A good wheel-alignment man, like Roy Wilson of Dimension Frame and Unibody, is a key element in extracting fuel mileage. Wheels that are not balanced and are out of alignment waste fuel.
As with anything you are trying to master, the first place to start is in your head. You need to think fuel mileage. This will not happen overnight, so be patient and do your best to ingrain this thought. An aggressive stab of the gas pedal that evokes the accelerator pump can waste enough fuel to cover 100 feet at cruise speed for free. As you would try to reduce the elapsed time at the track by leaving no stone unturned, so it goes with fuel economy.
Idling any engine is the greatest detractor to mileage since fuel is being consumed and the odometer is not turning. A good lesson in the demon of unnecessary idle time can be learned by the new breed of hybrid cars on the market.
Since Pontiac does not yet offer a hybrid, the author spent one week and 800 miles in a Ford Escape with a gasoline/electric drivetrain. Once fully warmed, and if certain parameters were met, the little Ford would not idle for more than one minute before the engine-management system shut off the internal combustion side of the propulsion unit. In some cases, as soon as the throttle was lifted, the gas engine would shut down. Granted, this cannot be accomplished with a current Pontiac due to safety concerns, but in many instances the engine could be shut off and fuel saved. Waiting at the drive-thru for a hamburger, kill the ignition. Pulling into a car show, you meet your buddy--do not talk from behind the wheel with the engine idling. Waiting for your wife to come out of the house, there is no need to run the engine. If you were to count up the amount of unnecessary idle time your car encounters during a full tank of gas, you might be surprised at the number. Just as a drag racer chops away at tenths of a second, eliminate idle time with the same passion.
Another misconception is that older cars need to be warmed up before being driven. This is not only the worst thing you can do for any engine, but it is a huge waste of fuel. Considering a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio of 14.7:1 for street gas, a partially closed choke plate on a carburetor will richen the mixture to around 7.0:1, or use twice the amount of fuel as when fully warmed. This is necessary due to the poor rate of vaporization of the gasoline in the cold intake manifold and higher internal engine friction.
The proper method is to reduce the engine warm-up time by starting the vehicle and driving away, albeit at light to moderate load. This will decrease the amount of time the engine is running rich since it will warm up faster being driven than sitting and idling. Also, the cylinder bores and piston rings will see less wear since they are consumed at an exponential rate when the engine is cold, and the engine oil will not become diluted with gasoline. If your Pontiac is balky when cold, then find a better tune-up man than yourself. An engine that does not run well cold is not adjusted properly.
Do not be a stranger under the hood of your Pontiac. Keep all induction components tight, and routinely spray the carburetor with cleaner. A good preventive maintenance program will decrease fuel consumption. | 
This air filter is in excellent shape. It is just slightly dirty in one small area. Wipe it off and turn it around to another position. A good air filter will not only promote engine life, but will decrease the pressure differential across the carburetor, so the engine won't have to work as hard as it would trying to draw air through a dirty filter. | 
Make sure the choke spring tension and fast idle speed are set properly so you can drive away without warming up the engine. Just remember to take it easy until both the coolant and oil reach operating temperature. Specs for this can be found in a factory service manual (best choice) or in many aftermarket tune-up manuals. |
The next step is to install a vacuum gauge in the car [Pontiac didn't offer these as an accessory in the '60s just to be sold on eBay, ya know?--Ed.]. It should be mounted where it can be easily seen without taking your main focus from the road. Use the vacuum gauge while driving with a goal of trying to create the highest engine vacuum for the driving condition. You will quickly learn that if you lift slightly off the accelerator, the manifold vacuum may increase 3 inches of mercury and the road speed may drop only 1 mph. In some instances, the vacuum signal can be increased substantially with little or no impact on the road speed simply by modulating the throttle angle.
On the highway, follow the same procedure. A steady foot is better at pulling distance from a gallon of gasoline than cruise control. If you are an erratic driver, you may get better mileage with cruise control, but a good driver will win every time. Cruise control is digital and one dimensional. It will do whatever is necessary with the throttle to maintain the programmed road speed. Often, especially with the older GM design, it would floor the throttle on a low-powered early '80s Pontiac to pull a long grade. The author will gladly give up 3-4 mph on a long hill for a steady throttle and a higher vacuum reading.
When driving in hilly country, use the old truckers trick of speeding up 4-5 mph going down a hill to use less throttle climbing the next grade. Obviously, be mindful of the road conditions and the speed limit when you do this.
If your Pontiac is equipped with a manual transmission, try short shifting so high gear can be obtained at a lower than normal road speed. Pontiacs have an abundance of torque, and that can be used to help improve fuel consumption. If your car is equipped with an automatic transmission, modulate the throttle pressure to get the transmission to upshift sooner and limit the number of downshifts. It is possible with careful throttle modulation to actually lug an automatic transmission in the quest for mileage.
When pulling away from a stop, accelerate with as little throttle as possible, while not becoming a hazard for the conditions. Aggressive pull-aways waste a lot of fuel since a great deal of power is required to get a body at rest into motion. Remember this at the toll booth, too. When driving in town, anticipate traffic signals and try to coast up to them so when the light turns green, less power (and fuel) will be required to proceed.