decent thing to do.... - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Pandaf · 09-06-2012, 04:01 PM

Hi all,

Just thought it would be the decent thing to do to introduce myself after “borrowing” so much information from all you here for the better part of a year now…I must say this site is an inspiration and my compliments to all of you taking the plunge and to either save money or the planet or both…

Now let’s talk cars again: mine is a 2006 Fiat Panda 1.1 4-cil engine. It has the smallest engine of the range: it has 54 modest horses

pushing it forward. It has an LPG injection system (non-OEM), and weighs about 840 kg including the extra 30 litre LPG tank which takes the place of the spare wheel, no more room for that so that is left out. It was made in Fiat’s plant in Poland which I understood is their best production plant (I hear some Polish forum members applauding now

I like the overall simplicity of the car: no power steering, no AC, no electric windows, 8 valves SOHC engine. It means I can do most of the maintenance myself. Other reasons for this choice of car about 18 months ago were its good reputation for reliability, its robustness, the LPG system and finally….it’s a Fiat!

Mods so far:
- change driving style
- Scangauge
- front air dam
- grill block
- tire pressure up to 3 bar
- front smoothening with black tape and plastic (not so happy with the looks, may change that later)
- CC added
- 1140 W block heater (by heating and pumping the liquid through the engine)
- partial bottom cover (in the back part)
- WAI
- solar charger to keep battery topped up. I removed it later as it was making the computer think something was wrong with the voltage and it blocked the electronic chip of the starter key. I heard it is not uncommon for this type of Fiat to be sensitive for voltage changes and subsequently block the starter. Will try this again in winter.
- aerodynamic type wipers (old ones needed replacement anyway)
- spoilers to remove airflow from wipers

Items removed:
- right mirror (replaced by double convex inside mirror)
- back wiper (including motor)
- baggage cover
- roof rack
- antenna
- floor mats in the back
- spare wheel as LPG tank took its place

Planned future mods:
- Wolverine oil pan heater (already ordered)
- more aerodynamic wheel covers

I made an album and posted a few pictures there, I intend to post more in the future.

Album: Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - Pandaf's Album: Fiat Panda 1.1 LPG - 54 hp - 2006

Thanks for reading.

Regards
CW

GRU · 09-06-2012, 10:51 PM

Welcome

MetroMPG · 09-07-2012, 03:37 PM

Pandaf - welcome to the forum!

We have not had the option to buy a 55 hp car since 2001 in Canada/US (the last generation of the Suzuki 1.0L 3-cylinder engine in the Geo/Chevrolet Metro / Pontiac Firefly cars).

Thanks for posting the details of your modifications.

I added the link to your photo album in your first post. (After 5 posts, new members can make links - until then you could just leave off the "http://" if you like.)

Darin

Weather Spotter · 09-07-2012, 03:59 PM

Welcome!

Have you started a fuel log to track your improvement?

Pandaf · 09-08-2012, 02:40 PM

Darin: thanks for placing the link. I believe the smallest car now available here has 65 hp, which is the new panda twinair. Even the Suzuki alto has 3 more.

Weather Spotter, I'm keeping a fuel log, though not here

Lifetime average fuel consumption is about 17,5 km per litre (LPG). Unmodded it was about 15 km per litre, now I'm regularly getting more than 18 km per litre. That's about 42 mpg if I calculated correctly (times 2,35 right?). That may not seem like too good, but keep in mind that LPG has about one-third less energy content compared to petrol (per litre).
I'm trying to fill up at the same gas station all the time, as small differences in pressure of the pump at each gas station make it more difficult to get reliable data for each fill-up. Normally LPG tanks are filled to a maximum of 80% but this varies in practice. When I have an unusually good tank I already know the next one is gonna be less...

When starting the engine cold it uses petrol initially (so it's actually a bi-fuel), for about 1 - 1,5 km until the engine is warmed up. However with the engine pre-heater this is reduced significantly. I'm currently having a petrol consumption of about 340 km per litre (800 mpg

)
I'm thinking of asking a specialist if it's possible to change the software so that it switches even faster to LPG. It's maybe a long stretch but anyone having experience with that?

Regards
CW

Piwoslaw · 09-13-2012, 10:56 AM

Wow, you've started with quite a bit of modding! Welcome to EM

What is you route and driving style, and which hypermiling techniques are you using?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandaf

I'm thinking of asking a specialist if it's possible to change the software so that it switches even faster to LPG. It's maybe a long stretch but anyone having experience with that?

How about a resistor which would trick the LPG computer into thinking that the engine is warmer? You could switch to the resistor when starting up, then go back to the unmodified engine temp sensor when warmed up. This may have the side effect of fooling the car's ECU too, which may (or may not) reduce cold start-up injection. I think someone here has done just that.

Pandaf · 09-16-2012, 03:36 PM

Thanks, my Wolverine purchase was actually inspired by your thread, Piwoslaw

. Still waiting for it to arrive though.
My daily commute is about 25 km and mainly consists of 60 and 80 km/h roads, and passing some smaller villages where the limit is 50 or even 30 (though I never drive that slow....grannies on bikes passing me and signaling that I should hurry up

). Outside the villages I drive the maximum allowed speed, or a bit slower if no-one is in my back mirror. As on many roads in this area it is now forbidden to take over another car, I try not to get on anybody's nerves.
Besides sticking to the speed limit I do a lot of coasting in neutral, but I leave the engine on. When switching off the (warm) engine, the computer switches back to petrol for at least 10 seconds after start-up, so my gut feeling tells me there is no real benefit in that.
Thanks for the tip on that resistor, I will look into that!