need help convincing the wife

[Sularus]

My wonderful wife bought me a new Nissan Versa Hatchback while I was on deployment. I have a 50 mile commute each way to and from base. The Versa does pretty good on gas at the lower speeds I travel, but who settles for what the factory puts out. The problem is she got the 5 yr, 100,000 mile warranty on the car. It is a bumper to bumper warranty and she will not allow me to modify the car..................at all! I am slowly trying to convince her to allow me to mod the car in conservative ways, but she is very reluctant to allow me to do anything. I was hoping the great community here might help me to come up with ways to mod the car that keep it looking somewhat factory and convince her it will help me save gas.

Jason

[GRU]

you could do a grill block and a belly pan and noone would even know. Just get a big piece of coroplast and paint it, then use cable ties to secure it behind the grill (between the grill and radiator) so it won't affect the outside look of the car. The belly pan won't even be seen and those help a lot on the highway.

Also the way you drive makes a huge difference. keep it at the speed limit or just under and you will see a big difference if you were going above the speed limit before

[Sularus]

On the commute, the highest the PSL gets is 55. I only do 55 when it is two lane. There can be quite a bit of traffic and I do not want to hold everyone else too much. Most of the time I do not go over 50. I pick my route to avoid as many stop lights as possible. Most of the turns are right hand, and I do not have to stop for them.
I am getting an Ultra Guage soon. I want to fine tune my driving style. The only thing I do not like is I cannot do EOC very well. When I turn the key off, it shuts off the entire dash, including the speedometer. I am thinking about wiring up a switch in line with the fuse for the ignition module, or the fuel injectors. It should help me shut the engine off without losing power to the computer and keep my mileage accurate.
I am thinking about picking up a used grill for my car and fiberglassing over it. It will look mostly factory, and I can put the factory one back in at anytime. I will have to look at the belly pan.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Sularus

I was hoping the great community here might help me to come up with ways to mod the car that keep it looking somewhat factory and convince her it will help me save gas.

Good move with the Ultra Gauge, and I think you're right that adjusting the nut behind the wheel will show benefits. Your fuel log already shows you beating EPA significantly. The UG will only help.

I would second the belly pan because it does not change the look of a fine new car, but I wonder what the dealer would say about it when you bring the car in for service. Ditto your suggestion of an injector kill switch. If you can devise a seamlessly reversible kill switch for arrivals at the dealer... go for it. Ditto the grill block.

What I would consider would be these items:
1) either take the belt off the AC or pull its fuse/relay for winter. That is easily reversed.
2) experiment with removing the PS belt. Your car is pretty light. Easily reversed.
3) tire pressure... raise it to reduce rolling resistance. No need to reverse.
4) Install a block, coolant, or oilpan heater. If your part of NC is not the coastal lowcountry, the cold starts are costing you gas--how much nobody knows for sure. This won't violate a warranty.
5) lower the car to reduce frontal area and drag. I bet this won't break the warranty since so many do it.

As far as convincing your wife: all of those options have been shown to aid fuel economy and the first three are free. You will save money.

Good luck... nice little car. Enjoy it!

[brucepick]

Good on trying to find ways to improve things in spite of reasons not to! Do be careful, you're kinda looking a gift horse in the mouth. Don't get bitten!

Um, what's a PSL? I'm thinking it's not the same as POS. I googled PSL but came up with nothing that made sense in this context.

[Sularus]

brucepick - PSL is "posted speed limit"

California - The power steering is electric assisted. Hell I don't even have a direct link between the steering wheel and the steering rack.
The dealer did the Nitro fill, so I am using nitrogen. I need to stop by and talk them into bumping up the pressure.
I also want to talk to them and see what will and will not void the warranty. If I save up and use the Nismo suspension it will not void my warranty and actually carries its own warranty. it is expensive though ($600)
Same for block heater. I am actually near the coast near the two Marine bases here. It still gets pretty cool here. I had a block heater on my grand prix, and the wife traded it in before I could pull it off. Oh well, I will talk to the dealer and find out what I can use.

If I do a belly pan I will attempt to design it to where it is easily removeable. I want the ability to revert everything to factory as quickly as possible. I am doing well on keeping the economy over factory, but the way my commute is helps. The cd for this car is .31. I know it can be improved upon by a grill block, possible redesigning the rear spoiler. It seems to disturb the air coming off the back and making the wake bigger instead of smaller. I want to do something about the side mirrors, they are big and bulky. Currently I have them folded back when I am driving highway, and only fold out the driver's side when I am in the city. Thanks to everyone for their help here and when I get a chance to do something with this car I will ensure to take pictures and keep everyone updated.

Jason

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by Sularus

The only thing I do not like is I cannot do EOC very well. When I turn the key off, it shuts off the entire dash, including the speedometer.

Just to be to sure I understand... after the key is turned off for about three or four seconds, do you put the key back in the run position? On my Yaris the same thing happens when I put the key in the off position Dash lights, power stearing power brackes go off until I put the key back in the run position, then everything comes back on.
With respect to convincing the wife, what is she motivated by?...

[slowmover]

With respect to convincing the wife, what is she motivated by?...

As an Academy grad she barely slipped past "fraternization" . . . or, she acts like it, so now she's making sure of relative gameboard position. (ha!) Just needs a few of those JP-8 cocktails to loosen up.

[deathtrain]

damn jar heads.............

[slowmover]

Careful, son . . . .