Going up hills :(

[fnkngrv]

What you really need to be doing is calculating expenses to perform modifications to get better FE during those type of conditions to see when you would see the return and then start saving money. The 80mph is of course going to make a huge difference over going a lesser speed. I am like you however and have been happy getting 34/35mpg at 80/85mph.

A turbo COULD possibly net you mpg gains with low boost however the cost for a tuned installation will be at minimum 3k roughly and that is with you performing the installation. You would also want to tune it for 87 octane to save you some green and you wouldn't lose much HP/torque if tuned properly. Getting tuned properly requires going to a reputable shop which is going to cost you anywhere between 500-1k unless you have a great hook-up. So if you factor that in you would have to perform a true cost analysis and frankly I would figure that you would be making a lot of those trips to "pay off" the turbo installation.

I am neither suggesting nor disputing a turbo or S/C install, just making you aware of things to think about. I can tell you that lowering the car for me didn't seem to make a difference in mpg for the most part with exception to windy trips since the car doesn't get thrown around and easy and therefore probably doesn't work as hard. Having my AFE netted me it seemed about 2/3mpg increase, but then again that is with very conservative driving which in all honesty once you make a "performance" modification you don't tend to drive conservatively very often. You have to be pretty disciplined.

Not sure if my info helps or hinders...you decide.