a winning combination : aeromods + inflated tires + P&G + FAS kill switch

[groar]

This is my winning combination to achieve 200% of EPA :

• aeromods : recycled chloroplast and tape
• tires inflated to 4.0bar (58psi), max sidewall @3.5bar (51psi)
• Pulse & Glide at 70-85 km/h (43-53mph)
• and a FAS kill switch

The final result this morning :

Which is :

• 59.73L for 1902.2km ie 3.140L/100 and 53.13% saving
• 15.78gal for 1182.2mi ie 74.91mpg and +113.4% over EPA.

This tank is the first one with the kill switch. I was moderately using manual FASing before. Despite much cooler temps and much heavier traffic, I improved my previous record of 1134.4mi @72.34mpg (+106.1% over EPA)

Thanks a lot to every people sharing here and making this forum invaluable.

Have fun,

Denis.

[Daox]

Woohoo, VERY impressive groar!

[KCF3712]

Great info!!

[supermileage]

Great!

[euromodder]

Time for a boattail and 2000km/tank ;-)

[groar]

I have been in contact with several policemen lately (*) and a couple told me that I will have to pass a car inspection once I change to definitive mods. Happily my mods will be temporary ones for ever

I looked at the official web site with the different documents to be filled to ask for an inspection and couldn't find one corresponding to my car as I didn't changed the width, the height, the length (the batman wings must be included ? ), the wheelbase, the motor (sir, this is only a anti-thief system used only when the car is parked, sir), the transmission...

A boat tail will significantly change the length of the car and so will make the inspection mandatory. Also I doubt I would be able to securely tape the boat tail for speeds as high as 130km/h (81mph).

I'm also convinced that I would have been able to reach the 2000km (1243mi) tank if I had my kill switch 1 month sooner.

2 weeks ago I found a flat tire. As i was going to change the front ones before the end of the year, I bought 2 brand new Michelin Energy Saver (**) These should be helpful to permit me to reach my next goals :

• stay under 3.9L/100 (over 60mpg and under Prius II's CO2 rating of 104g/km) all winter
• attempt the 2000km tank, ie 3.0L/100 (78.4mpg) as soon as possible in spring and
• attempt the 2.79L/100 (84.11mpg) that real kilo-tanker are achieving with a 45L (11.89gal) tank, ie a 2145.3km (1333.3mi) tank.

(*) one talked to me from his motorcycle for more than 5 minutes during a traffic jam. I start/stop the engine several times during the discussion to stay with the flow.
(**) while they aren't broken in, these aren't as well as the old Michelin Energy (old version of Michelin Energy Saver) I had before, but far better than the spare Michelin MXT I used during one week.

Denis.

[Buxtonski]

Great work indeed!

[groar]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Denis, how are you pulsing and gliding ?

Most daily commute is on a 90km/h (56mph) freeway, ie 2-3 lanes each way. Trucks are limited to 80km/h (50mph).

Without any traffic, I pulse up to 85km/h (53mph) and glide down to 70km/h (43mph). Of course these speeds are modified by traffic, noticeably if a truck behind me can't pass me then I'll DWL at 80km/h. When it can pass me I slow down as soon as it changes its lane to permit it to pass me faster.

I get on the road in the morning at 6:45am and in the evening before 5:00pm, so the traffic mostly permits me to P&G as I wish.

To glide when I'm at "max speed" :

• I push down the clutch,
• tap on the brake to flash the brake lights,
• keep my right foot over the brake and
• switch off the engine.

Optionally I change the gear from 5th to 3rd when I think I may need to stop very quickly, so I have both engine brake and brakes.

When I glide I follow this advice : "wait, wait, wait...". When I'm on an empty road, I can glide down to 50km/h (31mph) which is the minimal speed on freeways and highways (excepted on the left lane on highways which is 80km/h = 50mph).

At mid autumn with cold temperatures and lights on I found that using P&G during my 30-40 km (19-25mi) daily commute does impact the battery voltage : when I use my kill switch the airbag resets, but after 20-25 km (12-16mi) the airbag light blinks and the airbag resets only when I bump start.

I got the idea to plug a voltmeter at the 12V plug and found that its voltage was going under 10V In fact my engine switches on the heat plugs at each FAS and at each bump start during at least 8 seconds. After tens of P&G, the lights and the cabin fan to get a little bit of heat this is a lot of juice for an old 50Ah lead battery...

I changed that battery with a 70Ah AGM one, used as an OEM one in some German mild hybrids (stop&start systems). The price is twice the one of the cheapest 50Ah lead battery, but I was hoping it could keep a stronger voltage. It was the case during the first week, but during the second week the airbag light was blinking again...

I found that by stopping the cabin fan, and turning the heat at max, I have enough heat into the cabin and prevent the airbag light to blink

Since then I'm using P&G as during summer, except when I think I will not be able to glide during more than 12s, then I coast with engine on.

Hope it helps,

Denis.

[Arragonis]

Thanks for info on P&G and how to treat trucks. I worry on some of the motorways here because they are 2 lane and trucks don't like the outside one as they are limted to about 15 mph under what the cars like to do.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by groar

To glide when I'm at "max speed" :

• I push down the clutch,
• tap on the brake to flash the brake lights,
• keep my right foot over the brake and
• switch off the engine.

Why do you tap the brakes? Is it to signal to other drivers that you may be slowing down? Maybe you should have a button to manually turn the brake lights on when EOCing or engine braking, so you don't have to tap the brakes?

Originally Posted by groar

I got the idea to plug a voltmeter at the 12V plug and found that its voltage was going under 10V In fact my engine switches on the heat plugs at each FAS and at each bump start during at least 8 seconds. After tens of P&G, the lights and the cabin fan to get a little bit of heat this is a lot of juice for an old 50Ah lead battery...

What you need is a switch to manually turn the glow plugs off! Maybe it could be integrated with the FAS switch? Or actuated by a coolant temperature sensor so that the glow plugs work only when the engine is cold?