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Old 06-05-2009, 08:24 AM   #1 (permalink)
gsimpson
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Rodney, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 18

FocunStein - '02 Ford Focus SE
90 day: 37.14 mpg (US)

theSeven - '88 Mazda RX-7 GXL
90 day: 21.89 mpg (US)

Steve - '93 Ford Festiva L
90 day: 41.35 mpg (US)
Thanks: 5
Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post
My 'old' 2002 Ford Focus

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking here for a few months, and am impressed with the amount of information and help that is available.

I wanted to start a new thread highlighting the modifications that I'm making on my 2002 Ford Focus. I bought it new back in the beginning of '03, and have put just shy of 300 000km (~188k miles) on it since then. It has always been an efficient car for me, but I know that I can do much better than stock. I've tracked tank-to-tank fuel use since I bought it (I have with all my vehicles) and so I was pretty knowledgeable with the average FE I was getting, but gas prices the past year or so had got me thinking that I could do much better.

After reading through the '65+ efficiency mods' and the '100+ hypermiling tips', I first made some changes to my driving style and saw modest improvements and got above what the EPA said the car could do. That has spurred me on to make some simple and $0-cost (so far) modifications to the car like increasing pressure in the tires, removing the passenger wiper arm, removing the antenna, and a cobbled-together cardboard grill block. I'm still playing with the size of the grill opening necessary to optimize FE vs engine heat, and once that's sorted out I'll replace the ratty cardboard with something more permanent (and less ugly). My goal is 40mpg without too much visible modification, and then push on towards 50mpg with airdam, underpan, skirts, wheel discs, etc.

I was driving my wife's car (2003 Buick LeSabre) which has L/100km avg and instantaneous read-outs built into it, and by paying close attention to FE I was able to average over 38mpg on a 150km trip. Now I know that's just one trip, and it was largely highway travel, but it highlighted for me what a difference it makes being able to adjust your habits with real-time feedback. It didn't seem right that I could get better mileage in a massive sedan loaded with our 5 family members, and a 3.6L V6 under the hood then my little focus with it's 2.0L four-banger on my one-in-the-car daily commute.

So I ordered a ScanGuageII for my Focus, and it arrived yesterday.

I still think there's some calibration to be done, and I haven't completed a tank with it yet, but over the last three 70km commutes I am getting better than 6l/100km (40 MPG) (5.3l/100km ~ 45 MPG this morning). I know you'll all be skeptical until I've got several tanks-worth in that FE range, and I will too, but I'm really happy with what I see so far!

WOW.

I'm looking forward to many more improvements, but I am simply amazed at the huge difference that can be made by being intelligent about your driving habits.

Thanks to everyone who contributes to this forum, I have learned so much already.

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