1995 Saturn SL1 the quest begins...
 

Hi everyone my name is Jason. On May 11th, 2010 I purchased a 1995 Saturn SL1 5speed. It had 85,500 miles on it and it came with such ammenities as manual steering and a torquey little 1.9L 100 HP engine. At first I thought :( but now i'm like :thumbup:. My first tank mpg was 32.4 and i was like hmmmm thats the best mpg i have ever gotten in a car (past cars were 6 cylinders). After i found this site I have been going all out on trying to get better MPG with my car. My first mod was to put the tire pressure up higher to 36 and then eventually 39 psi. My next mod was an engine cut off switch that i installed on the shifter of my car. The only other modification i have done to the car is a HAI and right now its sitting at about 75-80 degrees above ambient temperatures. With these mods and driving style changes of course i went from 32.4mpg all the way to best mpg of 42.51. I never thought gas mileage like that was possible on a regular 4 cylinder car. I plan on continuing my modifications with the addition of a vacuum gauge, an MPGuino, maybe experiment with a grill block and a bellypan and i hope to get a set of smooth wheel covers soon (not just for MPG but for that :cool:BLING:cool: factor ya know?). I have found ALOT of useful information on this site and just wanted to thank all of you. The quest has just begun...

PowerHaus930 -

Welcome to EM! 85K is pretty low mileage for a 1995. I use saturnfans.com for non-MPG care and feeding of my S-Series.

CarloSW2

Your posts and info in your garage have helped me alot so thank you cfg83. I also use saturnfans.com alot of good info over there. Oh and by the way i'm from Maryland.

PowerHaus930 -

Cool beans! Like I was telling another fellow on the forum, I always perk up when I see an S#1 because I know what it can do in the right hands.

CarloSW2

What do you think this car could do? i was thinking max of 50mpg but i'm not sure. Like I said I have the tire pressures up to 39psi (44 max sidewall), a hot air intake (how much above ambient is yours? do you use the resistor in place of IAT?), and the engine cut off switch. What would be the next best upgrade you think? I was thinking vacuum gauge and/or MPGuino. What about aero mods? what are the most beneficial aero upgrades? Thanks so much for your help!

could an admin please switch this thread to introductions? thankyou

PowerHaus930 -

[thread moved as per request]

There is a fellow named diamondlarry who previously owned an SL2 :

Details: DOHCtor Green MPG - 1999 Saturn SL2 Fuel Economy - EcoModder.com

And here is the accompanying fuel log :

1999 Saturn SL2 Gas Mileage (DOHCtor Green MPG) - EcoModder.com

I would claim that this is the "top end" of what an S-Series can do.

In mid-2007 he got a Prius and has sinced move on.

CarloSW2

PowerHaus930 -

The hottest I recall seeing my HAI is maybe 160+ degrees. That is from a sensor that is inside the air intake box, below the air filter. User lovemysan said that anything above 179 degrees F caused his 2002 SL (SOHC) to bog down. I am guessing that you are pre-OBDII, so your ECU/PCM *might* behave differently to the higher intake temps.

I think that the best aero-mods are belly pans, wheel covers, and rear wheel skirts. I don't service the car, so I haven't ventured into the belly-pan arena, becauuse I remove all mods that interfere with servicing of the car before I bring it in. lovemysan did a belly-pan and this is his work :

saturn pictures by lovemysan - Photobucket

You can move the antenna into the passenger-side A-Pillar by removing the plastic cover and doing some re-routing of the antenna. You should cover the antenna with something that isolates it from the frame. Someone in saturnfans posted a thread on this.

Aero-mods are funny because in many cases they only "help a little" at lower speeds, but on the other hand, they are helping all the time that you are moving. The dark-side of aero-mods is that if you don't do them right, they can cause even more drag and hurt MPG. Also, as Frank Lee has pointed out, if you live in a high-wind area, aero-mods that increase the side area of the car (like the side skirts that I have) may work against you in cross-winds. I don't suffer from high-winds the vast majorty of the time, so I am not worried about this.

The engine cut-off switch is on my never-ending todo list (I have no excuse). Besides changing the way you drive, I think that is one of your best mods you can do.

CarloSW2

wow thanks so much for the info and your help!! I have one more question. what kind of vortex generators are on the side of your wagon?

PowerHaus930 -

Those are AirTabs (from airtab.com). I won't claim they work and I won't deny that the might make things worse, :o . They really belong on big boxy trucks. Until I have proof one way or another, I just call them aero-bling.

CarloSW2