So my wife and I finally bought a car.
It's a 2005 Peugeot 307sw station wagon with a 1.6 liter, 110hp turbodiesel engine. Its fuel economy is supposed to be 6.5/4.5/5.5 l/100km for city/highway/average (38/54/43mpg), I've only done a few hundred km so I don't know the real FE yet, but city driving and errands have so far showed between 5-6 l/100km. Its weight is just shy of 1500kg. My goal is to reduce its fuel consumption by at least 20%, maybe I can get down to an average of 3 l/100km on the highway.
Here is a list of things I like and don't like about the car:
Ups:
- The turbodiesel is very efficient.
- The drag coefficient is 0.33, which isn't that bad. It could be better though.
- The transition from hood to windshield to roof is very smooth.
- The external mirrors can be folded electrically, an alternative to chopping.
- The underside is pretty smooth. The engine bay has a plastic undertray, the middle is smooth, only the rear is ulgy (muffler, spare wheel and rear bumper).
- The engine, hood and trunk lid are aluminium, the bumpers and front side panels are plastic, reducing weight. Also, a lighter engine warms up faster.
- Small rubber airdam under the front bumper.
- Built-in fuel gauge.
Downs:
- Lots of electronic gizmos: windows, heated front windshield and side mirrors, electrically adjustable side mirrors, power steering, rain sensor, light sensor, etc.
- Doorhandles.
- Roof rails.
- The undertray has 4-5 holes in the front, plus one in the middle that got knocked out.
- No garage included with the car, so it has to sleep under the stars. The last week has been below freezing.
- New 195/65R15 tires. 185 width would do just fine, maybe even 175 without sacrificing safety.
There is a lot I'd like to do with this car, but it also belongs to my Other Half, so any mods either have to have Her approval, or be more or less unnoticable (wink wink
). Among my first projects will be a primitive grill block for the lower, bumper grill. I'll try to home-brew mooncaps. Some internal side mirrors to get used to driving without the passanger side external mirror, though chopping might have to be replaced by simple folding (see: Other Half). Later I'd like to make skirts for the rear wheels and cover up the lower of the two upper grill slits. If I need to repace the suspension then I'll lower it 10-15mm. I'll also see if a kammback will have any luck with my wife.
I'd love to start on these mods ASAP, but I decided to wait a few months until I have better data on how much fuel Svietlana really drinks.
That's that. I'd like to ask for any comments and/or ideas. I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of and any help is more than welcome.
Thanks!