1996 Toyota Tercel Ecomodification

[bluejoey]

Thanks for this post. I recently bought a 1995 auto Tercel and am coming close to the end of my first full tank. It's rated 26/35 EPA and I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit 40 by the end of the tank. It's close to 360 miles, of which maybe 180 were highway. The only mods I've done are tire inflation and driver techniques (I keep under 60 on the highway and P/G in the city, and pop into neutral when coasting). I'm hoping to get even better numbers as I go along.

[Toby]

Good work Bluejoey. I had good results from an upper grille block. Even in the summer, it didn't seem to affect the operating temperature at all. Is your car equipped with power steering?

[bluejoey]

Originally Posted by Toby

Good work Bluejoey. I had good results from an upper grille block. Even in the summer, it didn't seem to affect the operating temperature at all. Is your car equipped with power steering?

Thanks Toby! Congrats also on your numbers. You're past Prius territory with 50 mpg + tanks in your Tercel. I have not tried the upper grille block, but am considering it. I might start with duct tape or some kind of plastic wrap. I do have power steering in my Tercel, but don't know how to remove it. For now, I figure I can look for simple mods as well as behind the wheel improvement. I'm about at the end of my first tank now, though, and 9 gallons after ~425 miles is a little past 45 mpg, so I'm quite thrilled. I think the single most significant factor was just sticking to 55 mph on the highway. I can do 100 highway miles at this speed and see less fuel needle movement than I do after 50 miles in the city, which suggests I'd probably pass 50 mpg if I did a tank exclusively on the highway. It's ridiculously exciting, especially since the best mileage I ever got on my previous car (a Ford Taurus) was 34 mpg with extreme highway hypermiling (45-55 mph).

[Toby]

I'm very interested to see another active Tercel user on the forum. If you start passing 50 mpg, be ready for questions from me. As you will find all over ecomodder, adjusting your driving style is absolutely the biggest thing you can do.

[bluejoey]

Unfortunately, I might have spoken too soon. I finally ran out of gas today (literally; I barely sputtered to a gas station...the Tercel apparently doesn't have a low fuel light), and filled up with almost 12 gallons, which resulted in 37 mpg over 443 miles of city and highway. Apparently I must have had a little in the tank before I filled up the previous time. 37 isn't bad, but I admit I was disappointed. Oh well. I've started my second tank, and am looking forward to seeing what the numbers are like.

[Toby]

I have been fortunate to achieve the ultimate commuter ecomod. I have accepted a new job 29.6 miles closer to home. Starting next month, I will be cycling to work. YESSS!

It looks like I will probably use one more full tank of gas on my current commute. I am going to go for broke. I have to give a big thank you to ecommodder for helping me save a lot of money and turn my commute from cold wet socks on the feet of my soul into a daily game.

I'm looking forward to starting a cycling log.

I'll be recording the last tank here.

[Daox]

Woo, congrats. I'd love something closer to home (and am looking occasionally).

[bluejoey]

That's great Toby. I prefer riding to driving, and hope to be able to do more riding next year when I have a different job!

[Toby]

Today was my last day commuting 44 miles to work. I'm going to drive the 13 miles to my new job for the first week, then I will switch to dedicated cycling.

I do hope to continue improving the Tercel, but I don't see much happening over the winter. I was pretty proud of the Tercel today. We had unusually warm weather and the Terceleporter occasionally held 50+ mpg while going uphill.

Thanks so much ecomodders!

[Toby]

Ten days ago, the Tercel struck a deer at 56 mph. My wife, a friend, and myself were in the car. All were unharmed. Thankfully, the damage could have been a lot worse. After an examination, I drove the car another 10 miles until it lost enough coolant to begin overheating. I did not see the deer before, during, or after the collision. The Tercel brought home a small bit of venison on the point of the fender. I hope the deer did not suffer long.

The Tercel lost its AC condenser, high pressure AC line, passenger headlight and corner light, radiator, and AC fan. The passenger fender was pretty bent, and the hood crumpled badly. The biggest pain in the neck has been trying to bend the member that locates the headlights, radiator, and hood latch back into shape. I have removed the AC compressor and high pressure line, and disconnected the accessory belt again. I think I will finally commit to looping the power steering at the rack and removing the rest of the system. I just can't justify the bucks it will take to get the AC working again.

The silver lining is that the Terceleporter has passed into completely disreputable territory. Even if I spring for a new hood, I'm not going to be doing any paint matching. I'm not ruling out drilling holes in body panels now. I was working on front wheel skirts before the accident. I think more dramatic aero treatment is now a possibility.

Other good news is that my wife and I bought our first house three months ago. I hit the jackpot in the garage department.