best models for fuel efficiency? (best platforms for ecomodding?)

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by bheadrick

I currently have a 2001 Sentra GXE (manual transmission), which apparently has a curb weight of 2,513 lb.

Is this something I could work with, or do I need to get something older and lighter?

Just out of curiosity, what mileage are you getting with your Sentra? I have to imagine that, just with some basic modifications and hypermiling, you could get 40 mpg. I think it would certainly be better than what you'd need to spend in order to get a car that could do better.

[deathtrain]

Originally Posted by ps2fixer

Except the easy to find part, at least in my area, the manuals (2 that I found vs 40+ autos) were $500+ higher priced compared to the autos and were often in worse shape or have 300k+ miles. Michigan salt eats cars alive, if they sit they rust out FASTER, so not many good shape cars with low miles .

Well I didn't see where he was from. And I can see where you got your issues
finding a good runner. This part of Texas we don't even own salt trucks. The City's idea of de-icing was to put down sand Plus being this close the Mexico with cash money, little Spanish, case of bud lite. you can easily spend weeks look at the used car dealers.

Originally Posted by ps2fixer

For Toyotas, aim for 93-2001 corollas, or the larger 92-99 camry (newer is better mpg via EPA ratings). There is a member on this site with a manual 1.6L corolla that gets over 60mpg with mods, with my auto corolla with a 1.8L and less mods I'm getting around 45mpg for my current tank. By the way..... the corollas are rated under 30mpg average!

Thats Me !!!! YAY ( I hope ) I got 94 1.6l Corolla 60 day average 59.8mpg and life time of 57mpg. Love the part of the states...flat and open. Talk to me about mid Aug when its about 110 and 60% humidity and I might tell you something different.

[ps2fixer]

@deathtrain

I can only go by experence...

90 Olds Cutlass Ciera (3.3L) *Died due to rusted out 101k miles*
Pontiac 94 Grand Am (2.5L I think) *Engine died, over heated on highway badly and rusted out pretty bad ~160k*
94 Ford Ranger (2.3L) *Fair body, cab corners rusted out, bad pri coil, rear leaf spring brackets rusted apart from frame, bad trans, and when changed couldn't get clutch system to bleed out ~220k*
85 GMC S-15 (2.8L) *Still have it as a yard buggie, rusted to hell, I'm told engine/trans/transfer case were rebuilt ~25k miles ago, not sure what it has total atm*
92 Chevy Astro Van (4.3L) *$100 special, was ment for the scrap yard, little rust, several doors didn't work (i fixed), ign cylender liked to get stuck on (fixed), ign system needed fixing (normal), went the the scrap yard because no one would give $450 for a van that drove well and ran well... best offer was $350, scrap yard gave over $500 something like 230k miles*

All my life before them my family always owned American cars, some good, some bad. Went to scrap out a 92 corolla that was flipped into a ditch with 180k miles that ran and drove yet (body trashed) and it drove the BEST compared to all the other cars I ever owned or drove. Went to buy a parts car, and mis read the listing... bought 2 92 Camry with 352k and 387k with 0 rust except a damaged fender and both ran well yet. Stuck with the Camry for a while, and now researching and looking at corollas, they are nearly as good.

Summary...

Camrys have a ton of features that make them a really nice car, ride great, and go for ever (can hit 350-500k pretty easy) only down side is mpg is around 26-28.

Corollas I view as a low end Camry, features are removed, simpler built some what, and ride not as well. My research suggests they last 250-350k pretty easy, not many go over that with orig engine/trans. It gets probably around 34-36 with out mods driving fairly easy (how I use to drive prior to this site/scan gauge).


Only other really good experience I have witnessed with American made is the late 60s to early 70s olds 350 and 455 engines (v8s), ran well, lots of torque, and lasted very well (my cuz's truck has 300k+ and has out-lived 3 trucks bodies, a couple wrecks, and 3 or 4 transmissions.). MPG is crap vs small cars, but when one is in a truck, it gets about the same as a car.


Kind of went off topic a tiny bit, but is semi related.

[bheadrick]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

Just out of curiosity, what mileage are you getting with your Sentra? I have to imagine that, just with some basic modifications and hypermiling, you could get 40 mpg. I think it would certainly be better than what you'd need to spend in order to get a car that could do better.

I currently get up to 32MPG. I already take the path less traveled, though it's a bit hilly - hills are impossible to avoid in East TN, though.

Given the trade value of my vehicle currently, I'm pretty sure I could do an even trade for a Geo Metro with no out of pocket expenses. Granted, I would also likely have a whole lot less longevity on the engine, and an EV conversion is probably going to cost $5k in batteries alone.

[ps2fixer]

Don't trade it in...

Depending how your finances are, either collect enough cash or get a personal loan. Find the car you want and buy it. Get it all set for the road, and drive it. After you know the car has no problems, sell your old car on craigslist. Pay off loan with the money you received.

If you have something else to drive, you could sell the car first, then buy the better MPG one.

As always, it is your choice, dealers would never buy a car if they plan on loosing money on the deal, they are in business to make money, just like any other business.

Good luck at which ever way you go with this.

[bheadrick]

I discussed this on another forum with a guy that apparently does EV conversions for a living. While there is a pretty significant weight difference between the Metro and the E15 Sentra, the difference in CDA is negligible. Also, I'm sure a good portion of the weight difference is the size of the engine since we're comparing a 1.0L to a 1.8L.

I've Ordered an Ultragauge, and I've begun a bit of hypermiling. I have no doubt I can get to 40MPG, but I won't be satisfied till I'm in excess of 60MPG, which undoubtedly will require some aeromodding. My first step will be installing an engine kill switch. Next will be disabling power steering and maybe even yanking out the compressor and other A/C giblets. I owned a car for 5yrs that came from the factory w/o A/C, so I doubt I'll miss it.
I'll eventually follow some of blownb310's techniques in aeromodding, although I'll probably improve on the kammback.

[ps2fixer]

Before making the engine kill switch, check how easy your car will DFCO which basically would do the same thing automatically. The Ultragauge or a scangauge can show if your car can DFCO and how long/hard it is to keep it in that mode. My camry I basically never feel it since it does not happen very often, and first time driving my corolla, it was a world of difference, a light off the gas and it cuts fuel off.

The biggest gain so far for me is driving 45mph instead of 60 on back roads (95% of my driving). Lots of aero mods and improve how you drive, and you might hit the 60mpg mark. It should be a good challenge .

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by ps2fixer

Before making the engine kill switch, check how easy your car will DFCO which basically would do the same thing automatically.

No, it doesn't.

DFCO cuts the fuel, but then you're engine braking.
Which is still a form of braking, and scrubbing off your kinetic energy a lot faster than coasting in neutral would.

Engine kill switches are used to kill the engine while in neutral, so it doesn't run when coasting.

[bheadrick]

I just got my ultra gauge Monday. So far, it says I'm averaging between 63 & 65 mpg. I've been doing the p& g thing without cutting the engine so far. I topped off the tank this morning so I can validate this on my way home.

I think it probably does DFCO pretty well, cos when I'm coasting in neutral, the gallons per hour drops down to between .2 and .1 (.2 in the morning and .1 in the afternoon)

[bheadrick]

Validated!
Drove 28 miles between fillups. There was a bit of gas still in the pump at the second gas station, so you might say this wasn't a clean test, but even with a second click, the most I could get in the tank was .345 gallons. I'll be a little more impressed if I keep this up through a whole tank. Also, I tried cutting the engine while coasting the rest of the way home ~15mi, and it didn't seem to have a noticeable impact on the average mpg, so I think I'm going to keep leaving my engine running from now on.

I think cutting the engine would make an alternator delete a bit more problematic as well. After I put in a deep cycle battery, I'm starting out with an alternator disable switch before i take it out completely.