Zvolen -

From what I think I know, the key to your automatic is getting it into it's 4th gear. Are you mostly freeway or city traffic? If you are mostly city, then I think that hitting the top gear is problematic. I was thinking about this the other day because I saw that the S?1s Autos have great 4th gears for FE :

Attachment 362

There should be an aftermarket gizmo that allows you to select gears on your automatic. This is already offered on some new cars, so there should be a way to do it on Saturns. The problem is, who would develop it for an S-Series Saturn that is no longer being manufactured :( ?

Usedgeo -

Ibid on what Zvolen said. I am really impressed with your steady climb on your gaslog. What do you think has made the biggest difference? Can you talk about your commute as well? How have you optimized it? What works for and against you on your commute?

CarloSW2

I usually try to get in top gear as quickly as possible and stay there without extremely fast acceleration obviously. My current numbers show 80%+ city driving but just recently have been traveling highway more on a regular basis do to my 2nd job.

Now, if I can just find a way to get into that gear without having to fully accelerate to that speed/rpm or find someone that makes those gizmos. :) I appreciate your response. Still waiting for Ernie?s response as well since I am curious of the same questions.

-Z

Thanks for noticing.

The real reason I can get such great numbers is that on my SATURN the ScanGaugeII gets quite innacurate as the intake temp warms up. I did get 53 mpg on the last tank though. The Scangauge said 56.9. It had been calibrated with colder intake air. I suspect your automatic is a big part of your issue. As I recall you have already covered all the usual maintenance like coolant temp sensor and thermostat. EOC with an automatic is a tough question to answer. If I recommended anything It would almost certainly get contradicted. If you could force upshifts and converter lock up it might help. I am not sure how to do that. I put a switch on my lumina van to lock up the converter sometimes and it turns on the CEL winthin a couple seconds. On other GM cars of mine the TPS has a strong effect on how the transmission shifts. This is just brainstorming, not really an answer.

Here is all I have done.
1. Belly pan, a little more than 1/2
2. Grill block.
3. Heated intake air.
4. Cheap single platninum plugs.
5. Synthetic oil in engine and synthetic ATF in manual transmission.
6. 60 psi in tires.
7. EOC! Coming home after work is slightly downhill. The best I have ever done going to work is 58 mpg with a strong tailwind. Part of my route has a light or stop sign every mile. I have gotten pretty good at covering that mile with an initial acceleration, EOC, short acceleration, EOC. If I get lucky I accelerate through a green light and do more EOC next mile. These are traffic controlled lights so they are unpredictable. My top speed in these sections is 40-50 mph. I could come all the way on the freeway but there is more stop and go on the freeway than on the country roads :) .

I need to do more aero work. Mirrors, wheels, maybe kill the alternator.

If you can do coasting I am not sure how much the weight hurts. MetroMPG seems to be doing well carrying a couple of big batteries. If you have to hit the brakes all the energy is wasted though.

I will probably buy a Saturn or Corolla with an auto for my wife but I will probably just take what it gets.

Ernie

Sorry for the delay. I should make a thread, but anyway.

I like the car it has a nice interior and the stick shift is so much better then an auto transmission. My car has been jerking a lot under acceleration (worse in warm temps). Towards the end of the tank the car was jerking so bad I could hardly make it up hills. I checked the codes at advanced auto parts and this is what came up:

P1170
Manufacturer Control
Fuel Air Metering

P0135
o2 Sensor Heater
Circuit Malfunction
(Bank 1 Sensor 1)


I did notice some random connector with nothing attached to it next to my oxygen sensor connector (I need to find out where that connector goes to). I just replaced the oxygen sensor 2 months ago so I don't know whats up.

Latest tank - 469.2 miles, 10.864 US gallons -> 43.18 MPG (US). My best ever tank, despite it being made up of short 10-mile journeys with a cold engine, and lots of 0.8 mile journeys too :). This is my first tank with my (limited) aero mods.

96.3% over EPA for this tank too :)

Looks like busting into the top 10 will be in the rearview mirror soon. Great Job.

Dang, that is great work Landspeed. I find that my engine is always cold too. Not using enough fuel to warm it up!! :D

I dont have an insulated engine bay like CO ZX2 created for his ride. I was hoping that I would not have to do that, with summer on the way. It is taking its time, scraping windows the past few mornings!!

Thanks :). Yesterday I did a long journey, on the highway, getting 44.46 MPG over 422 miles, my best ever tank again :). The annoying thing is that, until I do more mods, I will probably stabilise at around this level of MPG. So I won't keep getting my 'best ever tank'. This tank was 102% above EPA by the way :D

Amazing. Nice work.

Great, thanks for the response. Still great numbers and great work on the car. I have just started diving in and yes, like you stated have already replaced the general things--ECTS,Thermostat, etc. It appears I will already increase my mpgs by a few digits. Maybe its time for a few extreme measures like coasting, and higher PSI in my tires or a belly pan.

After reading some of the other threads I could shed some weight, especially the spare and jack. Anything to help I will be happy about.

Anyways, Thanks again for the response and keep those numbers climbing hopefully I can catch you one day. :) Check my numbers after this fill up, it *should* be a significant increase lets hope it stays. ( I will post here after filling up to post results)

-Z