What Tweaks to improve MPG for a 2004 Volvo XC90 2.5T AWD?

newendeavor · Post by **newendeavor** » 09 Dec 2010, 17:09

2004 Volvo XC90 2.5T AWD: I get about 17 miles to the gallon in this car and would like to increase mileage by at least 5 miles to the gallon. In addition to driving style, air in the tires, load, what can I do to the components to improve mileage? Chip http://www.gfchips.com/ ; air intake, filter?

Post by **matthew1** » 09 Dec 2010, 17:18

Stage 0, which you would want/need to do before a chip anyway.

Low-rolling resistance tires would be another option... I don't know if they're available for SUVs. Try Tire Rack. As you can see from a Tire Rack tire test, tires can and do affect fuel economy -- in this case ±1.89% among regular, non-special summer performance tires -- so it's not just marketing BS. I suspect a dedicated fuel saving tire would be much more than 2%.

Post by **stone36** » 09 Dec 2010, 17:30

Are you getting 17 city, highway , or combined? If it's city, you can probably do a bit better, but 5 is going to be tough...

As far as tires I am a big fan of my Big O S/T, good all season tire, 65K (?) warranty, not as smooth as the Michelin MXV4's that I replaced but just under half the cost, and the MXV's wore out in under 20K...

As for chips, if (when) I get mine, it will be the CPU upgrade from IPD, expensive, but I have done a lot of research on them and they are the best, they don't talk about mileage increase, but I have read personal reviews that people say they get 1-3 MPG better. It would make sense that adding 20-25% HP/torque, would require less gas to get the same power, trouble is you may be more inclined to floor it now that it will do something more impressive

.

Other than that Stage-0 all the way, keep the car tuned, seafoam it, run a good gas treatment every 3 or 4 tanks, and don't floor it...