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Originally Posted by figit090
Glad your car is working well! Are all the parts hard to find? we should make a fleet of these and start showing what can be done to more people beyond ecomodder.
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That is hard to do. There is a company in Columbus, OH that is trying to do just that. They are still working on the prototypes, but aiming for the mainstream, non-ecomodder crowd.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hackish
The trick with a wideband is that you also need a wideband controller. There was one built into the P07 (obd1 VX ecu) but I'm not sure about the HX ECU since they always went into the trash. A Bosch LSU is about $50-$80. Most controllers are about $150ish. Techedge in AU used to make a DIY kit and I built several in early 2000 when widebands cost over $2000.
Given all the limitations of the technology you're using there isn't too much that can be done. The average cell phone has many times more processing power than a honda ECU. If I remember correctly (been over 10 years since I worked on that ECU) it was 32k. Modern ECUs now have over 1mb of data.
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I would assume the stock HX would have a wideband controller built into the P2N ECU. It also had a 5 wire O2 sensor from the factory.
I am still working on a few other things before I pick up a wide band and a controller. Will probably be another month or more before I add it and an ETG gauge. It will be interesting to see the results though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by figit090
The EPA standards are based on engine size and category of the vehicle. It is probably the most fair way to do it. We expect an 8 seat people hauler to require a larger engine thus pollute more. Why should something the size of a Smart car be permitted to pollute the same amount as a Hummer?
There are always politics involved but I've spoken to the EPA people enough over the years to know that most of them really are interested in saving the environment. This is most effectively done through dealing with the law of averages. More and more strict regulations are making a difference. Even in the past few years we're seeing new vehicles with EPA ratings in the 60mpg range. Unheard of even 5 years ago!
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I am not saying the EPA does not care about the environment, but they also have another agenda or people to answer to… Big oil companies and the auto manufacturers. They choose the method of worked best for them. Why base it on engine size? If you put a big engine in a small car, you suddenly are immune to most restrictions? It just seems silly. Rate them on function, rate them on the number of passengers it can hold, etc etc… But restricting lean burn was a joke. Chevys corvette had trouble passing EPA, but they worked with each other so the cars could be produced. Under light to moderate acceleration when you try to shift from 1st to 2nd it will not let you. A light in the dash flashes “1st to 4th.” So to pass epa restrictions they installed a servo that blocks you from shifting into second gear at lower speeds. How silly is that. I am just saying a lot more effort goes into selling high dollar gas guzzling cars than it does to develop efficient cars that use little to no fuel at all.