Obsessed
Thanks to metrompg for recommending this site. I have been hanging out at greenhybrid.com and at various yahoo Prius formus over the past 2 years. But now that my daily driver is no longer a hybrid, (the wife drives it now), I have been looking for a site where non-hybrid drivers could obsess about mileage without feeling like a second class citizen.
It all started in 1985 when I bought my first new car, an 85 CRX HF. By 1990, I had put 275k miles on the car. I wasn't really obcessed about mileage during those years, b ut I managed 45MPG over those 275k miles without even trying. What really got me obsessed was when I got the 2004 Prius in January of 2004. Since then I have done lots of experimentation to find the best techniques for extracting every last mile out of each gallon of gas. One mod was to add auxillary batteries and I even tried grid charging at one point. What I learned was that the Prius HSD system is highly optimized and that trying to modify the vehicle in any way was a waste of time and money. After I removed all of the gagetry, I just learned to drive it and had really good results. But after 18 months, my wife insisted that it was her turn with the Prius. So my 70+ MPG tanks turned into 45MPG tanks for her. But now she is happy and that's all that counts, right? So that left me with the 1997 Subaru Outback, 2.5L, 4 speed automatic. So her 18 MPG tanks turned into 32 MPG tanks for me. It didn't take long for me to get bored with the Outback. So I started looking for an affordable daily driver that would be capable of getting great mileage. I looked around for CRX's but didn't find any that I liked. The HF's are hard to find in good condition. I finally ended up with a 1993 Honda del Sol S, 1.5L, 5-Speed with only 42k miles. My first two tanks have been quite good for winter in Pittsburgh, 50.3 and 51.0 MPG. This compares to 65-67 MPG on the same commute and weather conditions with the Prius. I am struggling without the MPG feedback that the Prius has, so I have installed a vacuum gauge and hacked into the fuel tank level sensor to get a digital readout of the fuel level, which I have mapped and converted to gallons. I have been trying to get my hands on a OZTrip computer which taps into the speed sensor and fuel injector signals to calculate instantaneous and trip MPG's. Unfortunately they are no longer made and no one has one for sale. My next mod will be to tap into the O2 sensor to monitor the voltage output which will tell me if I am running rich, optimized or lean. I look forward to interesting and valuable input from the members of this site. Hopefully I can return the favor. Thanks, Dan |
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However, don't bother with the stock o2 sensor, it's a piece of ****, it doesn't read correctly and gives terrible afr numbers, and unless you're chipped and tuning you can't do anything about it properly. Which reminds me, I've got a chipped ecu for your engine for sale, :p Good to see you here, how much did you pay for the del slow if I might ask? |
welcome, dan! glad you
welcome, dan! glad you decided to drop in.
dan e-mailed me from metrompg.com after seeing the page about the Pulse and Glide driving technique on my site. the folks here on gassavers.org will remember that i used this thread about pulse & glide to start thinking out loud and get a discussion going on the topic after i heard about it. dan's connection to that topic is significant: the prius (that his wife is now driving) is the car that was used in the record-setting 109.3 MPG mileage marathon. that feat arguably contributed most to popularizing the pulse & glide technique and the "hypermileage" potential of the prius when driven in a very specific and careful manner. of course, dan was also one of the drivers on the marathon team. so again, welcome. i suspect you'll find the honda-centricity of several of the members here to be useful and entertaining. - darin (metrompg) |
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down boy! remember i've
down boy! remember i've owned 2. we're all on the same side here! :)
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I'm interested in the "chipped ecu" and O2 sensor. Do you have something for me that can help the mileage? More later, after the game. You know, the Super Bowl. It's pretty intense here in Pittsburgh. Dan |
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You can also control timing with it so you can squeeze out more free power, as well as create things like shift lights and lots of other neat things. Very cool stuff I think. If you're interested in a d15z1 (eg civic vx) head with vtec-e I know a guy selling one for mad cheap. |
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I assume that the d15z1 is a straight head swap? What are the benefits? And, I guess I need an image hosting service to post my pics. Can you recommend one? Dan |
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