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koihoshi 06-02-2008 03:03 AM

Of all places, saw this on the news.... Here I am!
 
So here I am tonight, I really don't watch tv (how funny though, I work for a cable company).... and was browsing through and low and behold CNN has this "OMG gas is $4!!!!" special on gas prices.

I grabbed a mountain dew, sat down, figured "Why not."

And then they started driving with a guy called a "Hypermiler". I thought "Huh, sounds pretty cool" and caught a quick glimpse at the site, the green icons, banners, THIS WAS IT!

Read the list of 105 stuff... very interesting stuff on here. Figured I'd join.

My story is that I drive a little Escort ZX2. Gets great mileage. Has just over 120k on it, wonderful little car. Had it since I was a teen, I even remember when I got it I thought "WOW I'm getting 35mpg and it costs less than $20 to fill this puppy! This is great!" As prices went up I started driving more conservatively over the years. I went from "FLOOR IT!" as a teenager to now driving much more defensively (riding brought that out in me) and slower (speeding ticket did that to me LOL!) and now much more conservatively (you live you learn).

I would commute on my motorcycles but they're toys, and the cost per mile of my 250 ninja actually is more expensive than the cost per mile of my ZX2 due to chain lube, the cost of the oil changes on it, tires every 4000 miles (compared to my escort which they'll last substantially longer), brake bleeding frequently to keep up on the system. Then I bought a Duc 900SS, and that made absolutely no sense to commute on. The first year I thought "Cool! Ride a sportbike to work!" then after paying $230 for a tire every season (and a front every other season) + the insane maintenance it costs to maintain it then it started making more sense not to ride it to work.. I do of course still ride them all every week. I have not cut back on that. But I commute a lot of miles per day just to get to work... that's a different story because it's a long drive over and a long drive back. Saving gas anywhere, well, all for it. When it came down to it.... the ZX2 was STILL more efficient for commuting.

However... a while back a long time ago I started making little changes here and there on my ZX2 to become more efficient. I am quite a motorhead and used to think modifying cars and making lots of horsepower where it was at but I lost that interest after I got into motorcycles.

So instead, I started making performance mods to my ZX2 after seeing the effect it had on other ZX2 cars off of several forums. If it hindered mileage or made significantly less power or made the mileage worse, I wouldn't do it. My interest dove MORE into making more power out of my car without having to make any huge mods and using some stock stuff (modifying it really) to make it more efficient than it simply was.

Resonator modifications, taking out some weight and putting my car on a diet, pulleys and underdriving some accessories, getting rid of a/c entirely. Gained a little MPG. Thus far it's worked great.

Now here I am here looking for new things to learn (already learned some really interesting stuff just from reading the forums and on the list of things).

I'm interested to see what kind of mileage I can get now in utilizing these things. Makes me happy to go to work tomorrow knowing I'll be saving more :P

Thanks for the group of folks who got this place rolling! What an awesome resource!

:thumbup:

PS: As you can tell, I'm the guy on the forums that writes books when he joins.

PSS: It's 12:03 am. Happy monday :P

cfg83 06-02-2008 03:41 AM

koihoshi -

Welcome to EM! THe ZX2 is a great MPG machine. I agree that a motorcycle is hard to commute with. I tried it on and off years ago and it wore me out in LA traffic.

CarloSW2

koihoshi 06-02-2008 03:44 AM

Thanks for the warm welcome, cfg83!

Greenblazer 06-02-2008 04:55 AM

Welcome, Happy monday! I used my DRZ 400 Dirt Bike as my only transportation for 3 years. For the first 2 years I was running dual sport tires that would last max 3 months. I bought a second set of wheels and started running touring tires on the road, and saved myself a lot of money. The bad part is that in 3 years I put 45,000 miles on my dirt bike, and now it is pretty much worn out engine wise. It still runs, but i am afraid it is not gonna keep going much longer, though it might.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

Daox 06-02-2008 07:57 AM

Welcome to the site Kiohoshi. Sounds like you are on your way to getting great mileage. Any idea what your currently getting? I see you entered your car in the garage, but don't have any mileage log setup yet. I also read in your vehcile profile that you'd like to get a mileage readout. That would be a scangauge. They are incredibly useful devices and well worth the money. I agree with cfg83, the Escort can get some great mileage.

MetroMPG 06-02-2008 08:16 AM

The ZX2 is a good platform for great fuel economy with mods & technique.

Welcome to the site.

Johnny Mullet 06-02-2008 09:26 AM

Welcome to ecomodder! I used to work at a Ford dealer for about 5 years, so if you have any problems with the car, be sure to ask!

SVOboy 06-02-2008 09:56 AM

Welcome to ecomodder! Great to have some more people with your level of enthusiasm!

koihoshi 06-02-2008 11:23 AM

Thanks everyone. I agree, it has been a good go getter. Never bought another car just because it has treated me so well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox (Post 30426)
Welcome to the site Kiohoshi. Sounds like you are on your way to getting great mileage. Any idea what your currently getting? I see you entered your car in the garage, but don't have any mileage log setup yet. I also read in your vehcile profile that you'd like to get a mileage readout. That would be a scangauge. They are incredibly useful devices and well worth the money. I agree with cfg83, the Escort can get some great mileage.

As to answer this: On a normal day for mileage? 30MPG. On a better day... 35. There was a point in time that on very long trips I was able to get 42mpg.

Thanks for the link to the scangauge, I'll try and pick one up this month and start my road to seeing what mileage I'm getting. Can't wait to see what I can do with some of these new things I picked up from "the list".

Also

Johnny Mullet: Thanks for the offer. Great to hear there are some really knowledgeable people on here.

I've spent the last 4 years studying this car and getting to know it. I did a lot of write-ups and how to guides for some modifications on a few of their mods on some zx2 websites, so if anyone has any questions on these cars I would LOVE to help!

But if i have any technical stuff i'll be buggin' ya! There's still things I'm learning about it and i love learning.


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