900 Mile tank on Jetta TDI

[Craig]

Wow! I swapped a '97 AHU drivetrain into my '95 Saturn SL2 and did a couple of aeromods to it. I was getting 54-55 most of the time, but last week I did a grille block off and moved the headlights forward. I was part-way through a tank of fuel when I did it, but it returned an all-time best of 57.45 mpg when I filled up on Friday. I hope to see an even better figure this week when I fill up again.

[BrianAbington]

200 miles is nothing.
I used to have a delivery job were I did 350 miles per day. 50 in town 300 hwy.

My car at the time was a 1990 Eagle Talon turbo, I averaged 30 in town and 35 hwy...that was driving like a grandma, and neutral coasting on alot of hills through out the day.

I knew nothing about hypermileing at the time but I was sort of doing it...That engine was great because it was efficent out of boost, but had great power to get on a busy hwy.

[BrianAbington]

oh yeah...I also had my rear and passenger seats removed from the car so it saved almost 100lbs

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by BrianAbington

oh yeah...I also had my rear and passenger seats removed from the car so it saved almost 100lbs

Did it help the fuel economy enough to be notable ?

[BrianAbington]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Did it help the fuel economy enough to be notable ?

100lbs is a bit of an exageration but probably not far off...the front seats in those cars are heavy...the rear seat bottom cushion is not to bad but the backs are a bit heavy too.

I wasn't doing anything as far as before and after measurements but I think any major weight reduction helps.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by BrianAbington

100lbs is a bit of an exageration but probably not far off...
I wasn't doing anything as far as before and after measurements but I think any major weight reduction helps.

100 lbs might even be underestimating it.
I've tossed out 73 lbs - temporary spare tyre, jack, a pile of other unnecessary items. Nothing nearly as big and heavy as a rear seat, but it adds up rather quickly. And I lost a bit of weight myself, pushing the total weight saving over 100 lbs.

Unfortunately I've never been able to determine how much fuel it's saving as I've changed a lot of things at the same time.

[endurance]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Unfortunately I've never been able to determine how much fuel it's saving as I've changed a lot of things at the same time.

Sure you can. Just drive a known route now, go home, record your trip mileage, toss all that crap back into your trunk, drive the same route, go home, record your trip mileage, take all the crap out and drive the route again, record the trip mileage.

Now is it worth is? Probably not, but anything in the name of data collection, right?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by endurance

Now is it worth is? Probably not, but anything in the name of data collection, right?

Not quite
I don't drive about just to test mileage improvements.
If a mod works, it'll show up in the fuel log.

The effect of shedding weight will be there, but as 100lbs is only a 3% loss, it's lost in the variations of everyday driving.

[endurance]

I agree. The role of weight loss varies by situation. When I owned an 87 CRX-HF that weighed 1700 pounds and had 58 hp, I could see the difference in a 5mph difference climbing the Colorado passes. A 100 pounds of camping gear in the back could change my MPG measurably. But with my 2700 pound, 200 hp Acura, weight makes a far smaller difference in both speed and mpg.

What does surprise me is just how many cars are still over 3,300 pounds. Seriously, in this day and age of aluminum and plastics, how is it possible to even make a car that heavy?

[Arragonis]

Congrats on the mileage and the MPG, looking good.