# Increase gas mileage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [August 3, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841 "2011-08-03T19:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![frogette56266](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/edb3f5/32.png) [@frogette56266](https://community.cartalk.com/u/frogette56266)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/1 "2011-08-03T19:48:30Z")
I have a 06 pontiac g6 and I am getting about 16 mpg. around town. Someone told me to get the fuel ionizer kit to get around 3mpg better mileage. Do they work?? ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/2 "2011-08-03T19:56:06Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/3 "2011-08-03T19:56:21Z")
Do they work? Only to put money into the pockets of the charlatans that are selling them. Save your money and use it to maintain your car properly. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/4 "2011-08-03T19:59:25Z")
Nope. Numerous scams of this type exist. And they’ve all been tested by Popular Mechanics and others. None of them work. Some of them can even cause damage. The feds just raised the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) requirement for manufacturers to over 54 mpg. If these things worked, don’t you think the manufacturers would have already installed them? ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/5 "2011-08-03T20:04:29Z")
No. The people that sell these kinds of things are just modern “snake oil peddlers”. Didn’t work then and they don’t work now. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/6 "2011-08-03T20:14:37Z")
What you should probably get is a good tire pressure gauge & make sure that all maintenance is up to date and that you don’t have some other issue such as dragging brakes or stuff like that. You should also go easy on the throttle & brakes. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/7 "2011-08-03T21:24:38Z")
FWIW, like most I want to cut my gas mileage as much as possible and it occurred to me that the deflector at the tailgate of my Blazer might be causing some unnecessary fuel consumption so I removed it a couple of months ago and on my third fill up today it seems somewhat certain that mileage has increased over 2 mpg. How have I overlooked dragging that anchor all these years? ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/8 "2011-08-03T21:33:15Z")
Do you have the 3.9L V6? If so, that’s exactly the way it was designed. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/9 "2011-08-03T22:02:05Z")
None of the magic things you see adds for or get advertisements for. In general the best you can hope for is that they will do no harm other than the cost. Most of the time the only real gain comes from your driving style and choice of cars, not any fancy expensive (or cheap) gadget. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/10 "2011-08-03T22:33:54Z")
Rod, thanks for the laugh. I see kids today with fancy wings, spoilers, and ground effects kits on their cars and wonder if they realize the drag these things create. What they don’t realize is that the race cars they’re emulating have extremely powerful engines and accept the added drag in order to get the extra traction from the downforce. By the way, did I tell you that I just put front and rear spoilers on my car? ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/11 "2011-08-03T22:56:50Z")
That wing I took off is still in my shop, mountainbike. If you need another for your car post your address. And I have installed those wings on cars even after advising the customer against it. I never understood what they wanted to gain from the expense. Do they give any improvement to handling at legal highway speeds? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/increase-gas-mileage/66841/12 "2011-08-03T23:18:51Z")
Recaptured youth for the oldsters (like me), peer acceptance for the youngsters. My neighbors see me always tinkering with my car. One of them just told me “every time I see you you’re under your car”. They all know it’s in perfect running condition. They ask me what I’m doing and I just say “recapturing my lost youth”. Naw, they don’t actually help at highway speeds, unless you need something to dry your towel on driving back from the beach. Other than replacing tired shocks and other parts, the only thing I’ve ever done that actually helped was install an upgraded antisway bar. But that doesn’t get peer acceptance for young guys 'cause nobody can see it!