70mpg @ -13F
 

Yesterday morning I got up at 5AM to plug in my Insight. I have a 1000w electric heater for the cabin, 12v charger and 400w block heater all tied to one plug in the front.

At 8AM I got on the road toward my father's, with the outside temperature at -10F. The Insight started using its backup 12v starter. The clutch and transmission felt like they were full of jelly.

http://i.imgur.com/r42ZY1U.png


The roads were not great.

http://i.imgur.com/Ja0xhaE.jpg


However, after around 3 miles the coolant was fully up to temperature and I was able to stay in lean burn as much as I wanted. Although I can easily tell based on how the car feels and what the FCD says, a 0v reading from the secondary O2 sensor confirms lean burn.

http://i.imgur.com/4CzyLJR.png


My simple WAI plus full grille block allowed for intake temperatures around 80 degrees above outside air temperature.

After 27 miles and around 50 minutes of driving, I arrived at my father's place a bit higher up in the mountains, with 62.7mpg on the FCD. Temperatures at his house were a bit lower:

http://i.imgur.com/a7qpGh6.png


From there, I took him to his medical appointment. Despite the forecast to warm up a bit, temperatures never went above 0F for the entire day and, although coolant temperature leveled off after the first 5 minutes, it clearly took a lot longer to get the other fluids up to temperature. As the car continued to warm up, the FCD gradually crept up to a hair over 70mpg average before I had him back home. I imagine that, even at these temperatures, on an extended trip over level ground I could probably get up to nearly 80mpg.

Thermal management FTW!

http://i.imgur.com/4CzyLJR.png

What app do you use to monitor temps like in picture?

I have a cheap ELM327 bluetooth dongle which plugs into the OBD II port, which I pair with my smartphone. That app is Torque for Android.

Nice. Super nice.

In nice weather my HCH has five bars showing on the coolant temp before I get to the interstate. This morning, at 24 degrees, I was on the interstate another two miles before I got that last bar.

Time for grille blocks.

Had a "warm" spell come through briefly yesterday and I had to unblock part of my grille when it got above 20F as I was getting up near 212F. It's back down below zero today though.

I drove about 200 miles home last night in the Prius. The trip started at 0F, and by the time we were home it was -9F. The Prius fared well, but it sure took a hit in the MPG department. I filled up before we left and managed a record low of 37.x mpg on the way home. About 1/4 of the trip is at 55 mph, and the rest at 70 mph. I didn't even get fully up to temperature until hitting the 70 mph zone as the heater use kept the engine at about 175F.

Dang... I can't even get my Insight out of my driveway! lol. Snowtires are necessary for that beast :(

Glad to see about the Torque app, since I just ordered a bluetooth obd2 module!

And congrats! I was getting below 70MPG on my short drives to work, even with it being in the garage with 2 hours of preheating AND it wasn't even below 20*F out!

I'd probably use a timer, myself. Or an X10 controller or similar.

Here in Oklahoma, people have given my wife a hard time about the electrical plug sticking out of the grill-- "Is this an electric car? It's pretty loud for electric, LOL" and all that... But having clear windows before leaving the driveway and nearly full heat 2 blocks down the road is amazing, and the fuel economy ('01 Corolla) is a lot better with the heat than without it. But your mileage? That's just absolutely AMAZING.

Maybe I should also add a small electric heater to the interior. Did you run a cord through a grommet in the firewall, or just stick a cord out the window or something like that?

I have a smart power strip which I used as a timer until I moved most recently, but my internet service is so unreliable that there hasn't been a single morning that it's still connected when I got up, and it's not quite smart enough to resync itself.

For the heater, I picked up a 3-setting cheapo from Walmart and ran a power cord through the firewall, to provide an outlet in the hatch area without needing to run a second cord to the car. I use it for my grid charger too, sometimes.

Bummer. And no firmware updates available for it, or some sort of "offline mode"?

It makes me a bit nervous thinking about drilling through the firewall or trying to push a good-size power cord alongside something else going through the firewall, but it does make the installation a lot cleaner.

It syncs with Wink, which has only limited offline capabilities. I'd probably need to buy a Samsung SmartThings box, but it's low on my list of priorities. I might well get a cheap timer instead.


I cut the end off to push it through the grommey in the firewall, and added a new end once inside. This was a fairly small power cord, your standard white or brown 2 wire indoor cord.

Temperature was up to 30F today. The roads were wet but clear of slush, and the sun was shining. Driving home from Burlington I managed just shy of 85mpg, with a net elevation change of +500ft and a target speed of 50mph. Pic taken just as I was pulling into my driveway.

http://i.imgur.com/XHTZ8IH.jpg

That's just BONKERS! :thumbup:

Could you not hack the wire for the cabin fan? Since you are already heating the coolant it would also heat the cabin a bit.

I have an electric heater permanently installed in the cabin on a timer. When it's the cold outside, I can hardly get the coolant above 60F regardless of how long I run my block heater.

Yes... WAI is a huge contributor to getting big MPG's... especially in the Winter. I'm just curious if it will provide much help in the Summer or if I'll need to remove it then... Time will tell.

If you could insulate the engine and bypass the radiator you could probably get better economy!! It would also make it easier to heat the engine with your block heaters in the end also!! Considering the low temperature where you live I would suggest taking out the thermostat and plug the bleed hole in it with a small weld or something.

Considering this was in the middle of winter, that would not be a wise idea. No offense, but vehicle design has a lot more variables than one trip in cold weather. What happens come summer time?

I think you misunderstood what I meant! I was only talking about plugging the bleed hole in the thermostat so that it doesn't let any coolant by tell it opens! You'd be surprised how much cooling a 1/16 hole can provide at wintertime!!

I was incredulous, too, but that's an interesting idea. ;)

From my quick Googling, it seems like the point of that bleed hole is to make sure air doesn't get trapped in that part of the system. I suppose without it, you run the risk of overheating the engine if you trap air in there after refilling the coolant, right?

That might be the case!! Personally I don't see it being that big a deal, but I've never sealed that bleeder hole myself before so I don't know for sure!! If you decide to try it I'd suggest getting a obd2 Bluetooth for your smartphone because it seems to give real time temperature readings!!

Guaranteed way to destroy a head gasket or engine!

WHOA-WHOA-WHOA! How about not making other people your guinea pigs, then? :mad:

People coming to EcoModder for advice need to trust that we recommend things that have been tried and won't harm their cars (or them.) Next time you have a bright idea, be a little more upfront if you haven't tried it.

's alright, I understand that many of these things are at my own risk. I'm all for hyper-insulating my engine, but the difference between a 99% and 100% grille block is the difference between not warming up and borderline overheating, even at those temperatures. The Insight has a water jacket in the exhaust manifold and so has larger heat dissipation requirements than you'd expect from a 1L engine, so removing the radiator and relying on the heatercore alone is not something I'm keen to do.

Haha sorry!! Sorry! I didn't think about that!! I apologize!! Since it's almost spring if your able to wait tell next season I'm planning on putting a insulating epoxy coating on my s10 this summer to test out how well it holds the heat in!! Maybe see if that's an option for you next year??

I've thought about insulating my engine bay next winter. I have no doubt a bellypan, at least between the front bumper and axle, would help too. Just didn't get motivated enough with the warm weather. :thumbup:

Hats off to those in colder climates obtaining huge MPG numbers. I'm pretty sure it's much easier to get big numbers in the south and along the coast. Look at those in the highest MPG's on this site and you'll see a trend of people in the warmer climates typically having the best results. We colder climate people have to be more innovative to compete :)

The small hole in the thermostat has a small piece of metal in on most thermostats. This will close the hole as soon as your water pump starts pumping against it. So there is no point closing it, except if you want your engine to possibly overheat.
Jan

Warmer weather brings improved economy. All of my mods from over the winter are starting to pay off. It was about 70F yesterday, and cruising through rolling hills I was about to get my factory gauge (which is within 1% accurate) up to 102mpg, over the course of a 20 mile +500ft elevation drive.

http://i.imgur.com/kFC9dOV.jpg


Warmer weather means I'm having to open up my grille block! I'm now at 100% upper blocked and only about 80% lower blocked, down from almost 100% lower, and I might have to back off a bit further. I ran the heat to keep the radiator fan from kicking in a few times during some particularly long and steep hill climbs, where I was WOT in 4th or even 3rd gear over a period of several minutes.