Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post

Pappnese · 07-15-2010, 08:29 PM

I don't know if this belongs under "success stories" but I was kind of surprised. I have not had the car for very long, nor have I ever really driven the it without some attention to fuel economy so I don't have a baseline.

I own a '99 Chrysler Grand Voyager SE minivan, 2.4 AT, modified for wheelchair transport. The car is heavy as ... and 5 cm (2 in) higher than original due to the modification (lowered floor, car is raised to keep ground clearance), and it sports some huge mudflaps to protect some of the floor construction. I am currently on a road trip with my girlfriend to Paris, France, and it was the first leg/tank of this trip that surprised me.

This tank (total 550 km (340 miles)) was mostly "semi-highway" (Norwegian highways: low speed, hills, crests and turns all the way) at an average speed of about 80 kph (50 mph), with some lower speeds and some, maybe 20 km (12 miles) of 110 kph (68 mph). In addition, it included 3 cold starts at about 20 degrees centigrade (~70 Fahrenheit) and maybe 15-20 minutes of city driving.

This tank gave a nice fuel consumption of 7.5 l/100 km (31.5 mpg) (measured by calculating fuel filled vs. corrected odometer reading) with the car loaded to 2450 kg (5400 lbs), which is actually a bit over maximum allowed total weight for the car. With the slushbox and all the hills, I find that pretty satisfactional

I give most of the credit to the ScanGauge II though, which allowed me to keep the converter from disengaging the lock-up most of the time.

As a side note (everything beyond this point has nothing to do with ecomodding/-driving success), the rest of the trip so far is not as impressing. Of course the fuel economy plummeted when the speeds started to exceed 120-130 kph (75-80 mph) with A/C on on continental European highways, and in some stretches full throttle acceleration from 100 kph (60 mph) to those higher speeds maybe once every minute due to traffic, but the larger concern was that the car didn't handle it in the heat of nearly 40 degrees C (100 F). We actually had the car stop twice on the German Autobahn before the local "specialists" insisted that the oxygen sensor was blown and put in a new one. The car stopped again after one more hour of driving. At that point I was certain that the cause (or more like it; the trigging factor) was the load in the heat, so with more easy driving, cruise control and lower speeds, the rest of the way to Paris was a success (apart from when I felt the car lacking power all the time in the Parisian suicide-traffic, I guess mostly due to the overloading)

07-15-2010, 08:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pappnese EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Trondheim, Norway Posts: 14 CGVES - '99 Chrysler Grand Voyager ES Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Heavy brick does well I don't know if this belongs under "success stories" but I was kind of surprised. I have not had the car for very long, nor have I ever really driven the it without some attention to fuel economy so I don't have a baseline. I own a '99 Chrysler Grand Voyager SE minivan, 2.4 AT, modified for wheelchair transport. The car is heavy as ... and 5 cm (2 in) higher than original due to the modification (lowered floor, car is raised to keep ground clearance), and it sports some huge mudflaps to protect some of the floor construction. I am currently on a road trip with my girlfriend to Paris, France, and it was the first leg/tank of this trip that surprised me. This tank (total 550 km (340 miles)) was mostly "semi-highway" (Norwegian highways: low speed, hills, crests and turns all the way) at an average speed of about 80 kph (50 mph), with some lower speeds and some, maybe 20 km (12 miles) of 110 kph (68 mph). In addition, it included 3 cold starts at about 20 degrees centigrade (~70 Fahrenheit) and maybe 15-20 minutes of city driving. This tank gave a nice fuel consumption of 7.5 l/100 km (31.5 mpg) (measured by calculating fuel filled vs. corrected odometer reading) with the car loaded to 2450 kg (5400 lbs), which is actually a bit over maximum allowed total weight for the car. With the slushbox and all the hills, I find that pretty satisfactional I give most of the credit to the ScanGauge II though, which allowed me to keep the converter from disengaging the lock-up most of the time. As a side note (everything beyond this point has nothing to do with ecomodding/-driving success), the rest of the trip so far is not as impressing. Of course the fuel economy plummeted when the speeds started to exceed 120-130 kph (75-80 mph) with A/C on on continental European highways, and in some stretches full throttle acceleration from 100 kph (60 mph) to those higher speeds maybe once every minute due to traffic, but the larger concern was that the car didn't handle it in the heat of nearly 40 degrees C (100 F). We actually had the car stop twice on the German Autobahn before the local "specialists" insisted that the oxygen sensor was blown and put in a new one. The car stopped again after one more hour of driving. At that point I was certain that the cause (or more like it; the trigging factor) was the load in the heat, so with more easy driving, cruise control and lower speeds, the rest of the way to Paris was a success (apart from when I felt the car lacking power all the time in the Parisian suicide-traffic, I guess mostly due to the overloading)