Hey there!
I'm brand new to the eco-modding scene, but I love the concept, and for good reason - I'm a Delivery Driver! No way, right? S/N didn't give it away?
Anywho, I'm here for tips and tricks, and to see if some of my ideas are feasible, fantastic or FUBAR.
I drive a 96 Subaru, which for some of you, might be a bit counter-intuitive, but I live in a heavy snow area - I've had to deliver food in 21 inches of snowfall - while it was still coming down. So for me, that AWD is a necessity.
However, I am a bit tired of spending nearly $400 a month in gasoline.
My current plans are to install the Gasoline version of the Powershot 2000 Dual Propane Injection System from Diesel Performance Products - does anyone have any experience with this? I've seen tons of testimonials from Diesel drivers, but crickets on the Gasoline version. It promises a 30% fuel usage reduction, which I'm all for.
I'm then gonna strip as much extra weight from the inside of my car as I can without turning it into a crashderby racer - I have a GF and children, so I can't bare bones it, nor can I do so simply because of the -30/40 degree weather we get here on occasion.
Roof Rack is gonna be taken off, and I'm trying to figure out this "underbelly" plate concept.
Hypermiling is nearly out of the question because of the area where I live is all rolling hills, and most of the driving I do is in city. I do what I can - it's a manual, I do neutral on hills, turning my engine off one major hills, there's quite a few stoplights downtown that (during the day) I turn my engine off completely for their duration, cruise control every chance I get, shifting at about 2100 RPM, keeping my car at 1500 RPM as often as possible, 63 mph on the interstate, I keep my windows up, I keep my heater low, I turn off my car at every restaurant I pick up from and at every customer's house.
With careful habits, I've got my car up to about 23.5-24.4 MPG in city, and about 29.7 on the highway, with specs that are supposed to be about 22 city and 29 Highway. When I first got her, she was at 19 mpg! I replaced the spark plugs and a few other things, got it up to standard, and then went to work on my habits. Now that I've got those down, I want to start working on mods.
A few ideas I've had: I wanna see if I can replace all but my front and rear windows with Plexiglass to reduce weight.
I wanna see if I can install a deep-cycle battery in conjunction with my normal battery so I can just kill my engine at every single stop light and at least leave my heat on while I'm waiting on orders without worrying about murdering my battery.
Has anyone ever tried installing an Ozone Generator in their air intake? Seems to me the free oxygen would improve mileage - but maybe I have it backwards and it would just improve power.
And I'm curious how a slow leak Nitrous injector would couple with the propane injection system I'm getting, if I put an EFIE in as well.
I am open to be a guinea pig for ideas. I drive around 120-180 miles per day, I fill up my tank completely every other day. If you have an idea you've wanted to try and want quick results, you tell me how to do it and if it's in my budget, I'll go ahead and be your lab rat ( Would be nice if you buy me a new car if your idea makes mine explode, though :P ).
Hope to hear from you all soon!
Edit: Rather than just googling the specs, like I have been - I went ahead and went to the Fuel Economy Gov website that you've got here and it turns out that my car is rated at 19 MPG city, 22 Combined and 26 Highway, which puts me way higher than EPA! I've started my fuel log so it'll be much more accurate soon
