19bonestock88's 2004 Saturn "Ion Green Line" build...
 

So, I figured I'd start a new thread to track the build of my new daily driver... It's just a 2004 Saturn Ion-1 with the L61 and F23 trans, about as basic as they were built... My plans are to clean up the aerodynamics to begin with and work on lean burn at cruise, and see where that gets me as far as mileage... A full Redline suspension/brakes swap is planned in the foreseeable future, and later on, a rebuilt, high compression L61 and Cobalt XFE trans should be swapped in, with possible hybridization, like what GM done with the Vue Green Line... Goals are to hit 50mpg with this car and keep it as a useful daily driver...

Congrats on the new wheels. Why did you get rid of the Altima for the Ion?

The transmission was failing in the Altima, so I sold it while I could, and since I have lots of Ion parts lying around, I wanted another Ion... Plus, they get some pretty killer mileage, as reflected by my first tank and it's still being 99.9% stock

Grabbed some data with my UG... 12.5% throttle holds 55mph(2000 RPM) and 11.4% holds 50mph... Today, at those speeds, instant reading were in the mid forties, and in the same trip I used to drive to work, I averaged 44.8mpg indicated one way and 42.8mpg indicated the other way... The car's still 99% stock, with my only Eco-mod being an upper grille block

Still is stock, and my second tank returned 38.4mpg with more diligent hypermiling and more frequent EOC

What's your MAP or vacuum at those conditions?

I don't know MAP or vac readings, but 55mph is around 30% load depending on temp and whether or not I'm using AC

If 30% load is less than about 7 PSI MAP (I suspect it is), then you would benefit from a taller final drive ratio.

I agree, and oddly enough, so does GM... The stock F23 final drive is 3.84 and they used a 3.63 in the Cobalt XFE... I'd love to end up with one of se gearboxes...

So, guys, here's my car(I've finally got some pics)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...sc5dqptqn.jpeg
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...slojmudxo.jpeg

It's just a base model, but it's in decent shape... The upper grille is blocked in those pics, but it's not plainly visible...

Looks great!

38+ is a damned good first tank.

This should be interesting to watch.

Well thanks... The car in stock form (with upper grille block which has done about nothing) has delivered a high of 42.2mpg on my most recent tank, with only advanced hypermiling...(mostly just EOC)... Can't wait to do a belly pan, diffuser, and other various aero mods

I was thinking something similar... My ion Redline cane with 225/45-17 so I should have room to upsize...

Upsize? Wouldn't you get more benefit from narrower tyres?

I went with 185/65 ecopias because it was hundreds cheaper per set

So what is the next mod going to be?

I was trying to point the lower rolling resistence inherent to narrower tyres, but yes, they're usually cheaper. No wonder many folks are quite disappointed that some tyre sizes that used to be fairly common have now become nearly unobtainium.

It's quite surprising to me. Narrower tyres putting more pressure to the pavement would be supposed to improve traction, and they're also lighter even though sometimes the weight difference might sound negligible.

Narrower tires on my cobalt increased FE and speedo was under 1% off.

While larger tires could have lower RR most are heavier to support a larger vehicle which drives higher RR

Add to this they drive higher CDa which may outweigh aero differences.

I'm not sure about my next mod, guys... I'm really broke at the moment with saving a down payment for my home... I need tires, and might have two different sets available... First set is 195/65-15 off brand tire... Second set I is 185/70-14 from an S series, Cooper CS4.. Not sure which I'm gonna run for now... If the Redline suspension and brake swap goes through, I'll go up to a 17 inch wheel and likely a 205/50 tire...

I'd like to chip away at the aero, but I haven't had time to crawl under the car and screw pieces of coroplast to the underside, and I'm concerned with the cooling system... These cars are designed to draw air from underneath, with a plastic scoop shaped flat-ish panel that hangs down... Not sure if deleting that and sealing the lower grille opening to the radiator would be enough or not... Either way, the front belly pan will require special consideration... The rest would be similar to how the Malibu went...

I'd also like to swap the header and downpipe from the Redline onto my base model and fabricate a new exhaust system to be tucked up closer to the underside of the car, as well as eliminate the exhaust rattle I have now, but it'll have to wait until I can wrap it with header wrap...

I went from Goodyear Integrities which are stock lrr tires (not very good ones)
To smaller Ecopias

FE went up as driving style went from lower speed hypermiling (good years) to more or less just driving the speed limit with less hypermiling.
Fact that FE improved while driving faster which was impossible with the Integrties indicates a win.

My feeling is that folks should test mods including tire changes, my guess is taller tires might help an overgeared or overloaded car but might do the opposite if they are of a higher than necessary load rating

I had a thought... In the Malibu (also L61 Ecotec powered) it ran(with grille blocks) at 195-200*, whereas my Ion runs at 180-185*... Safe to assume that the same temp is safe, given the same engine? I might get to do a belly pan in the front as long as I keep most of the lower grille open...

Could have a different temp thermostat in it.

You'll be fine running at 195.

I wonder how efficiency would be affected by running at 195-205*?

Right now, my commute is about 2.5mi and coolant temps never break 150 but I'll be moving soon, and will have 90% of my old commute back

Just an update; the car is still stock, driving around home returns mileage in the low-mid forties... Still deciding on what mods to do... The front O2 going bad, coupled with an exhaust rattle suggests maybe use the header from my Redline(install new upstream O2), make a cat less downpipe and see how much that helps... Every post about someone doing a header/downpipe that I've read indicates a modest gain...

So, guys, I've made my first mod! I ended up doing a partial belly pan, while deleting the air scoop under the bumper cover... Car runs less than 5* hotter, and it now takes only 27.5-29% load to keep 55mph... Instant readings at 55mph are in the 48-50mpg range...

Best part, is I already had the 4x8' sheet of coro, so this mod only cost me $3(screws)
Once I figure out something for hosting my images, I'll post some pics of what I've got...

Your already meeting the cobalt XFE readings at 55mph

Good job

There you are, tomorrow I will cut into the wiring so I can tow the L next week with the motorhome.
Very nice mileage by the way.

I have been using Flickr for pic hosting, or ask Doax or MetroMPG about uploading directly, I know some changes were made but have forgotten

I had an ion, and I deleted the air diverting flap in favor of a piece of Coroplast between the bumper cover and radiator. I never once saw increased temps from this because that panel makes the air tat goes through the lower grill more efficient. Also worth a look would be removing the bumper cover and sealing between it and the radiator, then you could likely block not only the upper grill, but part of the lower one, too, as you only need 1/6th your radiator area in grill under ideal circumstances. Also, a belly pan between the rear of the floor and rear bumper is hugely beneficial, maybe flexible rubber would work better than the coroplast I used.

Guys, I haven't gone away, I just lost constant access to wifi, so updates are minimal...

I switched to a set of factory 16" alloy wheels and a 205/55 tire, because that was cheaper than buying a whole set of 195-65-15, fuel economy has dropped 10-15% due to the wider tire, and it might stick out more into the airstream around the bottom of the wheelwells...

Guys, sorry it's been so long, my home situation leaves me without much internet access at all... I've been trying to make headway with my build to be limited by finances... I've got a couple questions though...

I've been working on better intake flow based on the gains I realized from an intake tube on the Malibu I had before(also had L61 engine), and I've got a couple questions...

1. Any gains from a ported TB? I've done a spare one from another L61 car, it's no bigger but has a smoother inlet and smoother size transitions...
2. Sizing of intake tube- would a 4" intake tube help more over a 3"? My thought is that reducing 4" tube to my 58mm TB would generate better velocity, maybe better torque?
3. Water vapor? I've considered filtering PCV gases through a catch can and then a bubbler to generate a small part of water/methanol vapor(washer fluid) to induce into the intake tube, would this help any?

Sounds interesting, but I'm not so sure if that would be safe. Maybe routing the PCV gases through a water jacket could be less prone to increase the risk of causing moisture contamination for the oil. Just might need to consider some other alternative to filter the vapors and catch most of the oily remains to prevent them from reaching the intake tract.

I just thought that the PCV pressure would provide extra gas to bubble the water to create a little more vapor(still a trace amount anyway)

Maybe the hot vapors and the pressure could eventually help vaporizing the water, but it's also more likely that water would simply cool down those vapors, with a risk of contaminating the oil. Unless you would run those vapors through a heat exchanger inside a water tank, but venting this heat exchanger to the usual location where the PCV discharges its flow to the intake manifold.

The catch can would hopefully catch all of the oily stuff, but if routin it into the bubbler still sounds dangerous, I'll just route the PCV gases to atmosphere

I've now got a 50% lower grille block done, I'll try and grab a pic to try and post somehow, but it's improved warm up time a little...

I just did a full lower grill block on my Mirage. It definitely improved warm up times.

Even at only 50% lower and full upper blocks, during extended periods of high speed driving(late to work, etc) the engine begins to get warm... I ran late one night and it got up around 215* as I averaged about 73mph(compared to my normal 40-ish mph)