NEW Official Thread for posting daily FE updates

[Mike T]

Early European versions had only a driver's side mirror, so a trim piece mat be avaialble form Peugeot (or a wrecker in Europe).

It would be nice to get the proper under-tray and the long-legged BE1/5 transaxle; 50 highway MPG would be in reach with that I would guess.

You have a PM also.

[kickflipjr]

I have gone 420miles on this tank. I will be filling up soon (the gas light just turned on) and expect to be in the low 40s.

[landspeed]

BeeUU - I am wondering - would that lip on the boot lid make any difference?. I thought that there would be turbulence from the top of the rear window when driving (due to the sharp drop-off), so wouldn't the lip be in the turbulent area and so make no difference anyway?.

I might be wrong, and if I am, I will be adding a lip to my car soon

[kickflipjr]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

I have gone 420miles on this tank. I will be filling up soon (the gas light just turned on) and expect to be in the low 40s.

433miles
40.6 mpg

[MetroMPG]

Nice, kick. Your 2nd best.

"Car problems at the end of the tank" - what happened? How are you liking the car?

[Peakster]

For the 1st time ever, I reached 11th place in the MPG chart with a lovely 90-day average of 49.32 MPG(US) . A whole 1.03 MPG increase is required to get into 10th place .

I've also reached Hypermiler status for the first time ever (well, at least for the Geo).

[BeeUU]

Originally Posted by landspeed

BeeUU - I am wondering - would that lip on the boot lid make any difference?. I thought that there would be turbulence from the top of the rear window when driving (due to the sharp drop-off), so wouldn't the lip be in the turbulent area and so make no difference anyway?.

I might be wrong, and if I am, I will be adding a lip to my car soon

Landspeed-
There is still flow there, I have a few pieces of evidence that this is so.....
1) "Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles" by Hucho indicates a lip reduces drag on a notchback up to a height of 20mm with an approach angle of 20 degrees. Lift drops too.
2) Water/dew patterns on the trunk and window shows a flow from the "C" pillar and a vortex impacting the trunk lid.
3) Dust/water collecting on the negative pressure aft surface ending at the trunk horizontal surface.
4) I happened upon a technical paper for calculating fluid flow that was using automobiles for an example. The existing data example was for a 405!! How lucky is that? It indicates that while the airflow separates at the valley of the window truck lid, it reattached at the aft edge of the trunk lid. So, if the computer says so it is true...
5) Most fuel efficiency specials have a lip on the trunk. This was true in the 80's and they appear on all the hybrids models in the US, so if the guys with the wind tunnels think it is worth the effort and the accountants let the engineers spend the 5 bucks then I will give it a try.....

Hucho indicates 0.01-0.02 reduction in Cd, I dont have time to make belly pans yet, it took less than a minuet to build!!! Every bit counts when trying to get on the top 10 list. Look out Z, the weather is warming here!!

[usedgeo]

Originally Posted by Peakster

For the 1st time ever, I reached 11th place in the MPG chart with a lovely 90-day average of 49.32 MPG(US) . A whole 1.03 MPG increase is required to get into 10th place .

I've also reached Hypermiler status for the first time ever (well, at least for the Geo).

You are a lot closer than me. I moved up a couple places with todays fuel up though. I am 22 for the moment. I got another 53 mpg fill up. My first 38 mpg fill ups should drop off the 90 day average by the end of April. I would like to find another 10% improvement.

Maybe I should have mpgmike work up a head for me. I have mirrors and wheel covers to do things with too. After we get into the summer I doubt I will have much chance of making the top ten.

I could add a small motor and call it a hybrid. That should get me in the top ten. Last time I looked there were less than 10 of them.

Ernie

[jwxr7]

Nice job ernie! That is great for a saturn.

lots of easter weekend driving. weather is wintery again, with freezing temps and gusty winds. I drove around 200 miles over the weekend (20 miles straight into a headwind that i didn't get a chance to use for a tailwind ) . I also drove around 50 miles at night with full lights on. My half tank came around 280-285 miles = 58-59 mpg. Could be worse .

[Zvolen]

Originally Posted by usedgeo

"Today" I had to run an errand at lunch so I ran 60.9 miles total at 59.7 mpg. I think speed average is 33 mph. On the 15 mile leg home I started with a slightly warm engine, a tailbreeze, warm weather and slight downhill. I had 95 mpg at the best spot on the way home. I finished up the homeward leg at 79 mpg after traffic, lights, and some small hills. The tank is showing 58 mpg at 397 miles but I am almost certain that true heated intake air is messing with the scangage calibration just the same as lying to it. I think this is a glitch with respect to Saturns.

I saw over 180 IAT for a little bit today. I pulled another piece out of the grill block as the water peaked at 224 F. I am really just doing about 50 mpg which is better than I dared hoped I would do when I bought this Saturn.

Maybe it's not as refined as a Honda but for price and value I think they are really hard to beat.

Ernie

How are you able to get such great numbers, can you list your mods/upgrades. I too have a saturn and I am lucky to get 28mpg, although this current tanks figures to be about that or better thanks to the improved weather. I do have an automatic which I am sure hurts some, would it be beneficial to turn my car off on certain sections or cost more in repairs/gas to keep restarting. I hope to increase that with the knowledge from here, going to take some weight out of the cra as well. Hoping for 30's for the summer time.

Also, how do I get a fancy signature with my mpg vs epa.


Thanks, Z