Is there a way to make your car accelerate faster/smoother, run better?

[BradPradt]

I mean what can we possibly do to improve acceleration, or just make sure that the engine runs faster/smoother, etc?

Aside from regular oil changes. Do fuel injections and other type of liquids that you can buy and add, help any? Special kind of oil?

any "life extension" products out there?


Does accelerating really fast damage the car, or just use up more gas?

why does stop/go traffic use more gas than driving at very high highway speeds anyways?

[unpluggedlProlPeace]

make sure you got a clean air filter. or even swap it for a high performance air filter. reduce unnessasary weight.

yes, accelerating really fast ALL THE TIME, will shorten the lifespan of your engine.

stop and go traffic uses more gas than highway driving because it uses more gas to accelerate. why don't you try this experiment? you need a friend to help you... bring your car into an empty, flat parking lot, and put it in neutral. figure out what's harder to do, to get the car moving by pushing it, or pushing it at a constant speed when its already rolling. pushing the car at a constant speed is much easier.

plus, the RPM plays a big difference too. RPM is how fast the engine is spinning. the faster it spins, the more fuel it uses. so at highway speeds, your usually at a higher gear, and the engine is operating at a lower RPM.

that's why you always see car manufactures advertise the HIGHWAY fuel consumption of a car, because its usually higher. and people think that just because its at a higher speed, it will use more gas, so they think the city milage is even less. the only time city milage is less is in a hybrid.

[banjopickinmike]

Regular tune ups will keep your car running smoothly and acceleration as it should.

If you use good quality fuel you should not need to use fuel injecter cleaners.

Using a good quality Oil (I use Mobil 1 in my truck but Castrol is good too) and a quality oil filter (Napa or Wix are my favorite, do not use Fram oil filters) and changing it at regular intervals go a long way to adding years to your car or truck.

Accelerating fast is harder on your vehicle but not detrimental to it provide you don't over rev the motor. It does use more fuel then normal accretion.

It takes more fuel to accelerate to a certain speed like you do in city driving than it does to go at a constant speed like you do on the highway. That is why there is a difference in mileage.

[banjopickinmike]

Regular tune ups will keep your car running smoothly and acceleration as it should.

If you use good quality fuel you should not need to use fuel injecter cleaners.

Using a good quality Oil (I use Mobil 1 in my truck but Castrol is good too) and a quality oil filter (Napa or Wix are my favorite, do not use Fram oil filters) and changing it at regular intervals go a long way to adding years to your car or truck.

Accelerating fast is harder on your vehicle but not detrimental to it provide you don't over rev the motor. It does use more fuel then normal accretion.

It takes more fuel to accelerate to a certain speed like you do in city driving than it does to go at a constant speed like you do on the highway. That is why there is a difference in mileage.

[CraigG]

Fuel System cleaners will help if used regularly. I would suggest you try Seafoam. It is a very powerful solvent you can add to you gas tank, oil tank or intake that works great to help keep your engine clean and running smoothly.

In terms of oil, synthetic oil will help extend the life of the car but you will be spending alot more money to get synthetic oil.

Accelerating quickly isn't immediately bad on the car but prolonged heavy acceleration will cause damage over time due to the larger strain put on the motor every time you do it.

Stop and go traffic causes worse MPG because you are constantly revving the motor up then having it go down without much movement of the vehicle. During highway driving you move at a high speed and the motor runs at a constant low RPM and your transmission remains in a higher gear. In that higher gear your motor doesn't have to work as hard to keep the car moving at that speed.