play with the timing a little, drive slowly, take care of the engine (coolant, oil, etc). be light on the throttle. without removing the cat and stuff you are pretty limited. i do not live in an emissions state so i was able to remove my cat and that helped a bit, and after rebuilding the engine i was able to get 18mpg. i have never ever seen 20 at any point in owning this var. some people get 20 and well sometimes i think they are a little wacky, but not saying that it is not possible...