Info on my strange fuel economy issues.

[AnotherPerson]

So those who have been around for a while will remember my posts. I sorta gave up and just settled I was going to get 30mpg no matter what in my car. Well about 3 months back I looked at the tire and the whole inside got eaten up very quickly. Whole front suspension besides inner tie rods had been replaced. Decided to just have them replaced and the shop even called me and told me there wasn’t any noticeable play. Had them replace them anyways. When they came out after a hard wack on the ground you could tell they were jamming up they were so worn. Needless to say after the inners got replaced I now get a solid 35mpg. It had been aligned before and showed good but I guess they would occasionally jam in the other direction throwing everything way off and causing drag.


Never would have thought they could cause that massive of a economy loss but I figured I would post Incase someone is lost trying to figure out the same.

If you find this post in a search later on, I think my beetle has had the most strange issues across this board and good luck getting your economy right

 

[Nero Morg]

Well just remember, too much tow in or tow out, your tires are literally scrubbing against the ground, which adds rolling resistance. I'm glad to hear you finally found a resolution to your fuel economy.

 

[AnotherPerson]

Well just remember, too much tow in or tow out, your tires are literally scrubbing against the ground, which adds rolling resistance. I'm glad to hear you finally found a resolution to your fuel economy.

I knew that but the alignment always came out good. It was taking almost the whole weight of the front of the car to pop it loose than throw it way off. I was getting about 25m our of a set of tires before the inside wore and I was lifted so I figured it was a side effect of that.

 

[csstevej]

Your mileage is still low.
You should be a lot higher than that.

 

[BobnOH]

'99 beetle is 29-40 auto, 35-44 manual according to fueleconomy.gov

 

[AnotherPerson]

I deliver pizza in the car so 35 is within reason to me. I know before with my other tune it got a couple more mpg. Involves pulling the dash and tossing those chips back in tho. I suspect it may get 38 or so than.