Hello from Maine, USA

[armycopter]

As a long-time gas guzzler, I've only recently been introduced to the concept of reducing fuel consumption. The state of our economy, and more importantly, the state of MY economy has somewhat forced my hand. I have to say that although I never gave a lot of thought to fuel consumption, I am having a lot of fun, and saving a lot of money, now that I'm involved. I've always been into recycling (cardboard, plastic, aluminum, etc) but gasoline was never high on my list.

Up until about a month ago, I drove a great big Chevy Silverado Z71 extended cab pickup truck that gave me approximately 14mph around town and 17 or 18 on the highway (if I was lucky). When the engine died on it, I was fortunate enough to "cash for clunker" it and i decided now was the right time to start reducing my fuel consumption. Although not the best car for high FE, I picked up a 2009 Chevy Aveo for a pretty good price. It has been quite a period of adjustment driving such a small car but I'm starting to really love it.

The first tank out of the dealership yielded me 31 mpg without any changes to my driving habits and with the AC on. I was pretty happy considering what i was used to in the Silverado. I've noticed that since the car has been broken in, my FE has been steadily increasing. My last tank yielded 38.8 MPH with a mix of around town and highway driving. The AC was off.

I am interested in getting this vehicle up over 40mpg and I decided I could probably do that just be modifying the way I drive. I purchased a scangauge from this site through the group buy plan and will install it once it arrives.

I hope to learn a lot from other members of this forum.

Take care

[Luxbg]

Welcome to ecomodder! You'll have a lot of fun here and that Scangauge will pay itself off in now time. You shouldn't have many problems reaching 45 mpg after a couple tanks practice. Keep us updated!

[armycopter]

Thanks! Can you tell me how you got that signature block with the Ecomiler stats in it?

[lusth]

Hi there,

Here is the thread for setting up your signature:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post22881

Also, let us know how the Aveo turns out. I'm also a member of the owner-of-a-car-maligned-by-the-press-but-is-actually-quite-a-nice-car club.

[Johnny Mullet]

Welcome to ecomodder! I was using a Chevy Pickup as my daily driver until I got an economy car and simply fell in love with all the money I have been saving on gas. Now the wife and I both have fuel efficient rides and the savings are doubling!

[bgd73]

another mainer giving up on trucks.
I went through this in 1997, no more 12-15 mpg v8s. And to be honest. the engines SUCK. All I drove was v8. I even rebuilt heads, bearings...it just sucked to look back at the overall picture. I spent so much fuel, back then, I could have 4 of my favorite small cares today in excellent condition.
in the spirit of cars in a car killing place, I still manage a 1987 in the ecomod realm.
Depending on where you are in maine, the little car can get on the nerves in tough weathers. 6 inches of snow is not that anymore...
AWD has been my only mind keep. they do not make many with duarability in the little car realm. In fact I know of none today. The fwd is a good choice, that is most likely where I will be tortured to next.

[armycopter]

Thanks folks, this site is a wealth of info!

[SVOboy]

Welcome to ecomodder

[damo]

Originally Posted by bgd73

AWD has been my only mind keep. they do not make many with duarability in the little car realm. In fact I know of none today. The fwd is a good choice, that is most likely where I will be tortured to next.

When you mentioned that I thought of the Subaru Justy:

Subcompact Culture: Nostalgic Subcompact: Subaru Justy

But I don't think it was sold in the states since 1994


"The second generation Justy available out side of the States from 1995-2002, was an AWD version of the Suzuki Cultis/Swift, AKA the Geo Metro in the U.S. It was powered by a 1.3 liter gas engine. I photographed the one at the right while in Germany in 2006 ."

[Johnny Mullet]

When I went on vacation recently to Newprt, RI, I seen an AWD Subaru Justy there! I was surprised!

Ford Made a Tempo AWD also.