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Old 11-09-2010, 06:55 PM   #23 (permalink)
bluejoey
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toby View Post
Good work Bluejoey. I had good results from an upper grille block. Even in the summer, it didn't seem to affect the operating temperature at all. Is your car equipped with power steering?
Thanks Toby! Congrats also on your numbers. You're past Prius territory with 50 mpg + tanks in your Tercel. I have not tried the upper grille block, but am considering it. I might start with duct tape or some kind of plastic wrap. I do have power steering in my Tercel, but don't know how to remove it. For now, I figure I can look for simple mods as well as behind the wheel improvement. I'm about at the end of my first tank now, though, and 9 gallons after ~425 miles is a little past 45 mpg, so I'm quite thrilled. I think the single most significant factor was just sticking to 55 mph on the highway. I can do 100 highway miles at this speed and see less fuel needle movement than I do after 50 miles in the city, which suggests I'd probably pass 50 mpg if I did a tank exclusively on the highway. It's ridiculously exciting, especially since the best mileage I ever got on my previous car (a Ford Taurus) was 34 mpg with extreme highway hypermiling (45-55 mph).
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