Fuel Saving Gadget..

barrymung

Many years ago I had a mini to which I fitted a vacuum gauge. It was a primitive dial gauge that connected via a tube to the inlet manifold.

A high vacuum showed that little fuel was being burnt. When you booted the accelerator to the floor the vacuum dropped and so did the needle on the dial. The dial had two sections, red and green, denoting poor and good fuel economy.

As I was a poor student at the time I tried to drive as much as possible with the needle in the green area. I recon I saved around a third after I got the gauge.

It has stood me in good stead over the years as it taught me to drive in a very economical manner. I think it cost me about a fiver and must have saved me thousands over the years I have been driving since.

I haven't seen them for sale for years but if you can still buy a vacuum gauge I'd recommend buying one. It'll teach you the driving styles that cost you money! You'll also learn how to drive economically!

Gorgeous_George

I remember my mate having a traffic light device on his dash that did the same thing.

Why similar devices are not mandated for new cars (or all cars) is beyond me. I guess the Government like us to use lots of fuel.

GG

barrymung

It's not like they are at all complicated and must be very cheap to make.

Heck, motoring organisations/insurance companies could probably afford to give 'em away free..

Gorgeous_George

Might not work with fuel injected systems.

GG

gazza975526570

where can you get these from?

vikingaero

BMWs had these as standard on most models up until the last E36 models. In those days we used to joke about keeping the needle using as fuel as possible. How we laugh now........

shown73

I've still got a brand new one in the garage! Great little gadget, but quite how to fit it to a late Mondeo I'm not quite sure! Time was when you could just drill and tap the inlet manifold and bung it on. Wonder what it would do to modern engine management systems....

LandyAndy

My 1989 Corolla had one of these as standard. It was 50% more sophisticated, it had red, orange and green segments.

steveo3002

you can still find them online and some car shops

try a T piece in the inlet manifold vac pipes ....cant see it would hurt anything

loofer

I think the new BMW 1 Series (Efficient Dynamics range) has an optimum shift indicator.. don't know if it's effectively the same thing.

Conor_3

shown73 wrote: »

I've still got a brand new one in the garage! Great little gadget, but quite how to fit it to a late Mondeo I'm not quite sure! Time was when you could just drill and tap the inlet manifold and bung it on. Wonder what it would do to modern engine management systems....

Nothing. All you've got to do is find a vaccuum hose and tee into it. On a petrol engine, you can still tap into the inlet manifold although that should be the plenum chamber on an injected one. On a diesel, there is no point in this type of gauge.