How to Optimize Petrol Consumption in a VW Beetle Turbo
- 1). Maintain your car. It's simple but true--a properly maintained car will operate more efficiently, and you'll enjoy better gas mileage. Items like fouled spark plugs, dirty air filters or clogged fuel filters will have a detrimental effect on your gas mileage. Even replacing simple parts like filters and sensors can pay off with measurable gains in efficiency. So tune up your car, and check the manual for recommended maintenance intervals.
- 2). Inflate your tires. You can improve your fuel economy by up to 3 percent simply by keeping your tires at the recommended pressure. Check your owner's manual for the recommended air pressure.
- 3). Shed extra weight. The more weight you're carrying, the harder your engine works and the more fuel you use. If you're carrying a lot of extra weight in the trunk, drop it off and enjoy the savings in efficiency.
- 4). Drive gently. It's not a race out there--the smoother and steadier you drive, the better your fuel economy will be. In the city, start and stop gradually, and when on the highway, decrease your speed by a few mile per hour. The savings can be significant. Along the same lines, use the highest gear possible all the time if you have a manual transmission.
- 5). Wash and wax your car. It seems like a small thing, but a clean car is aerodynamically "slippier" and will use less fuel, particularly at highway speeds.
- 6). Consider increasing the boost of your engine's turbo charger. A turbocharger, like the one in your VW, improves engine efficiency by compressing and recycling exhaust gases, providing more power and better efficiency than a normal engine. However, unless you're a very skilled mechanic, this is not a user-adjustable "tweak." There are performance shops and mechanics that specialize in this type of work.
- 7). Replace your stock exhaust and intakes with customized models designed for higher efficiency and power. There are a variety of aftermarket manufacturers that make VW-specific intake and exhaust kits (see Resources below).
Source...