5 Trick Fixes for High Mileage Cars: Get Better Power, Fuel Economy and Engine Longevity

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Here we see our tune-up's improvement in torque.  If the car would smooth out its operation it would connect the dots between the peaks, and this would show a significant gain.  But it's sometimes how testing can go.  We think it’s it could be the aging torque converter in the transmission.

DYNO TEST FACTS:

So what does this mean in the real world?  To conclude, we put the MPV through a couple of quarter-mile runs, both before and after the tune-up.  The average of two runs produced the following results.

ACCELERATION TESTING:
 

So after all is said and done, while we didn't make a lot of power, we still ended up with a minivan that idles more smoothly, shifts more crisply and even accelerates a little harder.  Unfortunately, it's still beige and repels women.

Had it not been for our assumed torque converter problem, we think the gains were looking like they could have ended up around the 4 or 5 whp on average with our tune-up, which we've seen before in similar testing.  The last piece of the puzzle is figuring out the MPV's new fuel mileage, which we will report back to you in the next installment.

The tables above show an improvement in coolant temperatures, and that comes thanks to this bottle, which we added to our already existing fluid in the MPV's cooling system.  Royal Purple's “Purple Ice” radiator additive features a 2-in-1 corrosion inhibitor and wetting agent, providing year-round protection.  It also reduces the surface tension of the coolant to helps reduce coolant temperature.

Royal Purple reports a 6F reduction when used with a 50/50 mix of coolant and water, and up to a 20F reduction when used with straight water, as compared to a cooling system with straight water.  In our testing, we added it to our already existing fluid in the cooling system and saw an 11F reduction in temperature when compared to our baseline runs from start to finish (see chart above).

For better results, we’ll be flushing the whole system and running a 33% coolant to 67% distilled water and one bottle of Royal Purple Purple Ice.  Most people run a 50/50 mix, which provides anti-freeze protection down to -34F, but this garage-parked MPV will never see that temperature in Kansas City.  Our 33/67 mix should be good for an anti-freeze protection of around -5F, but will also offer better summer cooling as well.

In Part 2 we’ll conclude with another list of five things to do to your used car that can not only improve overall performance, but improve safety and handling as well. Stay tuned!

Special thanks to Modified By KC for putting up with our testing today.  Not every shop is going to entertain the idea of altering its busy schedule of tuning 1000whp Supras and Evos to test this hundred-some horsepower minivan.  Check out MKC's soon-to-go live, newly revamped website, which will allow you to order direct from as well.

For other similar MotoIQ testing, check out our Royal Purple Max-Boost octane booster test on Project Scion FR-S, which apparently was lacking some welcomed octane points due to California’s crappy 91 pump fuel.

Also check out another “tune-up” test we performed on our Project E46 M3, which netted consistent horsepower gains as well.

Last, if you want to see this minivan tested in the snow against all-wheel drive cars and trucks (and smoke them), click HERE!

SOURCES:

GATES
MODIFIED BY KC
ROYAL PURPLE
SPARKPLUGS.COM