The OEM wires on the Volvo have a date stamp. It is stamped week/year. So mine are stamped 29/07, so they were actually made the 2nd week of July, 2007. Also, there are other OBD-II trip computers that can help you monitor real time/trip gas mileage.

One is the ScanGauge II and I can't remember the other. There is a Dyno Dash that does about a million things for a million dollars (about $300) but I am looking for the $60 item and will post back.

 

Here is one: PLX Kiwi - Kiwi Wifi, Kiwi Bluetooth, Kiwi MPG, Kiwi Drive Green OBD 2 Devices

The key is getting one that keeps real time, current trip, tank data and maybe the last trip data. That way you can change a few things in your driving habits to see what works best and it will cause you to stop doing things that suck down gas.

The big thing that we must remember is most of our around the town trips are less than 30 miles. If you are a lead foot, thinking that pounding another 5, 10, 15 mph will make a difference, it really doesn't. If I drive to my office like the office is on fire, I might make that 18 mile trip 2 or 3 minutes faster than I would if I drove like it was the last tank of gas I was going to be able to purchase becasuse all the stations were out. Not to mention the chances of getting a ticket. I usually catch people that blow by me at the next light. The difference between me driving 15 miles at 65 mph vs 75 mph is less than 2 minutes. Do the math. Even worse yet is racing from one traffic light to another. It's just sick!!! When you take off from a light you will get about 6 mpg until you reach your cruising speed (35/45 mph). If you can get that up to about 12 mpg you will almost double your mpg efficency. What these gauges make you do is stop forcing fuel through those injectors and take it easy.

Now when your crusing around and you need to teach someone a lession, by all means do so, but that usually happens once very 2 weeks or so. If it's a daily occurance you need theropy.

Just think, if you can increase your fuel economy 25% like I have (I was getting 21 mpg around town), your adjusted price per gallon drops from $4 per gallon to $3. Over 5,000 miles you would have saved $152. If you drive 15,000 miles per year that is about $456. Now this is hard to do but I did it anyway. Instead of driving 80 mph and getting around 23 mpg on my 900 mile trip to Albuquerque and paying $136 (gas was $3.50 at the time), I drove 65 mph and got 29 mpg, which cost me $108. So it took me another 2 hours to make the trip and saved me about $30. At the time I really needed the $30 so I was happy.

When I find that other gauge I'll post back. It was a little square thing that did monitor several things at a time with a main image w/ 3 smaller images around it. It was around $59. The thing I like about the scan gauge is that you can reset your current trip data which gives you the average mpg with the trip. I checked about 6 different highway speeds before I figured out that my sweet spot in the 960 and 850 was 62/63 mph. The real time mpg gauge just doesn't give you a 50 mile average like the current trip feature can. Unless you reset your entire system a few times which you can if you have the trip computer installed in your car. My 960 had NO fuel computer so I had to get the scangauge to give me some real time data.

 

Oh, before I forget, you may want to read some info on Hypermiling. And btw, driving close behind a truck will do nothing other than **** off the truck driver and get your windshield cracked, unless you can stay within 10 feet.

 

Here is the dang thing, took me forever. They need a webguy that can help them with their search engine stuff.
Ultra Gauge: UltraGauge Automotive Information Center and OBDII Scan Tool

 

I know you guys think I'm going crazy but here is another point. When using my ScanGauge II I usually disply the following values:
Speed / Real Time MPG / Engine Load / Engine Temp

Then from time to time I check Volts, and switch to my trip computer to monitor my current trip average mpg, yesterdays average mpg, today's mpg, and tank mpg.

Bottom line is you will at least save 5% but the average person saves about 15%. The gauge will pay for itself in 3000 miles. It will probably take about a month or two to correct your bad habbits.

 

Ok, here is my summary of what I think will help someone get better gas mileage:

1. Tune your car up. Replace plugs if they are past their life time/mileage.
2. Use the gas that your car recommends, not the minimum, the recommended octane.
3. Learn a little about hypermiling. Google it: Hypermiling :: Even without a hybrid car, no more need to compare gas prices
4. Get a mpg trip computer:
   Ultra Gauge: UltraGauge Automotive Information Center and OBDII Scan Tool
   PLX Kiwi: PLX Kiwi - Kiwi Wifi, Kiwi Bluetooth, Kiwi MPG, Kiwi Drive Green OBD 2 Devices*
   ScanGauge II: ScanGaugeII - Trip Computers + Digital Gauges + Scan Tool
5. Check to make sure that your thermostat is working properly and your engine is running at the right temperature. Another good use for a good mpg trip computer.
6. Get a K & N air filter that will fit in your normal box: K&N High Performance Air Filters, Air Intakes, & Oil Filters
7. Use full synthetic oil. DO NOT switch to synthetic oil if you suspect that your motor is worn. If you have a lot of miles do or have a compression test done first. If your motor is in good shape, synthetic oil is suppose to be even less friction and cause you to get better gas mileage. If your engine is in poor condition it may cause leaks and/or finish it off.
8. Keep your tire pressure up. Run at recommended pressure or a pound or two higher.
9. Get rid of junk you don't need in your trunk. That is not a portable storage unit. Extra weight = more load on your engine = more gas used.
10. Use a fuel injector cleaner every 10,000 miles. I have 3 cars to care for so I buy the big bottle: Lucas Fuel Treatment : Lucas Oil
11. If you have BAD O2 sensors, get them replaced.

EVERY DAY that you DO NOT do the things listed above, it IS COSING YOU MONEY. If I think of anything else, I will add it later but this should do it.

 

Sorry bud, but that's not true at all. From my own personal experience in driving, you CAN draft trucks without being all that close to them. I used to drive around 300 miles every weekend in my jeep wrangler, back and forth to school and home, and you absolutely can feel the difference when you get "sucked" into that pocket.

Not only my personal experience, but you must have missed the mythbusters episode where they tackled this myth. Their tests showed that even at 100 feet behind the truck you get 11% better mileage. At 10 feet it was 39% better! Now, 100 feet is still pretty close at highway speeds, but not unreasonable, and 10 feet is insane and I don't recommend anyone try it. But you're still getting benefits further out than 100 feet. Those trucks suck an awful lot of air along with them.

 

you can check some video tips on about how to save gas,it is really useful!

 

Sorry Bud, but I have tried it with my mpg computer on instant/real time. I can feel the wind blowing my around but I had to almost attach my JEEP to the back of the truck before I seen the mpg move at all. 100 Feet is still to close to be behind anyone going 50+ mph. If they had to hit their brakes, I would likely travel 100 feet before I had my foot on the brake. Again, I didn't stay there long, but I seen no advantage on my mpg computer. I tried it for about a mile.

 

Gosh I'm sorry, I should have known that your "mpg computer on instant" was more accurate than a factory tech with a diagnostic laptop plugged directly into the cars computer and monitoring the actual flow rate through the injectors. My apologies.


And if you travel over 100 feet before you can get your foot on the brake, then you shouldn't be driving. At 60 MPH you're traveling 88 feet per second, the average reaction time of adults is about a quarter second, so you SHOULD only be traveling about 22 feet before you can react. Even at double that, you're only going 44 feet. Still plenty of time to react should the truck hit the brakes. Even if he anchors them, it's still not going to slow down all that fast, a loaded truck carries a LOT of inertia.

Anyway, like I said... I wouldn't recommend it but it's possible. Sorry for the thread hijack, back to the topic at hand now.

 

Following distance is 10ft per 10mph.
(for a car)
So if you are 35ft behind my rig at 65mph you are far too close.

If you're on my *** and I have to stop I guarantee that my DOT bumper will negate your gas savings in mere fractions of a second.

 

How the hell do you know if I am loaded or not?

Safe is better than dead any day of the week.

 

Hey PitRow, no need to apologize. You will learn that I embrace a debate, it helps us all learn in the end. And I by no means consider this thread jacking since we are talking about methods to save gas, then that Philip dude interrupts and turns this into a safety concern like anyone of us here value the S word.

I did a quick google and seen that the average reaction time is a full second. I assume that takes in consideration that we are more distracted now than ever. So, if I have to keep about 100 feet behind the truck or closer, and since I can't get my electronic tape to work while driving down the freeway, how will I really know, I will likely be 70 feet away, I will also be driving 63 mph because no trucker in the country is driving slower than that. So when I finally see his brake lights and I get my lightning fast mind to get my 1/2 numb leg to get on the brake and apply pressure, I've lost a lot of that 100' those guys say I should be within. Thank God the truck is still moving and my windshield stop all of my cabin contents from flying over my hood. And now that my wife is pissed that she has had a mild heart attach, I'm not sure I even want to save money on gas anymore. I never said that anyone would hit the truck but since you thought I did, just wanted to clear that up.

Oh, the computer that I have does connect directly to the ECU and read the actual fuel flow to calculate the instant mpg. And while I'm at it, Volvo somehow designed a very drag efficent sedan that unsafe truck drifting doesn't help much.

 

Anyone mind if I move this across to the 850 section?

 

I copied it here from the 850 section. LOL. I can add a link in the sticky DIY if I haven't already.

 

LOL no problemo! I'll leave it alone!

 

I have an Ultra-Gauge. I heartily recommend it. Here's my amateur review:

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...ndation-49460/

 

If your thermostat is functioning properly, the colder environment should not be the cause of bad gas millage because cold air is more dense than room temperature air (20 C), giving more kilograms per cubic meters, so it should actually increase your engine efficiency. I use 87 octane in my s70 and I average about 20 miles per gallon in the city when I drive conservatively, but it runs significantly smoother when I use 93. I'm not sure what type of air filter you have in your car, but when I put the IPD short ram air intake and the wider fresh air tube from Snabb performance I noticed an increase of 1-2 mpg's and alotttt more power with a nice sound. You could also throw a nice fuel system cleaner in your tank to burn out the built up carbon in the cylinders and that should help a bit, 44k, lucas, and lubro molly are great brands for fuel system cleaners. I know it's no fun, but slow down with pressing the gas pedal and try to coast as much as possible, take advantage of the potential energy at the top of a hill. I promise you will increase your mpg's if you do that, but of course you have to step on it once in a while for some fun. Cheers!

 

Thermostats can be one of the problems during winter season im assuming where you are- canada. A stuck partially closed thermostat can do that as well as an o2 sensor but many things take into considerate to the vehicle such as engine tune up, spark plugs, etc . You can check this website for some general vehicle advice - AA1Car Auto Diagnosis Repair Help. also remapping the engine ecu is good too which I had experienced. As for winter driving you will have to expect poor fuel economy such as heated seats, climate control which does make the vehicle work slighty harder

 

I think, you should have to check your volvo's maintenance schedule. First of all you simply change your spark plug on every 60,000 miles and also one important thing is that choose the best motor oil, which can improve your fuel economy well.