2011 Fit Sport M/T Progress Thread

[Gandalph]

Figured to make a progress tracking thread here so that I can talk through motivations, mods, and results.

My car is a 2011 Honda Fit Sport M/T that my friends have called "The Orangemobile".

My job frequently requires long drives, as I give installation and training services for a company manufacturing industrial automation equipment. While I'm based in Boston, I will routinely drive to Montreal, Buffalo, or Baltimore.

I also run a small service with a buddy in which we take PC's and associated peripheral equipment to video gaming conventions across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, setting them up there for folks to entertain themselves (and earning ourselves a free ticket and hotel room while we're at it most times).

I have the following things to consider when choosing mods:

-More fuel efficiency is better, as I get paid a flat rate by the mile to drive on the company's dime. Not to mention the environmental benefits and reduced dependency on imported oil. But I don't need to tell anyone here about that!

-More cargo space is better, as the cargo space in my car determines the maximum amount of equipment that can be brought to shows.

-I will probably eventually sell this car, so any mods that I made should be reversible. If I have to drill or cut into the existing car, I should probably not be doing the mod in question, with the one exception of the front bumper, as it's already covered with paint chips and scrapes from rocks flying up off the road. It's not going to get significantly worse with a few small screw holes.

-I should definitely not do anything that will reduce safety on the road. I drive about 35,000 miles a year and that's dangerous enough as it is.

-I drive through terrible weather on a regular basis (thunderstorms, snowstorms, salt on the roads in the New England winter). Weather-resistance of mods needs to be considered, as anything on the outside of the car will be exposed to some serious weather conditions.

-I have to consider the legality of mods not only in my home state (Massachusetts), but in all the states/provinces that I drive to for work (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Quebec, Ontario).

-I have basically no mechanic skills beyond changing engine fluids, so mods that involve tinkering with things under the hood are probably not a good idea for me to do.

So with those in mind, here's a list of mods that I would consider from the main list, as well as one that isn't on the main list organized by general category of order I want to do them in:

Already Completed:

-Use Lowest Recommended Viscosity Oil.

-Synthetic Oil.

-Use Thinnest Recommended Transmission Oil.

-Increase Tire Pressure. And I like the handling better at higher pressures too.

-Weight Reduction:

Removed the rear seats, which saved about 70 pounds and got me about an extra 8 cubic feet of cargo space. I have never needed to carry more than 2 people at once, so this is some gain for no loss as far as I'm concerned.

-Radio Antenna Deletion. Can be done by unscrewing and removing the small antenna, which takes less than 10 seconds and is definitely reversible, just screw it back into the mount on the roof.

With these changes and liberal use of the cruise control and obeying the speed limit out on the highways I've been getting just over 40 MPG in summer, and around 37 in winter. EPA estimate is 32.

Short-Term:

-Weight Reduction:

Remove the passenger seat when I only need myself in the car.

Remove the plastic paneling in the cargo area. Negligible weight, but it gives me more space to cram equipment in the back, as there are a few inches on each side between the paneling and the inside of the body. This will make the fit look more like the beautiful miniature cargo van that it is.

Remove the spare tire and replace it with a can of fix-a-flat and an air pump, Tesla style! Not 100% sure if I want to do that though. That's a risk that I don't know if I should take.

-Seal Gaps. Should be pretty easy for some of the larger gaps at the doors and hood. Weatherstripping is removable too with a little adhesive remover.

-Grille Block (Top Grille). Should be easy enough to do with some clear tape. Not sure how well that will stay in place though. I'll have to experiment if that doesn't work well.

Middle-Term:

-Replace the Battery with a Supercap Bank. I'm an Electrical Engineer. If I can't get this to work, what did I spend all that time in college for?! The stock battery weighs about 23 pounds, and I think it can be replaced with a bank of Supercaps with similar max voltage rating to the alternator when in operation with some extra margin to be safe (I was thinking on 6x3V caps in series for a total of 18V rated maximum). That would weigh probably somewhere around 3-5 pounds and cost somewhere on the order of $30-$50 to make. Caps have superior properties in terms of maximum amperage and in terms of short-term storage efficiency when compared to batteries. Not such good max capacity when it comes to total electrical energy stored, so no leaving the lights or radio on when the engine is off. And the caps will self-discharge after a few days, so I can't allow the car to sit without being started for more than that amount of time. Apparently this has been tried in the past with some success, and I'd like to try it as well. What I'm using now is still the stock battery and it's bound to go bad sometime soon, it's been four years and 75,000 miles since I got the car. This needs to have pretty careful environmental management considerations, as most caps are not meant for outdoor use or use under temperature extremes.

-Smooth Wheel Covers. I think that moon covers look awesome. I think I've got a way to mount them as well with the stock wheels without drilling any holes in the wheels and using only some bolts and washers. If I combine with a proper method of reducing vibration like epoxying plastic tubing onto the rim of the disk as was done by other folks in these parts, then I think we've got a pretty solid solution. Would require stainless steel mounting hardware and aluminum covers for weather resistance though. Don't want this thing to rust with the salt on the road during the wintertime.

-Lexan Covers Over Recessed Lights. "But the Fit's headlights aren't buckets!" you might say. Well, you'd be right. But the fog-lights are in recesses at the bottom of the bumper on the Sport version. They are super vulnerable to being hit by small rocks coming up from the road too, and this is the third time that both of them have been broken when I checked. Lexan covers should protect the $30/piece lights with some $5/piece plastic covers as well as improving aerodynamic performance a bit. This is probably the only mod I would be willing to use a drill on the car for, as the front bumper is already such a mess that a few screw holes aren't going to make it any worse.

-Replace Lights With LED's. Want to replace as many of the lights as it's feasible to do with LED's to reduce load on the electrical system.

Far Future/Research Needed:

-Side Mirror Deletion. I can delete the mirrors and set up cameras to replace them, but I need to do research to see if it's legal in all the states/provinces that I drive in.

-Radio Antenna Relocation. Removing the antenna leaves a bulb about the size of an egg in the middle of the roof. Getting rid of that would probably not be reversible, but I'll need to get my hands on a copy of a service manual or take the thing apart and look at how it's connected up to be sure.

-Belly Pan. Not sure how to affix this to the bottom of the car wthout drilling on it, more research is needed.

-Boat-tail. The Fit Sport has mounting bolts already for the stock rear wing and the bumper. If I can use those to mount a boat-tail, I can remove the tail and put all the stock stuff back when required to sell the car. Needs more research to determine if that's going to be possible or not.

-Solar 12V Assist. Would be a neat EE project and definitely a talking point when folks notice it up on the roof. My roof is already all scuffed up after a mishap with a roof carrier some years ago, so I'm not too worried about installing things that may scuff the roof up. Have to figure a clever way to mount the panel without causing a lot of drag.

[California98Civic]

Whoa. Quite a list! How about your hypermiling techniques? What are you doing re: that? EOC? Do you cut the engine at long stops? Those two are low hanging fruit if you are not already on 'em.

And welcome to EM! I love the Fit. It's the new Civic. Lots of cargo space.

[digital rules]

Welcome Gandolph!!

Wow, 35,000 miles is a quite a bit for one year. Are you using any kind of instrumentation? (Scangauge or Ultragauge)

[ThePrudentNinja]

Originally Posted by digital rules

Welcome Gandolph!!

Wow, 35,000 miles is a quite a bit for one year. Are you using any kind of instrumentation? (Scangauge or Ultragauge)

I agree that some form of instrumentation should be used to see in real time or near real time what your fuel economy is so you can fine tune your driving habits.

With these changes and liberal use of the cruise control and obeying the speed limit out on the highways I've been getting just over 40 MPG in summer, and around 37 in winter. EPA estimate is 32.

Cruise control can hurt fuel economy it seems. Depends on a number of factors. Of course cruise control is a nice feature that may be worth the extra "expense".

I drive about 35,000 miles a year and that's dangerous enough as it is.

Reminds me of when I first got my license (and started learning about hypermiling). I was driving about 20,000 to 30,000 a year the first two years I had my license. Learned a lot (about safe driving, hypermiling, costs of operating a vehicle, and more). I'm sure at times you get tired of driving lol. I sure did.

As for a grill block, just be careful of overheating. Don't want to save a few bucks at the expense of costly engine repairs lol.

You may also want to add your car to the Garage:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage.php

[MetroMPG]

Re. grille blocking: OBD-II instrumentation like a ScanGauge or equivalent would also be good for monitoring coolant temperature -- and they save the max value in the current trip data, so you will know if your cooling fan has come on (assuming you've tested the fan/temp threshold). Or you could add a LED to the fan circuit and mount it where you'll see it.

Subscribed for progress updates!

[Gandalph]

Originally Posted by ThePrudentNinja

Cruise control can hurt fuel economy it seems. Depends on a number of factors. Of course cruise control is a nice feature that may be worth the extra "expense".

Yeah, driving for 8 hours at a stretch is a real drag and I want to be sure that I have to expend the minimum possible effort to avoid mentally exhausting myself. It's not an easy thing to pay attention for 8 hours constantly. That's the main reason that I use CC, set it at the speed limit and watch everyone pass me while I listen to audio-books. If there was an Eco-CC that would take care of that for me, then I would use it without reservation. I think that there was one such thing in development here, but I'm not sure what the status on that is, I'll have to look around. If there was one that took care of P&G that would be pretty sweet!

Originally Posted by ThePrudentNinja

Reminds me of when I first got my license (and started learning about hypermiling). I was driving about 20,000 to 30,000 a year the first two years I had my license. Learned a lot (about safe driving, hypermiling, costs of operating a vehicle, and more). I'm sure at times you get tired of driving lol. I sure did.

That's no kidding, I'm definitely a safer and more effective driver than I was even last year even...

Originally Posted by ThePrudentNinja

As for a grill block, just be careful of overheating. Don't want to save a few bucks at the expense of costly engine repairs lol.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Re. grille blocking: OBD-II instrumentation like a ScanGauge or equivalent would also be good for monitoring coolant temperature -- and they save the max value in the current trip data, so you will know if your cooling fan has come on (assuming you've tested the fan/temp threshold). Or you could add a LED to the fan circuit and mount it where you'll see it.

Good plan, I don't have any instrumentation other than the MPG gauge that the car has by default on the console. But the car's built-in meter only goes up to 80 MPG. I'm going to need a meter with a higher max than that, and who knows how accurate that thing is? A ScanGauge would be a good plan, as well as an indicator for the radiator fan.

Originally Posted by California98Civic

How about your hypermiling techniques? What are you doing re: that? EOC? Do you cut the engine at long stops? Those two are low hanging fruit if you are not already on 'em.

I do about as much coasting as I can in neutral with the engine on while I'm slowing down to a stop. I'm worried about wearing out the starter motor if I start and stop a lot, as my car was definitely not designed with start/stop in mind. I'm also not a very physically powerful dude, so I like my power steering to be available all the time.

[California98Civic]

Well, i have key started my car probably once every 3 miles or so on average for the last fifty thousand miles of this 230,000 mile car. Original 1998 starter motor still going strong. How heavy is the fit? I am not a big burly guy either and I can manage easily without PS on my car. To experiment you could just remove the belt for a while and see how you like it.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Gandalph

the car's built-in meter only goes up to 80 MPG. I'm going to need a meter with a higher max than that

... You know you're an ecomodder when ...

I do about as much coasting as I can in neutral with the engine on while I'm slowing down to a stop.

If you're actually trying to slow down, leaving it in gear will save a tiny bit more fuel, as the injectors go into fuel cut when you release the accelerator above a certain RPM.

[Gandalph]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

If you're actually trying to slow down, leaving it in gear will save a tiny bit more fuel, as the injectors go into fuel cut when you release the accelerator above a certain RPM.

Good to know, maybe I had better read over those instructions again to be sure that I understood things correctly.

[kafer65]

On the solar 12v assist angle, how can you safely apply this to a modern car? I've seen photos of car fires from dash PVs plugged into the power plugs on some cars. I have a Volkswagen solar panel that has the car plug (and it makes plenty of voltage in full sun) but I'm apprehensive about using it in my Mazda. I know that there is less draw down when modules go into sleep mode on my old Jetta and if you interact with the car (like unlocking it) the modules wake up. Some cars shut down the power plugs in sleep mode and some don't. If I start measuring voltage on the plugs I may wake up the modules and nullify my findings? You've attracted ecomodder heavyweights here and being an EE graduate I wonder if anyone had some ideas on the matter?