Team Challenge Results: What did you learn about FE?

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by Brock

<snip> swapped about 20 so far and charges about $80 to do it.

Argh, sheesh. Why did Honda make so difficult? It would cost me about $1000 to do the same thing. No need to answer, just talking to myself...

[DRW]

Originally Posted by Brock

Nice write up. BeeUU what is your 5th now? I think my stock is .75 I can go to the .68 or .65. I have been told the gassers like the old TDI 5th gear becasue it is lower then the gasser 5th, but not to low. I can get either of those gears for $325 from a couple of places and there is a TDI guru about 90 miles from me that has swapped about 20 so far and charges about $80 to do it.

I'd recomend the .68 gear. If you go too low you could end up spending more time in 4th gear, which defeats the purpose of a lower gear.
I went from a .74 ratio to .66 It's just right.

[BeeUU]

Originally Posted by Brock

Nice write up. BeeUU what is your 5th now? I think my stock is .75 I can go to the .68 or .65. I have been told the gassers like the old TDI 5th gear becasue it is lower then the gasser 5th, but not to low. I can get either of those gears for $325 from a couple of places and there is a TDI guru about 90 miles from me that has swapped about 20 so far and charges about $80 to do it.

Brock-
Sorry about the late reply, I been out sick....

See the attached link for trans ratios...

http://www.techtonicstuning.com/trannyratios.asp

I beleive that I have the "CHE" transmission with a 0.80 5th and 3.67 final. I cant remember what my revs are at 60, I will have to check and get back with you. They a slightly high, higher than my Peugeot.

Friday edit - I drove the Jetta this morning. I noted 1700 RPM at 40 MPH so a calculated 2550 RPM at 60.

Thanks to lovemysan for the write up!!!

$80, what a deal.....I might have to drive out there to get it done!!!

[Lug_Nut]

What did I learn from my time (sentence) in the challenge?
That it isn't easy
That it takes constant diligence
That it takes forethought and planning
That it wasn't as much fun as just driving.
I haven't even looked at my mpg data since leaving and I don't mind a bit.
I'll see how much of a hit I take only when I fill up.

b.t.w. I had the Sonett out at a show this weekend. 60 mph indicated (about 58~60 calculated from mile markers) is 3400 rpm! 5k rpm is almost an indicated 90 mph.

[BeeUU]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

What did I learn from my time (sentence) in the challenge?
That it isn't easy
That it takes constant diligence
That it takes forethought and planning
That it wasn't as much fun as just driving.

Amen to the first three!!!!

For me at least, it has added an element of challenge to the commute which makes daily driving more interesting. The fun is when I catch a good coast, make the green light, get a good draft off the lead car and trickle into the parking lot of the store with JUST enough momentum. Or when coasting in freeway traffic when I nail the spacing just right for traffic, I have a good draft and then the silence becomes noticeable.

I find myself grinning from ear to ear.

[Bill in Houston]

I was having lots of fun until I tried EOC. In traffic. Bleah. I can imagine doing it on the open road, definitely.

[MetroMPG]

And what happened when you tried it?

[Bill in Houston]

Every time I shut off the engine, someone conspired to kill my momentum and make me hit the brakes too soon. So I had waaayyyy more kills and restarts than I would consider acceptable. There is lots of screwy construction stuff going on that is messing up our flow. It is worth trying again when I can have more reliable traffic patterns.

[DRW]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

Every time I shut off the engine, someone conspired to kill my momentum and make me hit the brakes too soon. So I had waaayyyy more kills and restarts than I would consider acceptable. There is lots of screwy construction stuff going on that is messing up our flow. It is worth trying again when I can have more reliable traffic patterns.

Yes, that's the trick to EOC successfully. If you have to brake, then you might've been better off coasting in gear, which would scrub off speed while keeping the alternator turning and avoiding startup enrichment. I try to use EOC only when I can see far enough ahead so I can coast a good distance with little chance of hitting the brakes or needing to accellerate too soon.

I also find it stimulating to drive for good FE. OTOH driving for GREAT FE takes even more skill and attention. Sometimes I just need to relax, sometimes I need to shut off the brain and just live for the moment.

[Bill in Houston]

Ya, I can see when it actually be fun to do the EOC, and have been on some drives not too far from here where I could have coasted at least a mile.

I can tolerate a lot of coasting in gear, or pulse and glide, or whatever that would be called. I will keep doing that plenty.

I think my big disappointment was that if I could do EOC I think I could break 30 mpg (still bad, I know), and then they changed a bunch of stuff with construction and now I'm toast...