Ecomodder in the Philadelphia Inquirer

[ericbecky]

Ben and Ecomodder get nice mentions in this Philadelphia Inquirer story today!

Ecomodder story.

"One site, ecomodder.com, aimed at people who modify their cars to improve mileage, is run by 19-year-old Benjamin Jones of Mount Holly and a partner. A sophomore at Dartmouth College, Jones gets more than 50 miles per gallon from his conventionally powered 1991 Honda CRX, a car that the EPA says should get about 31."

[Lazarus]

Nice writeup.

And though Jones still spends about 10 hours a week tending to the ecomodding Web site, he spends little time in his car.

"I commute by bike most of the time now."

Is that a misprint? Is it more like 10 hours a day. WooT

[SVOboy]

Well, it's prolly more like 10 hours a day, but I made the number real low cuz my mom will see the article in the paper.

[MetroMPG]

Hey, I'm putting in 12 hours! I demand a contract renegotiation!

Nice piece. It's very inclusive, covers all the bases.

Thanks for spreading the love, Eric.

[ericbecky]

...I made the number real low cuz my mom will see the article in the paper.

Good thinking!

Did you pick up a hard copy of the newspaper? If so, where was the article located?

[SVOboy]

I just called my mom to tell her to get it (I'm still in NH). I'll let you know if she calls me back.

[RH77]

Congrats!

Great coverage.

RH77

[radioranger]

Hey guys if ecomodding gets too popular where will (i) all the fringe guys go . reminds me of when I had a small low power AM station legally , every once in a while a guy would come over and start talking to me about the station because they thought it was a pirate station, soon as i told them i was legit , they would all leave, also reminds me of when i raced my Mustang back in the seventies , wishin I had aluminum wheels radiator , heads etc, now every secretary has fuel injection and all that, . great thing to get noticed though , very cool site you have here.

[MetroMPG]

Modding for efficiency will never become "mainstream". (Mad Max type apocalypse notwithstanding!)

The general public only takes notice of us of whenever gas prices spike and media outlets look to capitalize on the low-level panic in the F150-commuting populace by running stories on hypermiling & ecomodding.

There's absolutely no doubt that the bulk of traffic and overall activity in the forum exactly tracks the "boom & bust" swings of gas prices in the USA.

But there will always be a "core" group here that thinks efficiency is a worthwhile pursuit regardless of the price of fuel or what MPG they are currently achieving - these are people who enjoy tinkering for tinkering's sake.

So if you're worried we're getting too mainstream (you did notice this is a really old thread, right? ), you can take heart that the price of gas has been on the decline for several months - since the latest peak back in September. Traffic/activity is following suit.

We're definitely on an "un-mainstreaming" trajectory at the moment.

[radioranger]

Phew , close one , some of us need to be revolutionary , this is a pretty safe route!