Sadly have not done a whole lot with it. Getting around 40-45mpg steadily and can get trips upto around 50mpg with EOC and coasting up corners as if I have no breaks (targeting to be at the stop sign @ around 5-10mph via coasting). Route changed from my other high traffic route since I moved, still has quite of a lot of traffic, but the people are not nearly as bad since it is more of a country route. Down side to the route... train tracks, but you can see when a train is going across them way ahead of time, so it don't hurt mpg, but it messes up my times some times
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Added things since my last post (off the top of my head)
- Half of a front belly pan (side with no drain plugs, riveted to the K Frame (for engine) + body rails, survived very deep snow this last winter!)
- WAI (not hot since it isn't sealed up very well, gives around +30-40F air intake temps, seems to help with my car's "High MPG mode")
- Gas Tank replaced (it effects the gas gauge a LOT, runs out @ E basically, before I had 2-3 gal when I hit that far (light comes on @ 1/4, before it was @ E).
Talking about High MPG mode, still unsure what it is caused from exactly, suspecting it to be lean burn, same engine over seas with a different head/intake is actually a lean burn.
I'm starting to think the high miles are starting to effect my mpg slightly, last year it was easier to get 50+ on a trip, now I have to really be aggressive to get 50+ and normally it just barely touches 50, before I could get 51-52 at times. Car does use a bit of oil, probably around 1 qt per 2000-3000 miles which is pretty common for these. Been thinking about doing a compression check on it to see if it is time for a rebuild/replace. Simple kit is pretty cheap, around $150-200ish for rings + gaskets to freshen it up (I have the hone and do the work my self etc). Might have to buy valve stem guides since I think that is what wears out on these engines to cause the oil burning problem.
Anyway... 255k vs my Camry (STILL DOWN fom over a year ago now! Dang brake lines and low mpg vs this car lol) with 300k miles, the Camry held up much better in its life.
Oh... status report on hub caps.... ZIP Ties are STILL holding! They are higher grade automotive ones, and zipped down very tight when first put on and checked them after every trip for 2-3 days. As stated above, belly pen is holding up very well too! The $1 / can paint is showing its low price on the front lower grill block, hub caps seem to be holding out well (only 2 light coats!).
Garbage bag upper gill block "heat shrieked" to the grill plastic started to weather check pretty bad ~4 months after being installed, packaging tape fixed that!
Looking at this car vs a sun fire, and the sun fire looks like it should get better mpg! My car has a lot of ground clearance vs the sun fire and the upper body is a bit wider. Kind of shocked actually. FYI I bought one super cheap with a blown head gasket, might fix/drive that for a short bit to rebuild my corolla engine. Suspecting the 2.2L DOHC engine isn't the ideal engine for FE, but at the same time, I think the factory areo is a tiny bit better.
PHOTOS!
