01 Saturn SL1 is really impressing me
 

40mpg at mostly interstate velocities is pretty good in my book for 1.9 litres

That's knocking at the door of geo metro mileage but with actual ac

If I can cure the HVAC stink and windows fogging I might have a pretty good $600 commuter on my hands.

The only mods have been 5 psi overinflation and some low level hypermiling (all after the first fill)

When this happened to me it turned out to be a leak in the heater that put moisture to fog the windows and brought the smell of the antifreeze into the compartment. Might look for this.

After exhausting all other possibilities I came to this as well. However I'm not losing coolant and don't smell antifreeze. I dug in and changed the heater core anyway hosed out the evaporator, removed a double handful of wet rotten leaves and I think fixed a stuck recirc door. I even removed all the carpet and sound insulation

I'll know if I fixed it today

Are you sure the removed insulation won't have any detrimental effect to the efficiency of the air conditioning?

Seeing as it was soaking wet and growing fungus that's a chance I had to take lol

Saved about 80lbs

Ready for a layer or two of Dynamat? https://www.dynamat.com/

Of course you had to take it out of the car, yet replacing it with something more resistent to moisture and easier to clean would be still beneficial somehow.

But then I'd have to fix all the leaks

The bare metal floorboard is pretty easy to take care of and not nearly as loud as you think. Plus it made the foot well area feel twice as large for a tall guy like me.

Even for a $600 car this thing was nasty inside. I literally pressure washed the seats and door panels.

It's just really not been a big deal to have it gone

Do it the Paraguayan way :D


I'd be more concerned about thermal insulation, to decrease the load on the air conditioning, than I would actually care about soundproofing.

Is the A/C smell only when you first turn it on? Try turning off the A/C a few minutes before you complete your trip, leaving the fan running.