NEW Official Thread for posting daily FE updates
 

I couldn't get the original "Official Thread for posting daily FE updates" to accept a new reply and am wondering if that heavily used thread had reached the maximum limits of replies it could handle.


Springlike conditions (70F to 30F) let me get 83.2mpg for 724 miles from my latest tank. I did a coast-down test on one of the few fairly-flat, lightly-travelled, 65mph speed limit roads in my area. I took it up to 80mph, shut off the engine, and coasted down to 45mph. The speed dropoff was very linear, taking the same amount of time to drop from 80 to 75 as it did to drop from 50 to 45. So obviously the drag wall for my car is somewhere above 80mph.

83.2 mpg - I think that's a nice report to start a new thread ;)

Latest Tank
 

Wow, it is hard to follow 83.2 with anything, but here it goes.....

Last tank was almost 32 mpg, this despite a few things working against me. Right on average so I guess I did not loose too much, a year ago it would have been much less. Tune up parts will be ordered today, plus the weather is warming (almost 60 last night as a big storm rolled in from Hawaii) I should get better soon. Plus the wife is banished from the Peugeot during the FE competition :p , or at least limited. :o

basjoos:
Do you have a larger picture of your full aero treatment? I would love to have a look at your work. It is barely visible in the tiny picture in the signature.

Thanks

58.6 Mpg
 

Hello -

NEW personal best today on the way to work. Here's the info :

MPG : 58.6 (old best was 56.4, so a 3.90% increase)
Route : 10 West -> 710 South -> 105 West -> 405 South -> Exit Freeway
Miles : 27.8
MPH Avg: 48
MPH Max : 60
RPM Max : 2585
Gallons : 0.5
IAT Reading : Hot Air Intake led to Input Air Temp readings of 140 to 150 degrees F.

Net Elevation Change : ~210 feet drop

Weather : 86.5 degrees F, Sunny, 10.5% Humidity, 24.5 degrees F Dew Point
Time : ~11:00 AM to ~11:30 AM, ~30 minutes

Recent Car Changes : I have a mixed hot air intake. I partially covered up the normal "cold air intake" from a 2" diameter hole to a 1" diameter hole. This led to increased IAT temperatures at highway speed. I have fiddled with a partial grill block that doesn't cause the car to start to overheat. Hydrogen Booster NOT running because I am waiting for EFIE thingy to use in conjunction with the booster.

Hypothesis : Same as my last really good run. Hot dry summery weather and good traffic. I may have added about 0.5 MPG at the end with a very strategic and safe EOC. I know I have a good run good going when I hit "50+ MPG" at the 10 West -> 710 South transition. Normally I have to speed up at the end of the transition to "go with the flow". Today there was a van at the start of the 710 South driving slow with it's emergency lights on, so I followed it for a few miles in order to be able to maintain slow speeds. Traffic was just Goldilox today, not too fast, not too slow, never really stopped, just right!.

CarloSW2

basjoos -

Maybe all the 2007 postings should be prepended to your post and this should be called the "2007 Official thread for posting daily FE updates". That would make things easier from year to year.

CarloSW2

According to SG2 numbers, today is going very well.
Segment:
1) 54.7-5.8 miles(wife's work)
2) 61.1-9.6 miles(my work)
3) 64.1-9.6 miles(wifes work)
4) 63.0-10.8 miles(stopped by my mom's)
5) 71.0-5.1 miles(home)
Average so far for today: 62.0 Temp: 39-57F
I have to go visit my mom in the hospital tonight so daily average may drop a bit.

Dead Batt
 

Oh no -- dead battery.

Turns out someone EOC'd into the garage and didn't take out the keys (again) -- left in IG-II all weekend.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks again to the neighbor/friend for a jump-start :o

Not being able to EOC killed this mornings estimates: low 30's. But, it's warming up to the 80's :thumbup:

RH77

I've never had that happen but SOMEBODY;) forgets to turn the injectors back on and the car won't start once in awhile.:o :D

RH77 -

Not as a GasSaver because I am more "aware" of the consequences, but in pre-GasSaver days, I have vanquished many a battery.

I think this is an opportunity for Matt to have special membership promos. If you pay X bucks, you should get a new color star (Yellow?) next to your name and one of these gizmos :

https://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2...xd.asp?id=1048
https://www.safehomeproducts.com/SHP2...ge_277x162.gif

https://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...000931/c-10101
https://www.jcwhitney.com/wcsstore/jc...3424G_SW_3.jpg

https://www.startmeup2.com/index.html
https://i.b5z.net/i/u/1628324/h/images/smu2_large.jpg

That way, you can EOC to your heart's content and still have a backup for that one time you forget or go too far ;) .

CarloSW2

go to the forum "aerodynamic modifications", then find "civic hatchback aerodynamics", there are pics of my car in there.

Need it
 

I need some sort of 12-Volt, 40-Amp power supply -- even if it's adjustable. If the car started on AC, I could've rigged something up. But as we know, Direct Current runs the common vehicle. I told myself I wouldn't do it again, but - ya know. :o It wasn't a well thought-out plan. Back in the manual days, I could shut the car down, have the e-brake on, and coast to a stop with one foot out of the door. With the auto, there are barriers -- have to be in park to take out the key, etc.

But yeah, some sort of backup battery, instant starter, batt. charger, etc. would be great. Especially in the final months of this battery.

RH77

48.1 Mpg
 

Hello -

NEW personal best today on the way home from work. Here's the info :

MPG : 48.1 (old best was 42.5, so a 13.2% increase)
Route : 105 East -> 710 North -> 10 East -> exit freeway -> North on Rosemead
Miles : 35.7
MPH Avg : 40
MPH Max : 65
Net Elevation change : ~788 feet up (+210 on freeway, +578 on streets)
Weather : 69.5+ degrees F, Clear, 33.5% Humidity, 34 degrees F Dew Point
Time : ~8.00 PM to ~8:45 PM, ~45 minutes?

No hypothesis. Just good hot weather and decent traffic, just like this morning.

CarloSW2

Turned in a tank of 45 mpg. Updated my gas log. Its horid. The ECU issue coupled with winter really hurt.

psy

Its looking like it is going to be another +40 tank for me. We will see in a few days.

Wow. Looks live everyone's FE is suddenly going wild! I'm plateauing at around 53 mpg. My coasts have increased since the roads have cleared up but the amount of GPH required for certain speeds isn't changing much with the weather (0.4 GPH is still not quite good enough to keep 30mph). I've been setting the cruise @ 45mph on the highway for the past several weeks and I've found that my car's engine warms up much more slowly at that speed than if I was doing 55mph. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference (in terms of MPG) between the winter tires and the all season ones I just put back on.

Well I got the front portion of the belly pan on the Saturn. I thought it came out nice. I used valley metal as a heat shield. Had to open about 12 inch wide slot in the grill block. It is more than needed.

I'm also pulling warm intake air from behind the manifold. I plugged the cold intake with a nerf tennis ball.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for a 50 mpg tank but filling up will tell. I don't trust the scangauge calibration yet when messing with the intake temp. :( ;) It is showing 53 for the tank and averaging 52 at 60 mph. Half gauge point sure looks like 50 mpg.

Today was 52 to work and 70 mpg coming home. P&G with EOC work well coming home.

Are you guys using a GPS for the vertical component of your commute or do you get that somewhere else? Mine must be about 400 feet but I am not sure.

Attachment 263

Attachment 264

Ernie

usedgeo -

Great production values!

What intake temps are you seeing on the ScanGauge? I am seeing 140+ degrees F here in LA.

We have a GPS, so I used that one day to figure out my elevation changes for my commute. Just borrow one from a pal to figure out the commute.

CarloSW2

Very nice. You can plot your route here. Can of tedious by accurate.

GPS and hot air
 

I am seeing only about a 30 to 40 F temp rise over ambient. Ambient is running 30-70. The max I have seen is 112. I need to make a shroud around the exhaust manifold. The nerf ball is almost against the temp sender though. They are less than $10 on Rock Auto. I might buy another sender and move it to where it can measure the temp better, or just move the stock one.

I do have an older GPS. It takes it a few minutes to lock on to the altitude. It is a terrestial one but I only used it in the plane I used to own. I should put some batteries in it and check my elevation changes.

Ernie

usedgeo -

Ok. When I was doing my "mixed hot/cold" air intake experiment, I put a hole close to the centerpoint of the front wall of the airbox and remounted my IAT sensor there. I removed the cold air intake tube because it was basically a "funnel" into the now long gone resonator. Instead of the tube I jimmied up a 2" black PVC plumbing elbow and made that into the new "normal air intake". I could have cut up the old tube, but I like the idea of being able to de-retrofit all my gimmicks, so it's in the garage.

My idea was that I wanted my IAT sensor to be close to "dead center" between the hot and cold air intake, so that it would better represent the "mix" of air. Maybe you need something like that, where the IAT is measuring the temperature of the air that is about to go into the air filter :confused: .

Just yesterday I put a 2" plumbing cap on the "normal air intake". I am playing with smaller/larger openings in the "normal air intake" because a small hole in the normal air intake *appears* to lead to hotter air flow, I think because it somehow enhances convective flow (?!?!?) and reduces stagnation. No PROOF mind you, just what I think I am seeing in the day to day IAT temps.

CarloSW2

I was driving home yesterday and it was almost 70 F. I was doing my usual EOC to intersections and found I needed alote of braking because I was coasting sooo much better. I'll have to adjust for summer. I started EOCing this winter, what a difference 50 extra degrees can make!:thumbup:.

Same thing happened to me - came into a couple of turns / stops too hot and had to brake more than usual. Time to re-learn the glide starting points on familiar roads.

Whew! I'm glad to hear it's not just me.:p

Nice looking set-up. What did you use for the tube running over to the exhaust manifold? I plugged my original intake and removed my resonator like you did but couldn't figure out what to use for tubing.

What's valley metal? Is the whole tray metal?

---

Today: 82.9 mpg (US) over 8.5 miles, 9C ambient, wet roads. This is driving in "real" conditions with other cars at a relatively busy time of the day (though choosing the least busy route possible that also afforded good coasting opportunities).

Pretty good day today. Temps were 48F this morning then went up to 51F and are now back down to 47F.
1)61.5-5.8 miles
2)60.5-9.6 miles
3)64.9-9.6
4)65.9-7.6
5)61.5-9.1
6)70.0-5.2
7)72.2-5.1
8)75.4-6.3
9)74.1-5.2
10)71.0-5.3
Average for today: 66.1(new record)
I filled up tonight to get started on the team FE challenge. My results were a new high for this car; 301.2 miles and 5.17 gallons for 58.259 mpg:woot:

Way to go larry.:thumbup: Turning up the Heat. What a great way to start out. Oh wait you're on the other side. In that case, way to go Larry. The season is upon us

I've been working on a new acceleration technique that seems to be working. If the results hold up, I'll share the information with everyone. That is, everyone that my team leader will let me share with.:D

You know that same car you keep seeing in the rearview. That's not a coincidence. We've got spies every where.:D

Nice work Larry. Congrats on the new record.

A few questions about my saturn.
 

VALLEY METAL is what roofers sometimes use in a valley on a roof. It comes in Al and Galvanized maybe copper too. The Aluminum stuff is very light and quite springy. It appears to be a fairly strong alloy but is very thin. The corroplast seems to be fairly cool under it. I don't have too much air gap. I carried a fire extinguisher the first trip. Probably should have left it in the car.

I moved the IAT SENSOR tonight to the middle of the air box. About 2 inches from the bottom. It showed less than 110 until the t-stat opened and then showed just a little over 140 F for a 65 mph run down the freeway for a mile. My cold air intake is completely blocked.

I had a peice of 1.5 inch OD tubing laying around from an old torch lamp that got discarded. It fit the airbox perfectly. I used about 4 inches of that. The hose is heat riser hose I bought at Auto Zone. This is precisiely what it is made for. It cost a spot over $10 but it was the right stuff and I wanted it so I paid for it. Some is just plain aluminum. This is Aluminum inside but has some kind of cover on the outside. It's not much different than dryer vent hose.

Ernie

Damn that is good. About the time I think I might be able to play in this game the target moves.

Ernie

-14*C outside today and about 7cm of snow fell overnight. 37.2 mpg for the trip to school.

Peakster: Assiniboine route, or old route? Did you find which one was better?

I used the old route. Assiniboine avenue route usually returns a MPG or two better. I just have a hard time waiting for that lengthy red light to turn green so I can cross Arcola Avenue when I have a free-flow right turn onto Arcola. The good news is that my tank should still be sitting at around 52 mpg (according to the Scanguage "gallons used" display and my odometer reading on the dashboard).

Winter weather just kills my FE, plain and simple. The car doesn't like to accelerate as well (especially now that that the winter tires are off) or keep a decent speed without excessive throttle. Even coming home from class was only 46mpg average on the TC highway when setting the cruise to 75km/h.

Winter: GO AWAY! :mad:

Edit: I just came back to school for my 2nd class today. Used the Assiniboine Ave route and got 38.8mpg. This time the car's engine was already warm and the outside temperature was -9*C. There was a lot more snow on this quieter road compared the the #1 Highway so rolling resistance is most likely what's killing the FE.

Not quite yet, I still have to ski some more. FE is second right now!!! :)

I woke up this morning to find that my windsheld washer fluid isn't working on my car, so for the first time ever this winter I had to scrape the windows by hand (whereas I'd just give them a blast of hot washer fluid).

Looks like I put the all-season tires on the Geo too soon. We had a big snowfall 36 hours ago and the roads are still caked with snow. This morning I took the "Assiniboine Route" and actually spun out 270 degrees by taking the easy left curve on University Park Drive (luckily there was no on-coming traffic). Couldn't believe that my car had that much oversteer without the winter treads.

Also today, I drove the Geo like a "normal" person (no EOC, only 4th gear @ 50km/h, 90 km/h on the TC highway, etc.) and got 37.2 MPG going to school. Didn't have to stop at any traffic lights though.

FE-wise, today was fairly good. Battery, that's another story.:( At lunch time I always go out and start my car and move it so the "today" trip doesn't re-set. Today, I almost didn't get it started so I let it idle for about a minute before shutting down. When I went to go home tonight it just barely turned over. I heard about people hving good luck with an Optima so I went and got one. Unfortunately I had to pay a tad more since I didn't have time to wait to have one delivered.:( The only trouble I had making it work was getting the negative cable attached. I had to tip the battery slightly to get the bolt started. I'll have to fab up a different hold-down too but I have a fresh battery now. I'm fairly certain that my battery was only the second one that's ever been in the car. I forgot to unplug my SG before switching batteries and I lost everything and have to start over.:mad:
Now for the FE.
1)59.0-5.8 miles(wife's work)
2)55.7-9.6 miles(my work)
3)64.8-9.6 miles(wife's work)
4)63.5-6.3 miles(home)
5)66.0-7.8 miles(get battery)
6)68.1-8.3 miles(home)
Average for today: 61.5 Temp was ~32F this morning and got up to 57F.

415.2 Miles / 10.7gallons = 38.8mpg

I thought this tank was going to be higher, but I guess the short trips bought it down a bit. I also found out that my car has a low gas light.

It looks like spring is around the corner (with temps in the 60s on the way).

My personal best tank....
 

48.90 MPG

I couldn't believe it!

- I haven't changed my driving habits.
- Used the same pump at one of the two gas stations that I always fill up at.
- The weather hasn't really been at that warm though it is starting to warm up.

I wonder how I got this high seeing as how it is pretty far out of place if you look at the rest of my gas log.

EDIT - Now that I think about it I did change my front pads and rotors. I think that my front left rotor was warped so that could have been rubbing.