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Old 02-09-2013, 12:15 PM   #2 (permalink)
Ptero
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: California
Posts: 152

Smart Car ForTwo Pure - '08 Smart Fortwo Pure stripped
90 day: 51.35 mpg (US)

BMW 750iL V12 - '90 BMW V12
90 day: 26.4 mpg (US)

Wildfire 250C - '08 Shandong Pioneer 250C
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You didn't mention tires. Narrower tires reduce drag in 4 locations. LRR tires reduce rolling resistance. Max sidewall PSI reduces rolling resistance even more. Cap with full moons.

Another really big issue few seem to understand is the actual difference between pump grades. Regular gasoline flashes faster in the combustion chamber than premium. Regular provides most of its downward force on the piston at the beginning of the down-stroke. Premium burns slower and delivers a more even and longer-lasting force, producing a more efficient and smoother pulse. That's what octane means. (In the US, we can't even get the higher octane many of our foreign engines are designed for and we are forced to use oxygenated gasoline laced with watery ethanol that confuses our results.)

Hypermilers utilize low ratio gearing at lower rpms than typical (wasteful) drivers. Efficient twisting force (torque) is much more important to them than raw accelerative power (brake horsepower). It's hard to notice the difference between grades around town. But out on the highway, premium often will produce better MPG results than regular if your engine is tuned to deliver the proper fuel-air mixture. So run your tank down to near empty and fuel with premium for a road trip and compare to the return leg with regular. You may find, as I have with my long-stroke Smart Car, that it's cheaper to run premium on the open road.
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