When I purchased the Grand Prix right before going down to Florida, I ran a specialized engine treatment in it that I have used in the past the is one fine product for cleaning out engines. Though I could look down through the oil fill hole to the little bit of the valve train area I could not see the first hint of any varnish or build up (No brown coating or anything in there, still can see the metal like it came from the factory), I wanted to run this treatment just to make sure everthing was nice and spiffy.
This treatment requires I run a non-synthetic oil for the clean and rinse stages. So I ran the clean stage going down to Florida and the rinse stage coming back home. Obviously one of my first priorities was to get the GTP onto Amsoil.
Going down to Florida and back I very closely tracked fuel economy. I have to run premium fuel with the supercharger so I want to know how this thing is going to do on gas. On the trip I was running about 28.5 - 29.5 mpg with the non-synthetic oil. City mileage was putting me in the low 20's. Not bad to me considering the power and that its a V6.
I got the car switched over to Amsoil 10W30 a couple days ago. Now the DIC (Drivers Information Center) tracks average, overall fuel economy. On the trip to Florida it read consistently in the high 28 mpg range which is amazingly close to what I was seeing at each re-fuel. I reset it again after getting back home and being able to do some more highway driving and it again settled on the high 28 mpg side.
I switched it over to Amsoil 10W30 and proceeded to take a little highway trip. I reset the DIC economy and the thing jumped to and settled in the mid 35 mpg range. If I was on straight level road it would start going higher like it would surpass 36 mpg. But the trip was nearly constantly up and down hills and it would fluctuate between low 34's and mid 35's.
I need to track it a bit longer but if this holds true (and I see no reason why it wont as several GTP owners report 30+ mpg) I will be getting better mileage in the GTP WITH and automatic tranny than I was getting in the Focus. City mileage seems to be holding around 25 - 26 mpg, but again I need to run it a bit more to see if it will hold there.
If the highway mileage holds, and again I see no reason why it wouldnt, that would put my range on a tank of gas very near 600 miles with a 17.5 gallon tank. I got about 400 miles on this tank, nearly all of it city driving and I havent even hit the low fuel warning light yet, though it is getting close, I at or just below a 1/4 tank left.
At any rate, thought I would let everyone know. At 35 mpg that would represent a near 20% gain in highway fuel economy by switching to Amsoil. Id have to look back at the records, but I think the best I was ever able to do in the Focus, and this with the sidegapped plugs, was about 33 mpg. I got nearly double the horsepower, more than double the torque and better mileage. I see nothing wrong with this picture at all.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
I thought I might add that I have yet to switch the tranny over to Amsoil. Im planning on doing that but Im waiting for my shift kit to arrive. Once I have that I'll install the shift kit and flush the tranmission with Amsoil ATF. I dont see another 1 - 2 mpg increase from that out of the question, but we'll have to wait and see if that pans out.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
