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I am a first time car owner who has no clue about the V6 Toyota Camry 1997 engine in my car.

What does a V6 means compare to a V4?

How can I maximize or save gas by altering my driving habits?

Your advice, help is apprciated  

the V6 denotes a six cylinder engine.. with the pistons arranged in a V shape.. 3 on a side..

the other camry motor is an I4.. inline four...  

maximizing fuel economy..  depends on where you live..
and how you drive...

i have a friend.. who's foot constantly pushes down accelerating the engine and then backing off .. only to push again to try to maintain an exact 65 MPH while we were out on the road last week..    

the idea is to hold your foot totally steady.. with only tiny increments of movement.. to keep the car positioned equally between the car in front of you and the one behind..

when in traffic..  when its starting and stopping..  lay back.. let the space in front of you open up ..  but don't race up to fill it..   judge the traffic in front of you to maintain a steady speed while the traffic in front of you starts and stops..  when coming to where cars are getting on.. back off.. allow them to merge...  within reason.. DON't step on the brakes to do this.. but if they can merge without stopping traffic.. the traffic will go faster overall..

if your check engine light is on..  scan it for codes with an OBD2 scan tool...

if you have a scan tool..  good ones start at about 130 bucks..   you can monitor the short and long term fuel trim...    if you can keep it close to 0% offset.. you will be getting optimal fuel economy..   there are dash mounted additional gauges to monitor the fuel control system..  they get pricey..


air pressure checks of the tires.. to the inflation pressure listed on the sticker.. the sticker is either on the door jam.. the inside of the glove box or inside the trunk..  i don't keep track where they keep them...

when you get to a parking lot with a slight slope...  and there is NO other cars.. or people.. aim the car downhill.. i am talking about a slight grade to the parking lot..

stick the transmission in neutral..    release the brake.. does the car start rolling???   if the front suspension is in proper alignment.. and the brakes are NOT dragging.. the tires properly inflated..  you should roll easily..

if you have a friend..   and a level parking lot or deserted street...  see how hard the car is to push.. WHILE somebody who knows how to drive sits in the drivers seat...  engine running.. ready to apply the brakes..  

i should probably explain holding the throttle as still as you can...

when you push the gas pedal down from a constant speed...  the computer changes how long the injectors are held in the ON position..   this increases the horsepower created by the engine to increase the vehicles speed..  this really hurts the fuel economy..

oh... driving with the cruise control on..   does not do as good a job at judging traffic as you can...

it will keep the car at a steady speed.. by changing the throttle inputs.. its a machine.. looking at speed data... NOT looking at fuel economy data...  

i wonder when the new cars with cameras front and rear for parking .. will be modified to maintain a steady location in traffic..   perhaps with bluetooth and the onboard GPS.. it will see the traffic backing up in front of you and slow down to keep the fuel trim within reason..


there are a whole bunch of dash displays..  this is just one that i saw online...