snow), depending on whether or not you need the snow rating.

 

Just put some 225/35/20 Continental Extreme Contact DWS on my new XXR 521's and yes they are surprisingly light and well priced for a 50k mile performance tire.