The biggest change you can make is to adjust the nut behind the wheel.Mechanical
Driving style
Aerodynamics
*I am not responsible for any damage you cause to yourself, your car or others using any of the above techniques. When in doubt follow your manual and local/state laws.
References: Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com, Home - MetroMPG.com - Geo Metro, Chevrolet Metro / Swift, Pontiac Firefly, Suzuki Swift fuel economy info, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-efficient_driving
- Reduce weight - Remove anything in your car that you don't need - garbage, notebooks, tools, spare tire/kit (if you have AAA or similar), bike rack when not in use, etc. Some go to even more extremes like floor mats, backseats, passenger seat, trunk mat, etc. On a typical vehicle, every extra 100 pounds increases fuel consumption by 2%
- Remove that roof rack- When not in use. A roof rack will add unnecessary weight and increase aerodynamic drag.
- Inflate tires - Make sure your tires are at least recommended pressure, some will go to max sidewall* or even over which will increase your MPGs but also the risks associated.
- Tire Alignment - Have your tires aligned.
- Check spark plugs - Make sure your spark plugs are in working condition and don't need to be replaced, refer to owners manual on the maintenance schedule for this.
- Keep your air filter clean/new - Do this yourself, don't pay someone to do this please.
- Low Rolling Resistant tires - When needing to get new tires, opt for the LRR ones.
- ScanGauge, UltraGauge, Bluetooth OBD + App - Having a way to monitor your instant MPGs and other metrics will teach you the best way to drive the Veloster. I used a Bluetooth OBD2 connector from Amazon with the OBDFusion app, the Torque app is another popular choice.
- Synthetic Oil - This can be argued either way but using Synthetic oil should help your gas mileage, especially in colder climates because it flows a lot better which helps during that engine warmup period.
- Regular Maintenance - Make sure you follow the regular maintenance intervals to keep your Veloster producing optimal gas mileage.
Driving style
- Be Aware - Be aware of drivers around you, stop lights, stop signs, uphills, downhills, small children, etc. Being aware of your surroundings and reducing distractions will not only be safer but can also yield better average MPGs.
- Don't warm up your car - If possible you don't need to start your car in the morning to "warm it up", simply drive it easy the first 5-15 minutes of your drive until it is at optimum operating temperature, and even then continue driving it easy .
- Avoid long idling - If you need to idle for a long time, turn off the engine, the amount of gas used when starting is a lot less than idling. Also stop going through the drive through and walk in to get your food, I find it faster most of the time anyway.
- Reduce use/need of brake - As you learn to be more aware of your surroundings you will use your brakes less, using your brakes can waste valuable energy needed to get up the next hill without accelerating.
- Don't tailgate - tailgating increases risk and unnecessary braking, also very unsafe and illegal most of the time.
- Coasting vs. flooring it to a stop sign - This should be obvious but I still see people do this everyday. There is no reason to floor it to the next stop sign/light, simply coast to the stop. Also if there are multiple lanes, change into the lane which will improve your chances of not having to come to a complete stop. Even coasting in Neutral at 10-20MPH still yields great MPGs (Excuse the throttle % - for some reason it has 12-13 even when I am not touching it)
- Coast in gear - Good
- Coast with a slight pedal pressure (still losing speed significantly) - Better
- Coast in Neutral - Best
- Coast with Engine off - Ultimate (See #13)
- Coast in gear - Good
- Timing stop lights - If you know your stoplight is about to change to red and you aren't going to be able to make it, coast (prefer in neutral*) to the stop. It is actually better to switch to neutral, apply the brakes early on to slow you down and crawl to the light. Even though you may be going only 25 MPH to the stop, your average MPG in neutral coasting gets about 60-70 instant MPG in the Veloster (non-turbo).
- Target Driving - Target driving is maintaining a consistent instanct MPG/engine load. In order to get the best results from this I suggest having a way to monitor instant MPGs/engine load through a OBD2 reader. You ill lose speeds on uphills but you will gain them on the downhill, hopefully maintaining a consistent MPG throughout.
- Consistent Speed - Keep a consistent speed, minimum throttle in the highest gear. Most say 45MPH is a good number to stay at, I don't personally know the optimum efficiency speed in the Veloster.
- Pulse and Glide - This technique opposes the thought of driving a consistent speed to get the best MPGs. Instead you will pulse to a high speed and glide (preferably in neutral*) to a low speed. The reason behind this is when you pulse you will get a low MPG but your glide will net you a much larger average as long as your glide is longer than your pulse. As an example. I am on the highway driving at 65 MPH consistent speed and getting a 50MPG instant readout. Instead, if I accelerate to 75 MPH getting a 30MPG instant readout and then shift to neutral and coast down to 60MPG, getting a 250MPG instant readout, the average nets a higher MPG than the 50MPG at a consistent speed. This technique is harder to do with hills and traffic but definitely possible.
- Accelerate smoothly/quickly - I used to think accelerating slowly would net higher MPGs but you actually get the worst MPG while accelerating so the quicker you can get up to that optimum efficient speed to use any of the above tips, the better. Something to keep an eye out for is accelerating quickly and having to stop again soon, if you know you need to do this, it would be better to accelerate quickly (not to a high speed) and coast in neutral. So overall reduce acceleration time to increase coast time or consistent speed time.
- Reduce use of A/C - If you need to use the A/C, only use it when at optimum speed or while coasting, never at a stop if possible.
- Engine off Coasting - only for manual gearbox, I wouldn't recommend this because of safety concerns but coasting with the engine off will improve your MPGs a lot. Using this as part of Pulse & Glide (during the glide obviously), your average MPGs will skyrocket.
Aerodynamics
- Front grill block - The thought behind a grill block is to improve aerodynamics while also improving heat-up time as a warmer engine produces better MPGs. Although during the summer months or in very warm climates grill blocks which block the radiator are not recommended as your car could be to hot. I have started a mock of a front grill block you can check in my build thread.
- Mud Flap delete - Remove these as they interrupt the aerodynamic flow.
- Window deflector delete - Remove these as they interrupt the aerodynamic flow.
- Smooth Wheel covers - some people make these out of pizza pans, coroplast, sheet metal, lexan, etc.
- Rear wheel skirts - Some people make these out of coroplast or sheet metal or lexan. See Honda insight below.
-
- Seal panel gaps - seal up the gaps in the hood and front bumper area around the headlights - may not see a huge difference here but every bit counts! Can use weatherstripping as mentioned here http://www.veloster.org/forum/8-hyundai-veloster-general-discussion/51993-hood-weatherstrips.html
- Front air dam - Move the air up and over and around the sides of the car instead of underneath. Common to see made our of black lawn edging.
- Lowering Springs - The lower your car, the less resistance from the air going underneath your car.
- Under-Belly Pan - for the air that does make it underneath the car, a smooth underbelly pan will help that air to flow smoothly.
- Partial kammback - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammback Some people fabricate these our of coroplast, lexan, sheet metal.
*I am not responsible for any damage you cause to yourself, your car or others using any of the above techniques. When in doubt follow your manual and local/state laws.
References: Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com, Home - MetroMPG.com - Geo Metro, Chevrolet Metro / Swift, Pontiac Firefly, Suzuki Swift fuel economy info, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-efficient_driving