Average MPG drop :(

[Matt Herring]

There are some very good MPGuino threads for installation on here if you search for them.

Sheffield usually doesn't get much over 65 degrees peak this time of year and certainly nothing near that in the Fall/Winter...you might want to look into an easy to install grill block to quicken your warm up time. It's certainly something that will raise FE (keep an eye on your engine temps this time of year though) and it's easy enough to do with simple materials.

Good luck!

[Eddles]

Originally Posted by Matt Herring

There are some very good MPGuino threads for installation on here if you search for them.

Sheffield usually doesn't get much over 65 degrees peak this time of year and certainly nothing near that in the Fall/Winter...you might want to look into an easy to install grill block to quicken your warm up time. It's certainly something that will raise FE (keep an eye on your engine temps this time of year though) and it's easy enough to do with simple materials.

Good luck!

65?! That's damn hot... oh you're talking in Fahrenheit! :P It's supposed to be about 80 degrees F around this time of year! It was about that in the weekend. However, last week it was mostly 55 degrees F last week which probably explains why I get poor FE. I also go to work at 4am, which is pretty cold at about 50 degrees F if it's going to be a cold day.

I've been thinking about grill blocks, but I'm worried about overheating the engine especially if I block the air flow to the intercooler. I'll have to do some research on this soonish. There also doesn't seem to be an easy way to block the grille, but again must be do-able after some research.

Thanks again for help

[Matt Herring]

I just did a quick lookup on avg. temps for Sheffield so that's where I got the 65 degrees F from...you would have a much better idea actually being there. Maybe an easy to install/remove grill block would suit you best if you needed to remove it on hotter days.

I use foam pipe insulation that squeezes nicely into my front grill slots and is easily installed/removed in under a minute. Maybe something that would work for you...good luck!

[Eddles]

Originally Posted by Matt Herring

I just did a quick lookup on avg. temps for Sheffield so that's where I got the 65 degrees F from...you would have a much better idea actually being there. Maybe an easy to install/remove grill block would suit you best if you needed to remove it on hotter days.

Sorry bit of a crossed wire situation here. We use degrees celsius here, so when I first saw "65" it's like you reading the local temp to being 150 degrees F! No way we get that hot here in the UK

Anyway. Grill slats very narrow, so might be hard using foam pipes, but I'll do a bit of research. Thanks again!

[Matt Herring]

Here's a pic of my front grill slots...they are very narrow as well. This is the slots with the foam pipe insulation in them. Total cost was $3 from Home Depot...probably saved me 10-15 mpg during my first 5 minutes of driving until my engine was up to temp.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...9&d=1239040885

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...0&d=1239040885

[Eddles]

Originally Posted by Matt Herring

Here's a pic of my front grill slots...they are very narrow as well. This is the slots with the foam pipe insulation in them. Total cost was $3 from Home Depot...probably saved me 10-15 mpg during my first 5 minutes of driving until my engine was up to temp.

Last time I checked, foam pipe insulation is really expensive! I wanted to buy some for the house I'm renting but I was very put off by the cost. Maybe I can find a cheaper equivalent elsewhere in a dollar store or something.

Here's a snap of the front of my car. I think I might start with completely covering the whole of the bottom grill plus the blanks where the optional foglights would have been installed (the recessed parts immediately to the left and right of the lower grill) as that is acting as an air scoop. But first, I'll have to check with some people whether covering that up completely will cause airflow problems for the intercooler. The V part in the upper grille that holds the logo would be a pain to cover up, unfortunately, but I don't think it'd be a hot idea to cover up the upper grille anyway. But yes, my car takes 10 minutes to warm up and in city traffic that'd be a fuel drain and if the thermostat is working fine, I'll have to cover up some of the grille.

[Matt Herring]

The foam pipe insulation I bought was from Home Depot...$3 for four sections of 4 feet each. Any home improvement store will have them for very little cost (you might have been looking at the high temp foam pipe insulation that can be very pricey).

Your slots are very similar to mine. The foam insulation sections come in a circular shape. Cut them in half to make a "C" shape and then fold them in half to make a "V" shape. For the smallest slots I just shaved off a little material from the C shape until they fit well. You basically stuff the material into the slots...nice tight fit.

By stuffing you will get a wavy effect from the material. If you want to reduce that you just mark and cut a slit in the the material where it hits the little vertical plastic pieces in your grill and you can custom fit them into the grill to make your material fit straight in with no wavy effect.

You can pop them in and out as needed depending on the ambient temps...literally takes 2 seconds to take them out and 20 seconds to get them back in. My first 5 minute mpg went from 20-25 mpg to 35-40 mpg with the addition of my grill block (in 50 degree F ambient temps). I was able to go from a cold start to 165 degrees F in 3-4 minutes with this method where before it was 5-7 minutes...highly recommend.

My Prius inverter is located behind the bottom right grille section so I did leave a small section of the bottom slots unblocked by my grill block as ambient temps began to rise. With the warmest temps now I have all lower grill blocks removed.

[Eddles]

Originally Posted by Matt Herring

You can pop them in and out as needed depending on the ambient temps...literally takes 2 seconds to take them out and 20 seconds to get them back in. My first 5 minute mpg went from 20-25 mpg to 35-40 mpg with the addition of my grill block (in 50 degree F ambient temps). I was able to go from a cold start to 165 degrees F in 3-4 minutes with this method where before it was 5-7 minutes...highly recommend.

Fantastic, thanks!