Drilling my way back to cheap gas. - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

H-Man · 03-07-2013, 05:45 PM

[This is a physics report I'm working on]

Expensive gas in terms of cost per gallon is here to stay, so the only option is to decrease fuel consumption and thus cost per mile. My project focuses on cheap, safe, quick, legal, and easy mods that will give a noticeable boost to fuel economy, allowing money to be saved. Assuming the average driver drives 13,476 miles a year, a $.01 reduction in cost per mile would save the average driver $130 a year.
Engine modifications will be given limited attention since most modifications are labor intensive and/or expensive if the modification actually works.
The cooling system will be modified in a non permanent matter to allow the engine to achieve operating temperature quicker.
Aerodynamics will be improved since at highway speeds the biggest use of useful energy to overcome air resistance.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 03-07-2013, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H-Man

Engine modifications will be given limited attention since most modifications are labor intensive and/or expensive if the modification actually works.

Some engine mods can be really expensive, but nowadays with the widespread of electronic fuel injection it can be easily tuned to improve the efficiency. Altough some other mods such as a different profile for the camshafts would be desirable to optimize the results of an electronic tuning, it would already lead to a significative improvement on fuel-efficiency...

H-Man · 03-07-2013, 06:29 PM

I can't find any way to tune a Toyota ECU so I can't test anything on the EFI side. Since my car has a manual transmission there isn't much to tune any way, I'm hesitant to mess with air fuel ratios since I would rather not burn out both of my 3-way catalyst converters with an over lean mixture.

gone-ot · 03-07-2013, 07:31 PM

Something to remember: when "tuning" for uber-fuel economy that NOTHING affect the engines' smog emissions or you could be subject to expensive State & Federal fines when it fails emission tests.

H-Man · 03-07-2013, 09:57 PM

Hence why I don't plan on messing with engine parts, the only thing that the engine will see is a WAI.
Well that and cats are expensive so I would prefer that mine survive.

Mustang Dave · 03-07-2013, 10:14 PM

"Adjusting the nut behind the steering wheel" is the FREE and most effective modification for better fuel economy.

H-Man · 03-07-2013, 10:39 PM

The nut behind the wheel isn't exactly reproducible though so I'm going to mention driving technique separate from mods (this was already planned.)

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 03-08-2013, 04:01 AM

Do you have any plan for weight savings?

H-Man · 03-08-2013, 04:34 AM

Not much besides losing weight. I'm going after aero more than anything else.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 03-08-2013, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H-Man

Not much besides losing weight. I'm going after aero more than anything else.

Be careful about the materials you choose for the aero mods, avoid adding too much weight. Altough the aero mods help at higher speeds, the added weight are always a problem in slower inner-city driving