So, I finally got a job! Only down side is that the I live in Davoren Park and my job is in Parkside. (It's a 45 min to 1 hour drive)

That means that until I can buy a motorcycle, I need to get my 380 as fuel efficient as possible. Right now she is bone stock mechanically. (2008 Platinum Edition)

I know my 3000GT was programmed to run extremely rich from the factory. Is the 380 the same way, and would it be worthwhile to run a piggyback fuel management system?

Also, are there any little things I can do to get my fuel consumption down as much as possible?

The cost of a piggyback ECU for a reduction in fuel consumption won't be worth it if you're looking at buying a motorbike in the near future. It may pay itself off in the long term (i.e. 100,000km+) but definitely not in the short term.

The 380 is a big and heavy car so while driving with a conservative right foot and freeing up the engine a bit (90mm intake and straight through muffler) might make a little difference, there's not a lot you can do but grin and bear the consumption or change to a more fuel efficient car.

Pick a route with the least traffic, the least grid lock, and the least traffic lights?
. . . . and have a light right foot.

Just put it on LPG.

Impco Sequent 56 is fantastic on the 380.

It will be cheaper than a motorbike.

So, I finally got a job! Only down side is that the I live in Davoren Park and my job is in Parkside. (It's a 45 min to 1 hour drive)

That means that until I can buy a motorcycle, I need to get my 380 as fuel efficient as possible. Right now she is bone stock mechanically. (2008 Platinum Edition)

I know my 3000GT was programmed to run extremely rich from the factory. Is the 380 the same way, and would it be worthwhile to run a piggyback fuel management system?

Also, are there any little things I can do to get my fuel consumption down as much as possible?

Looking at you're route to work looks like full on city driving if so to be blunt the 380 is going to drink it high 15s I'd recon
Do a run for a week see how much it costs you then weigh it up against public transport maybe drive the 380 on Monday and Tuesday the rest of the week public least that way if you go out Thursday/Friday for drinks after work you're all good remember also take into account service cost when working out how much you can also get cheaper insurance if you only drive 2 or 3 days a week
Just my take

Well, going by what I can find in various threads here, I have decided that instead of buying a bike (which will be unrideable for me in the winter because I'm sensitive to cold), I've decided to put the money into the 380. Here's what I'm planning on:

1. Galant snorkel
2. RPW extractors
3. Magnaflow cat
4. Straight through muffler

Those four things should get it down pretty well (sitting at about 9.5l/100km for my drive to and from work.) After that lot, I'm going to save up for an LPG kit, or a piggyback system to lean out the injector cycles some.

Andrew16, the default route is indeed through the city, and right through that horrid double roundabout thing. The route I take bypasses that. Main North Rd> The Grove Way> Bridge Rd/A17> Greenhill. That gets me to work quite well, and seems to be a lot more reasonable as far as traffic. I would love to take the train, but by the time I get off, the last one for the night has already gone, so I have to drive.

When it comes to the mufflers, can anyone give me some suggestions? I'd like a decent 'growling' note, but not one that drones when cruising @sub-1500RPM. Ideally, I'd like one that really sounds out at 3k RPM+ with a deeper idle note (similar to my Flowmaster 40-series single in/dual out I had on my Cadillac back in the US).

Edit: Another question, what CPSI cats have people used in these cars, and to what effect? I was thinking of getting one with 100-200, though I know some V6 engines seem to respond better to a 300CPSI cat.

Given that fuel consumption is a motivating factor in these mods why have you ditched the idea of a tune but decided to buy extractors?

Given that fuel consumption is a motivating factor in these mods why have you ditched the idea of a tune but decided to buy extractors?

Mainly the extractors is to get away from the triple cat setup and into a single, then after the support work I'm looking at going with a piggyback to tune the fuel maps out. Plus I want to get the 'easier' stuff knocked out before I have to commit the car to several days of work/time to get a good fuel map on it. I do know a couple of people back in the US with the Galant that have gone for a piggyback with leaned out maps, but I'd want to have someone that knows what's what test and tweak them for me so I don't go too lean.

Well, going by what I can find in various threads here, I have decided that instead of buying a bike (which will be unrideable for me in the winter because I'm sensitive to cold), I've decided to put the money into the 380. Here's what I'm planning on:

1. Galant snorkel
2. RPW extractors
3. Magnaflow cat
4. Straight through muffler

Those four things should get it down pretty well .

None of those items will improve fuel economy, quite the opposite.

With your intention to use LPG the RPW extractors will create a disasterous ioutcome in both fuel economy and overall reliability of the car.

Check lights will become the norm as well as a big fine for emmisions if you get caught.

You will gain absolutely nothing with that extractor kit except rattles and broken welds.
Sorry to post a dismall opinion but that's the blunt truth.

Just do the LPG and nothing else mate.

Gotta agree with zilo.
I went down the same route as you plan - RPW extractors, 90 mm Galant snorkel, hi-flow (200 CPI) cat, straight through rear mufflers and piggy back ECU (ChipTorque Xede) tuned for 98 RON - and although I picked up quite a bit in power and performance I did not gain any fuel economy. The whole exercise cost well over $3,000, and for that sort of money you would be much better off simply fitting an LPG system.
The differences are that mine was a manual and I never fitted LPG.
The only mods you list that are reasonable bang for your buck and might improve fuel economy a little are the 90 mm Galant snorkel and the free flow rear muffler.

Sorry to say, but if you really want good fuel economy, a large V6 in a heavy car is the wrong starting point.

(Compared with a modern 4 cylinder, anyway - 2L manual Lancer, did 45 Km round trip from northern suburb - near where you live - to airport, early morning light traffic, got 6.8L/100 km.)

The worst fuel consumption comes from repeated warming up, so try to combine trips as much as you can. Go lightly with the right foot, predict traffic flow, etc.
Save up for that gas conversion if you plan to keep the car for years.

None of those items will improve fuel economy, quite the opposite.

With your intention to use LPG the RPW extractors will create a disasterous ioutcome in both fuel economy and overall reliability of the car.

Check lights will become the norm as well as a big fine for emmisions if you get caught.

You will gain absolutely nothing with that extractor kit except rattles and broken welds.
Sorry to post a dismall opinion but that's the blunt truth.

Just do the LPG and nothing else mate.

You want the truth you cant handle the truth LOL Zilo but completely right
Anhevius have some fun with the 90mm intak a muffler, lower resonator and bonnet rubber mod, definitively a physiological power gain bout 50kw I haven't done my muffler yet but so far i haven't seen any change in my economy but seriously your getting 9.5l per 100 thats really good
Quite abit of info on RPW extractors not much positive google it
Zilo how much (ballpark) for the LPG conversion and what results would OP see economy wise

You want the truth you cant handle the truth LOL Zilo but completely right
Anhevius have some fun with the 90mm intak a muffler, lower resonator and bonnet rubber mod, definitively a physiological power gain bout 50kw I haven't done my muffler yet but so far i haven't seen any change in my economy but seriously your getting 9.5l per 100 thats really good
Quite abit of info on RPW extractors not much positive google it
Zilo how much (ballpark) for the LPG conversion and what results would OP see economy wise

LPG will give you about 9-12L/100klm....although mine was supercharged...LOL

Around 400-450 k's per tank.

(400 is hammering it)

BTW...On the dyno it makes more power with LPG.


I had my first one done in Adelaide by Agostino (who also sold me a TMR380) for $4050 then the rebate which was about $2500 back then.

Most recent one was a second hand box of parts, took it all to Impco direct and they fitted it all up for $1200 inc GST.

Absolutely the cheapest way to run a 380..

$35 to fill up at the moment.

I have all the software and setup dongle for the Impco tune software too.

.

Alright, so it's a definite on going LPG instead of the other stuff. (I'll just wait for the snorkel and muffler until later on)

Now the fun part. I did look at going LPG a while back, a local shop told me that the (I think Impco) system that puts the tank where the spare tyre goes was not legal due to the distance from the rear bumper. Will going that route cause me any grief, or did he just not know what he was talking about?

Also, anyone in SA have a shop they'd recommend to take the car to?

Give Impco a call, head office in Victoria.

The tank goes behind the back seat....its all properly engineered.


Like I said Agostini Mitsubishi did mine.

This thread is stupid. The work to make it most efficient has already been done, as seen in the below quotation.


Right now she is bone stock mechanically.

Now, the op has just started a new job meaning maybe he doesn't have thousands of dollars laying around to drop on a gas system. And probably not these other performance items, which will actually increase your fuel economy because you will be driving it harder, even though you don't intend.

I would suggest keeping the car as quiet as possible and drive smarter, look ahead in to traffic, if it's stopping just stop accelerating and roll to a stop, use the tiptronic to engine brake a little bit when coming to a stop, etc.

P.S. My brother in law just spend under $400 on a TF that gets 8l/100km around town. He "upgraded" from his 2004 BA gas falcon that does 14-15l/100km. Granted gas is cheaper, but it's not the bees knees. Sometimes it might take you 4 or more years to catch up on running costs. And when you don't have the G's laying around for the initial upgrade it can push it out further if you have to do it via finance.

So what have we learned? Sell your 380, get a $500 3.0l TF, prefer manual as it's cheaper to run, then you have your petrol money covered for the next 6 years = profit.

I've had LPG cars for few years now. And SVI is the way to go, IF
And its a big IF...
You are going to keep the car for a long time...
You might be better off selling yours and looking for one with the Factory System ( these were fitted after the POS too. ) This could save you a few grand, as the Large install rebates are now gone, although the systems are probably a little cheaper now...
If you do a lot of Highway Km's. The LPG system is quite torquey, and it feels right at home at 100-110, Though best efficient and economical use is between 80-90 kmp'h...
Strangely, the manuals are more economical in stop start, traffic around town etc. And the Auto is much better 1-2 litres a 100 k's on the freeway...

On a side note, there is a little mess in here about efficiency and economy. Gas is less efficient, but more economical... The Sequential Vapour injection system is the efficient type of LPG delivery ( excluding Direct injection, this wasn't avail when I did my cars ) and mixer types dont meet emission standards on that car ( I was told ) so cant be fitted anyway...

In the meantime to achieve best results for Petrol.
Lighten the car as much as practically possible, carry the bare minimum, Skinny tyres, gentle acceleration, Read traffic lights better, Lift off if you know the lights ahead will change on you, Leave earlier, saving 15 mins on your trip will make a huge difference. Plan/Combine trips as mentioned. High ( and regularly checked ) tyre pressures, (34-38). For extreme lowering of consumption, go without the comfort and Practicalties ( safety even ) use AC sparingly, there is actually an AC controller that you can tune to turn off AC at say 30% throttle, limiting the AC compressor to running at coasting/cruising and deceleration. Turn off the engine at longer than 2 min waits. If you drive with the lights on in the day for safety, this could cost the average driver 20-40 a year in fuel. Don't run Amps and Subs. But being a smoother/smarter/traffic aware driver will net you the most savings...

Wether or not like gas is a combination of few things, old school blokes and people with shite systems will tell its not worth it, AU Falcons can get atrocious economy 18L/100 around town, worse if neglected, the negatives of refuelling more often ( sometimes ), loss of space, and systems fitted poorly or that require regular servicing.

The TW that I have has SVI gas fitted at 55k when I got it, its now over 200k, servicing that system is replacing a $15.00 filter, that I've done twice. ( Admittedly I had people had it adjusted a few time to suit me, it was either no lo end power, with great top end, or vice versa, now its a nice mix between the two ) and its quite quick despite all* sound deadening and audio gear I've added ( dynamatted roof, doors, boot etc.) Its spent half its life as an auto, and the now a manual :) I use 1/3 tank of 98 ( on average ) every 3 months, its important to turn that fuel over, and not let it sit... Colder climates will use more, depending on how long the car takes to reach the changeover temp..

My fathers 2012 commodore needed a $120.00 service every 10k or it refused to run on LPG, he thought that system was good. ( haha Bozo )
I think the install LPG on your own car boat has sailed, and would get a car fitted with the gear I needed, though a Fleet car with the 380 system might require a new switch, they had a feature that constantly squealed if it was driven on petrol, ensuring the drivers kept the LPG in the system, those switches were under 50 IIRC....

The other bitch about a 380, is the 380 Gas tank holds 15L less gas than the magna tank. Refuelling is more common on the 380..
The 380 gets around 15L/per Hundred in Peak around town, and 12-14 in the magna, they both now do 10L/100 on the open road, driven not as described in the fuel saving tips above...
The auto magna was in the 8.5/9 L/100..
Driven Carefully, I could squeeze better than 10's in the magna on the highway, with gas at 70 cpl, so $45.00 can get me better than 650 kms.. virtually no maintenance cost, auto changing systems ( they sequentially swap fuel feeds at 22 deg water temp ) with a combined range of around 1400 kms. Its the bee knees... The 380 isn't that good, but we had 5 years and put 80k on it... We have done alright....
Someone on here picked up a TW VR on LPG that was as mine ( service costs unknown ) that would have been the beast to get....

Put Headers on an LPG Magna, not the 380..
It wont matter about the Galant intake if you drive softly.
And a straight through exhaust makes a great note that will encourage you get it high revs to hear it.. Blowing out economy ...

Anhevius, what route do you take? Try getting on to Bridge Rd as soon as possible and then onto a short section of NE Rd and Park Rd and then Hackney Rd etc. Don't bother with Main North Rd.

I've had 3 lease Magnas...all were dedicated LPG factory built cars....from new.

The 380 LPG system beats the Magna hands down....

The 380 can go non stop Mel-Adel the dedicated LPG Magna could not.

I've had 3 lease Magnas...all were dedicated LPG factory built cars....from new.

The 380 LPG system beats the Magna hands down....

The 380 can go non stop Mel-Adel the dedicated LPG Magna could not.

Speaking of Melbourne-Adelaide my brother and I did it once in his 3l TH and we got 7l/100km which puts it over 1000km to the tank. Whats the KMs per dollar look like with gas?

Speaking of Melbourne-Adelaide my brother and I did it once in his 3l TH and we got 7l/100km which puts it over 1000km to the tank. Whats the KMs per dollar look like with gas?



I get about 20l/100 short runs in inner Sydney. At about 60c/litre that is $12/100 km or 8Km per $1


In country running I get 12l/100 km or about $7/100 km or 14 km per $1


System is completely seamless and can't tell any power or torque difference between petrol and LPG


LPG will always be about 20% worse than petrol figures because there is less energy per litre - varies a bit due to proportion of propane and butane in particular batch, which is not regulated


Maybe it would be fairer on we mistreated motorists to sell it by the Kg, not litre!

I should mention that the 380 also has a tank of petrol that gives it an effective range of around 1100 to 1200 k's on a trip.

So with all this talk about fuel economy and completing my air intake modifications including replacing the lower resonator with a 65mm intake, the Galant intake and heat shield wrapping of the air box and intakes I decided to do a "Maximizing my fuel economy" run and over the past 220 klms I have been pleasantly surprised beating my previous best by 1 liter per 100
The heat shielding has reduced my intake temp by 4 degrees holding steady at ambient temp between 60 to 120kph very happy to have broken into the 7s http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af13/samoya1/Mobile%20Uploads/20150818_154140_zpshfw6frzu.jpg

Anhevius, what route do you take? Try getting on to Bridge Rd as soon as possible and then onto a short section of NE Rd and Park Rd and then Hackney Rd etc. Don't bother with Main North Rd.

I do take Bridge rd. Main North> The Grove Way> Bridge Rd/A17 all the way to Greenhill> George St> Work.

@neo: I am not going to sell the car, for a variety of reasons. First because I owe enough on it that it simply isn't happening. The biggest one is that I actually LIKE this car. I bought it knowing quite well that it wouldn't be as cheap as smaller cars. That doesn't mean I can't tweak it to suit.

As for the car being at 'best economy' from being stock. Have you EVER looked at the fuel maps on any Cyclone engine? They run rich. SOP with them in the US is to open the intake and exhaust up, piggyback a fuel computer, and lean the fuel pulse out.

As for dropping the money for an LPG conversion, that won't take me too long to get done. It's simply a matter of finding the best solution for the money. In the US, that's modifying the engine. Here, it appears to be going LPG. It's all in the numbers. If I can drop my weekly fuel expense from 60 to 40 or less, I am happy. I would rather invest the money in this car than get another and have another insurance and rego bill to take care of on top of what I am paying now.

I do take Bridge rd. Main North> The Grove Way> Bridge Rd/A17 all the way to Greenhill> George St> Work.

@neo: I am not going to sell the car, for a variety of reasons. First because I owe enough on it that it simply isn't happening. The biggest one is that I actually LIKE this car. I bought it knowing quite well that it wouldn't be as cheap as smaller cars. That doesn't mean I can't tweak it to suit.

As for the car being at 'best economy' from being stock. Have you EVER looked at the fuel maps on any Cyclone engine? They run rich. SOP with them in the US is to open the intake and exhaust up, piggyback a fuel computer, and lean the fuel pulse out.

As for dropping the money for an LPG conversion, that won't take me too long to get done. It's simply a matter of finding the best solution for the money. In the US, that's modifying the engine. Here, it appears to be going LPG. It's all in the numbers. If I can drop my weekly fuel expense from 60 to 40 or less, I am happy. I would rather invest the money in this car than get another and have another insurance and rego bill to take care of on top of what I am paying now.

The 380's run a tiny bit rich for safety reasons, as do all cars. Probably a good thing that you can't easily tune your car hey? You can't just start pulling out fuel thinking that it's a good thing.. :)

Not sure how we jumped to cyclone engines but let's just step back to the apples that we're talking about.

If the car is smart enough it normally adds in more fuel after you've done mods yes; that's when dyno tuning comes in. But this is normally only ever done for closed loop scenario though, which is what you're are talking about I assume as there is no such thing as tuning for better economy (only ever for better efficiency, power). When driving through traffic to get to work you are most of the time in open loop where your car is constantly adjusting fuel trims to best economy anyway.

If you're driving to work in your closed loop mapping and not in open loop you're in store for some very bad fuel economy. So please don't talk to me about tuning thanks.

That being said, another reason to sell the 380 would be to remove the debt over your head. How much interest you paying? :)
Oh never mind. None of my business :P