320touring gets an eco-car at last! VW GOLF 1.9 TD- The Golf 4L??
 

I've just swapped the 318iS (which had no MOT/cracked windscreen and rust in the roof) for this 1996 Mk3 VW Golf TD.:D

its got the 1.9 TD AAZ lump- mechanical fuel pump with no intercooler.

Stock rated at 75bhp/110ft/lb torque, but that can be increased:)


http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...nster/Golf.jpg

all the specs can be found here
Volkswagen Golf Umwelt 1.9 CL, 1991 Typ 330 (A3) technical specifications 25454

but quick synopsis is:

1022kg/2253lbs

Cd 0.30

Frontal area 2.03m2

Cda 0.61


Its going to get some 195/50/15's fitted, a full service then a full tank to baseline it.

from the 55l tank and 5 speed manual, I'll be aiming for 500 miles to start

The EPA fuel economy for the 1.9TD Jetta (closest model in America) is 34/44 with combined 38.

UK seems to be about mid 50's on a run, 40+ round town.

We'll see!

now to get used to 4 cyl turbos that dont like to rev, and drive the wrong wheels!:turtle:

Nice new Eco-ride! That one should give you some really good numbers. If my MK2 ever gets destroyed, I'll be looking for a MK3. I like your Cd also. Mine started at .36. YKYAEM when you have Cd envy:o:thumbup:.

Wish I'd placed a bet on you being the first person to post:thumbup:

She's just been fuelled up, and tyres set to 42psi.

Currently the 328i LPG gets the cost equivalent of 45 imp MPG, this car probably has approx 50 L before the fuel light comes on

for it to be cheaper to run than the 328i I need to see better than 495 miles from the 11 imp gallons..


She'll be receiving an oil/oil filter/air filter service, and 4x 15"Bbs with 195/50/15 tyres on them shortly.

If I can get 550miles out her I'll be ecstatic! it'll certainly take some time to alter my driving style to suit the torque based nature, but I'll get there!

I would 't have think the Cd was so good.
With some of the latest LRR tires (Nokian eLine 185/65), that should give you really nice consumptions, like 65 mpg at 56 mph.

The Cd was pulled from Carfolio- so I can only guess it should be accurate..

I'll not be fitting anything expensive like new tyres until it needs them- reckon there's 20000 miles left on them currently- although thanks for the recommendations!

I'll probably be sitting at 55-60mph on the motorway, so aero mods may be my most beneficial.

First impressions on the trip to work this morning..

I'd forgotten about having to wait for gaps in traffic, being 120bhp down on the 328i means you have to wait for a good sized gap.

It doesnt like 5th at 30mph- 4th is much nicer.

Its quite light, and easy to place on the road, however the steering is overly light and I think the front shocks are slightly soft.

Very relaxing to drive- no opportunity to be "urgent"- It simply does not allow it! However I reckon it can be pepped up easily enough- especially as the turbo seems to boost cleanly.

Eco-mod considerations:

It'd benefit from some new Glowplugs and a full service

Temperature drops to 80 deg on the gauge at a steady 50mph, and rises to 90 in traffic- a sure indication that a grill block would raise under bonnet temps during normal driving- possibly helping the engine be more efficient? I.e. Hot engine, cold air intake?

Tyres feel fine a 42psi, and car rolls freely on the longest stretch of downhill I have on the commute. so no dragging brakes/wheelbearings etc.


All in all, it's looking promising- the needle has not moved as yet, and we're 34 miles into the tank..

:DStill laughing:thumbup:!

:D

I'm the one laughing.. so far at 1/2 way through day 2, I'm up 100.8 miles, for an indicated 1/8th of a tank. I didnt do the "vent " thing as didnt want to risk the filler leaking, so I know she's only got 55L to start with.

on that basis, looking reasonable for 60ish imp MPG so far:):snail:

I've been scouting out replacement part prices etc- all very reasonable. this weekend should see some work done to tidy her up.

I'm not going to mod (apart from putting on 4 matching wheels- they're 195/50/15's, less than 0.33% smaller than the stock 185/60/14s..)until the first tank is done- get a nice baseline figure!

At this rate may be two weeks for first fillup! makes a nice change from 3 days on LPG!

The adventure so far..
 

Ok, so new car- never even driven it before..

Monday morning- commute to work. All good, slow moving traffic, but nothing major..

Arrived at work and had to do a wee dance in the car as she'd just turned 129k
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0585.jpg


Come to leave Monday evening, and I'm greeted with this sight:
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0586.jpg

A good test of battery- which she passed no problem:thumbup:

End of Monday- 67.4 miles, and the needle hadnt moved..
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0587.jpg

Tuesday:

At work, no problems- gauge has finally moved!
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0588.jpg

and you can see I was late getting up today:rolleyes:

Back home, 133.9 miles on the clock and just over 1/8th (indicated) of a tank used..
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0590.jpg

I may have high hopes for this wee car yet..:eek:

Heaviest day yet on the derv..
 

Up this morning at 6.30am, picked up the car share person and trundled into work- nice clear roads! early in means early out,

back home by 5pm, and nice easy steady driving! results as follows:

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0592.jpg

200.1 miles on an indicated 1/4 tank:D


Car sat for 50 mins, then it was off out to pick up my gran (she was coming to visit our new house:thumbup:)

Much shorter return trip, but thankfully still lots of motorway and the car was warm to start with..
needle has moved a bit further in the 33.8 mile round trip, but I imagine its just that the tank is oddly shaped

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0593.jpg


pretty much a 100 mile day- poor car is in at the deep end.


At the weekend I'm going to service it, and have a good poke round to see what it needs- the front shocks feel soft, so I may be replacing them fairly soon. If it goes for another week after the service I may treat it to a cambelt..

then I can get eco-tuning the engine:)

another 100 mile day!
 

Poor wee car..

Up late for work this morning, so faster than usual on the commute;)

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0596.jpg

Late for work means catching all the traffic on the way home..4-5 mile tailback is normal:( still appears promising!

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0598.jpg

and lastly, out for dinner with my Godson and his little sister, then home again.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0599.jpg

Can I make 400 on an indicated 1/2 tank?!:eek::snail::turtle:


I've also figured something out..
the only downside is that the mechanical pump means no DFCO- if the engine is spinning, the pump is pumping..

However, I have a cunning plan- I can set the idle point lower than the current 980rpm, and just knock the car into neutral approaching roundabouts/junctions/lights etc:thumbup:

An early start this morning, and running the burd into work..

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0600.jpg

Driving home in the snow..

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0601.jpg

finally below 1/2 a tank- how quickly this 1/2 tank disappears I dont know!?

A Productive day!
 

Well, the old girl got some pampering today, after a short run this morning;

Arriving at the unit for service
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0606.jpg

Did an oil/ filter change, plus air filter.

Then set about sorting the turbo- all week there's been little boost, and minimal power.. can you spot the issue?

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0612.jpg

The vacuum pipe from the Turbo to the Boost pin on the fuel pump was split and frayed- so there was no fuel enrichment on boost. Some spare pipe I had lying about was fitted, and made a considerable difference to the drivability of the car

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0614.jpg

The car also had 2x 195/50/15 tyres fitted to the front- running 42 psi:thumbup:

Finally, the interior was cleaned and de-pongified! so now a pleasant place to be:D

The drive home was spirited, but frugal- the correctly working vacuum meant overtaking was easier and done with less throttle pedal. This is how she stands just now:
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0618.jpg

Today is the first day I've not driven the Golf, as I had a "run" out with some fellow car enthusiasts today. took the 328i as I was playing with Porsche 911s and Mazda RX-7s etc..

I was 60bhp down on the next slowest car..hard work but fun and rewarding. But I'll be glad to get back to the golftoise tomorrow- hoping to stick another 100 miles or so on it..

Could this be a Kilotank on the first fill??!

Now creeping up on 600 miles

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0627.jpg

..aiming for 622miles before refilling. If I run her dry, that'd be 622/12.1 imp gal= 51.41 imp mpg (622/14.53 US gal= 42.81 US mpg)

I reckon it'll not be as low as that- Aiming to fill her with 1/8th of a tank still showing.

then she'll get 5 or 10L veg oil, and a diesel top up:)

KILO KILO Tank!
 

Boom, just home after a trip to see the parents, and some shopping!

Look down, and see this

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psb80ed11a.jpg

1000km completed on less than 1 tank:thumbup::turtle::D

I reckon 626.7miles on 7/8th of a tank is good for 59.18 imp mpg:eek:

That's what I like in these Volkswagen all-mechanical engines, their ability to run on veg oils. BTW have you never considered to get one of those conversion kits to be able to run even on pure vegetable oil?

First tank in,

A full 641.6 miles after getting the car, she took 52.36L of fuel.

A not to disappointing 55.71imp MPG:thumbup:

At least 1/2 the tank was completed without the turbo/boost fuel enrichment working correctly- I'm hoping the repair I effected means the next tank is as good- if not better..

Never one to let her rest, she got 4L of veg in the tank
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0029037e.jpg

, and then 155 miles put on her
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psff0af059.jpg

How much does oil cost you compared to diesel ?

It depends on where you get the oil, but its usually about 70% of the cost of diesel..

Cool. Here, when they realized people bought oil for fueling their car, the prices rose up from 0,80€/l a few years ago to 1,60€ today. Diesel cost 1,35€ right now.

Yeah similar happened here, but there's usually "bulk buy" options that can be reasonable value

Sunflower oil is at the same price of Diesel fuel in Argentina, altough in Brazil even soybean oil is at least 50% more expensive than Diesel fuel for the final customer, altough can be bought way cheaper for commercial and industrial usage. I've seen farmers using pure soybean oil in their machinery, using their own fuel dispensers and getting the veg oil for BR$0.50 each liter instead of paying almost BR$2.00 for Diesel.

2nd tank in today...

621.3 miles, 49.06L of fuel= 57.57imp mpg:turtle::thumbup:

Also, managed to make a grillblock for the car today- certainly helps with keeping the temp more constant! Also easy to remove if the temp rises

Here's some pics to show how I did it for under £3.00:thumbup::

£0.79 worth of Pipe lagging and some scissors:

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psfc18467d.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psffab3ea7.jpg

The bare grill (badge was already missing!)
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps322ede94.jpg

Detail of the slats- where I'm going to slot in the pipe lagging
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4c65541b.jpg

First piece cut and trial fitted
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf569199.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8af65989.jpg

2nd/3rd/4th/5th pieces fitted
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8a2d2651.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8f161ac4.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psc4e56b74.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps66a31982.jpg
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps897ff32d.jpg

£1.00 can of primer
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps98125255.jpg

£1.00 can of Black Paint
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1427e94f.jpg

The finished article:rolleyes::eek:
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps766a3ad4.jpg

Nice job! Painted it looks OEM.

:D we'll see how it holds up!

On another note, the 10L of veg in this tank seem to have made it smoother to drive:thumbup:

I'm using 2-takt motor oil as a fuel additive in Berta because my injection pump's gaskets doesn't like veg oil. :(

There's a lot to be said for simplicity when it comes to diesels, I think.. rather than the new hi tech ones.

I'm happy to report that the Golf now appears smoother on the 2 main grades i glide on:eek:

additionally, the larger % of veg oil seems to be making her smoother and more capable at 60mph+ (i was late for work!)

Bad news...

The grill block is having the paint flake off:(

Good news..

I've decided on the "Ultimate goal" of this car..

The golf 4L:D

Aiming for 70 imp MPG (58 US MPG)

its more than 25% larger than a Lupo, so that should be fun. Last tank was 4.91L, so still a way to go..

so what do we reckon? achievable?

It's time to plan the weight-saving and eventually aero mods :D

I'd consider to get some custom-made fiberglass body panels such as rear hatch (possibly already incorporating a built-in spoiler), engine hood and front fenders (taking that retractible antenna away, so if you'd still want a radio you could get an internal windscreen-mounted one like I'm considering to do with my dad's Subaru), smaller and more streamlined rearview mirrors out of some sports motorcycle, single-blade windscreen wiper (preferably standing up while not in use, for both weight-saving and aerodynamic reasons) and stripping the interior trim as much as you feel comfortable with :thumbup:

I'll not be changing the body panels- too difficult to get insurance on such things.

initial thoughts are these- Aero being most important given the 80% motorway work the car sees):

Aero
Upper Grill Block- completed- approx 80% covered

Lower Grill Block- similar in technique to the upper one using pipe insulation

Smaller door Mirrors- or removal/folding of passenger one

Aero Wheel covers- possibly made out of plexiglass

Airdam- An extension to the existing front lip

Panel Gap sealing- round the engine bay, rear hatch and rear side windows

Ride height reduction- see my separate thread re this- a drop of approx 40-50mm is planned

Engine Bay
Front Belly Pan- Definitely, scope to utilise a spare one I have lying about..

Cold Air Intake- Should be simple enough to modify the current intake (which is already fairly reasonable!)

Engine Bay Insulation- looking at additional bonnet insulation options, plus panel gap sealing using insulation strip.

these mods should keep the heat in, and make for ideal veg oil running conditions

Mechanics
Gearbox oil to ATF- on the "to Do" list!

Fuelling advance- set the max fuel on the pump higher for more torque at lower rpm

Reduce idle setting- currently idles near 1000rpm, a drop to 750-800 would be a 25% saving on my coasting sections

Turbo- increase boost pressure to 12psi for a better cleaner burn

Intercooler- to help keep air cool, and density high

These will only be carried out after I've done the timing belt- dont want to risk it!


Others
Weight reduction- I'll probably aim to keep the interior pleasant- the car does mainly motorway work, so mass is not an issue- at least not as much as comfort!

As long as you would keep it looking closer to OEM, wouldn't be so difficult to get insurance. Sure, if you started to mess with safety features such as door side-impact beams it would start to get harder...


Folding the passenger mirror can be considered quite pointless over a removal, but I still think replacing both with more aerodynamical ones makes more sense. And you can have'em for cheap out of some wrecked sports motorcycle :D


A custom fiberglass (or carbon fiber) bonnet provides a higher insulation than the sheetmetal one :D
Anyway, you could check this thread: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ver-24451.html


Replacing some of the interior trim with lighter parts wouldn't necessarily decrease the comfort :thumbup:

Its honestly not worth the hassle over here!


Agreed- sourcing smaller mirrors that will fit will be the hard bit:rolleyes:

I'll likely go down the route of additional insulation on the bonnet and inner wings. Although its also been pointed out that my thermostat is possibly not functioning correctly!

agreed- I have some good plans for weight reduction that wont impact on the comfort of the car:thumbup:

First tank is in with the grill block on. Car was running a 20/80% veg/Diesel mix

670.1 miles for 52.58L of fuel

Giving imp MPG of 57.94


thats a 0.37 mpg gain, and I'm happy, bearing in mind the traffic I've had to deal with this week.

Now running 30% veg oil..P&G too.. gonna shoot for 58.5 imp mpg!

Weekend may also see a swap of battery (current one is undersized) and a thermostat replacement- as the car is running colder than VW intended, even with grill block.

Thermostat looks like a likely suspect..


And maybe a raid around the unit to see what parts I can pilfer for modding purposes:)

If you are thinking of going to the extreme with FE you should invest in some kind of instant fuel consumption gauge. It's hard with mechanical injected diesel but it's doable. You may take a look here: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...sel-16711.html

:p I dont do "geek":D

Seriously though, additional instrumentation would draw unwanted attention, an possibly prove distracting on MY commute.

I'm happy with the level of feedback at a tank level- An upward trend, or continual above published MPG is enough for me.

That's your choice, but I can tell from my experience that instant feedback from the car helps a lot to get the best FE

More work done Yesterday!

Took out the puny 340 cold cranking amps Battery
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps26880630.jpg

fitted a 500CCA one, cleaned the contacts and earthing strips- now starts much better:D
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8eec5476.jpg


Insulated the fuel lines to and from the pump a bit- aiming to keep the veg oil (30% now) viscous on the colder mornings
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psffae75a1.jpg

Used the last of my pipe insulation to put in a test piece of lower grill block
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psdab6dcc0.jpg

Got a slight temp increase on the gauge- really need to get a thermostat and do it (probably next weekend!)

Also finally swapped over the other 195/50/15 tyres I had onto the rear- taking off the largerr and heavier 205/55's in the process

205
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0614cc42.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6b04b923.jpg

195
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps195f361a.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps450c9e16.jpg

Could even get narrower engines such as 165/60 R14, and their diameter is more intermediate between the 205/55 and the 195/50. Plus they would ride more softly, reducing any comfort loss after lowering the suspension.

it had 185/60/14 on the front when I got it- SCARY in the wet. these toyos are much better:)

I think I've sourced a lowering kit for it, for not much cash, and the first tank of 30% veg is in..

656 miles using 52.6L of fuel= 56.7mpg (imp):eek:
15 L veg at 1/l

37.6 L Diesel at 1.459/l

thats slightly lower than the last two tanks..


BUT!

Lots of stop start on Mway due to roadworks on my commute this week, and carrying 60-65mph on longer runs (to my unit etc) rather than 55-60 I usually sit at.

plus 30% veg means I'm happy at that MPG- I reckon it'd have been better at lower speed with less tailbacks.


Sorting the thermostat should help as well.