The AX Eco Project : 100 mpg target !

[AndrzejM]

I need both external mirrors right now because I don't have any glass on the back. I think that I'll gain more with kammback than by deleting RW mirrors Anyway I'll keep my fingers crossex that you won't need to claryfy anything to the police

[HypermilerAX]

Originally Posted by Jasen

Here in Washington (USA) your required to have 2 mirror's, 1 of which must be the drivers side. The other can be a rear view or passenger side, except for trucks with no view out the back window.

Yep, we have the same rule. But I'm unsure if we're allowed to remove the right mirror (provided there is a left one and inside one). I think there is a "like original" rule too. The other rule being for car manufacturers, which doesn't matter anyway because all new cars since about 1990 have 3 mirrors.

Originally Posted by AndrzejM

I need both external mirrors right now because I don't have any glass on the back. I think that I'll gain more with kammback than by deleting RW mirrors

I thought making an aluminium kammback but I'll have to think about the rear view issue.

Originally Posted by AndrzejM

Anyway I'll keep my fingers crossex that you won't need to claryfy anything to the police

Thanks !

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by HypermilerAX

I thought making an aluminium kammback

I think it'd do well on the AX, as the drop-off of the hatch is so steep.

[AndrzejM]

I'm still thinking how to embed a glass into my kammback, but all I could do would be a piece of polycarbonate cut to the right size. And that's not for me RW mirrors are more than enough for me, but I'm not the only one person who's driving Berta so I need a compromise.

[HypermilerAX]

I think that if I do a 60-cm kammback (horizontal length between hatch separation and rear bumper) and a 12° angle, I should only have the upper 12 cm of the rear glass blocked (12° is approx. 20%).

I have seen that the original covers for one-mirror AXs can still be purchased. I can even get the left one that was on right side drive versions. It will look stock, they are just black.

[AndrzejM]

[MetroMPG]

This project is on the home page. Nice work HypermilerAX.

Did you ever describe your custom fuel consumption meter in the other thread?

[HypermilerAX]

No, I can't make it work properly yet (return line to the tank makes it more complicated). If I can't at all, I'll make tests this fall and measure the volume manually by pumping the diesel out of a jerrycan. I can then weigh the jerrycan with 1 g precision before and after the test and calculate volume with volumic mass. That would give me 0.01 l/100 km readability over 10 km.

My first tank with the last shown aeromods returned 2.74 l/100 km by driving a tad slower than usual too (50 mph cruise speed, occasionally slower if slower vehicle). I'm a bit dissapointed but I had a lot of wind everyday. It's a strong wind that blows by gusts so I had nowhere near as much tailwind than I had headwind.

[euromodder]

I saw on Spritmonitor that you use 15w40 .
Have you ever thought of going to a lower weight oil ? 10w or 5w40 ?
Especially the latter can have a positive effect of your diesel consumption in winter - mostly in the worst phase right after starting the engine.


WS2 ...

I've still got most of the fine grain Tungstendisulfide that I got from Vekke.
He used it in his oil and transmission on the 2L Lupo.
It's not going to go into the GasDwarf any time soon - factory warranty - so if you want to try it, I'll happily send it over to you so it gets used.

I only put it in the engine oil of my V50 - @ 1g / L - but didn't see many effects that I could attribute to it.
It may have been running a it smoother.
OTOH, it didn't hurt the engine either as far as I could tell.

[HypermilerAX]

Thanks for your offer, I will think about it.

I already considered less viscous oil but I don't think the tiny gain will pay the higher cost of the oil. I think I can go as low as 5W40 but to see real improvements the second index should be lower as my oil temp is at operating temp 85% of the driving time. So changing from 15 to 5 will affect efficiency only during 15% of the driving time. Well, I guess trying it once will not hurt. Maybe for the next oil change.