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Old 04-07-2012, 01:21 AM   #10 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,534

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 57.73 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,082
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1 View Post
You could just ditch the battery pack all together, enjoy the extra trunk space and put a piece of black electric tape over the red light in the dash. Problem solved.
That's actually not bad advice, if your goal for higher MPG is strictly financial. The payback on a pack rebuild that takes you from ~50 to say ~60 mpg is going to take a long time (may not apply to the super cheap cells -- or subpacks -- you say you found).

I drove my Insight for several thousand kms getting 80+ MPG with the hybrid functions completely disabled. The primary reason I bothered to do my pack refurbishment exercise was out of simple curiosity over how the hybrid system behaves & the fun of learning how best to use it.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
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