Ecomodder's Top 10 backstory

[D.O.G.]

Hi All.
My Mazda (Baa) is currently in the top ten % list, although it's really only a seasonal visitor to those lofty heights.

Living in the Southern Hemisphere, while many folks on this site are experiencing cold weather droop, I'm getting my best figures.
By this time of the year, those figures are already starting to slide back to obscurity.

Baa's best mods are:
Mud flap and rear wing delete.
Taller than standard tyres.
Tyres at sidewall pressures.
Warm air intake.
Kill switch.
Vacuum gauge (must get an MPGuino!)

The greatest part of my success is driving style, combined with commute times and location.
I work a rotating shift, with start/finish times outside peak traffic load. This helps a lot.
I live in the Blue Mountains, outside Sydney, dropping about 600m going to work. This gives me plenty of opportunity to EoffC in daylight or EonC at night.
The climb home often has the engine operating at high(ish) loads which doesn't hurt that much when coupled with the previous EoC.

The second half of my commute to work is 110kph motorway which hurts FE, even though I stay at 90 – 100kph depending on the time.
On the rare occasions that I can stick to 80kph, my tank average improves.

[BabyDiesel]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

90 day is nice and all but what about top ten of all time?

I looked, and could not locate a Top 10 of all time. Do you have a link to it buddy?

[PaleMelanesian]

My biggest asset for great mileage: I'm stubborn. If I know the car is capable of more I will push to realize that potential. Good enough, simply isn't.

I have good commuting routes. I have tried all reasonable (and unreasonable - see above) options to find the best. Multi-lane roads with lights instead of stop signs (you can time lights). Reasonable speeds - my highest limit is 55 mph and I never touch that speed.

I know the routes. 32 mph at that mailbox, coast the 1/2 mile to the stop sign around the bend and stop there with no brakes. Adjust to conditions - more drag in winter, rain, breaking in new tires like I am now.

A scangauge is critical. You have to know what's happening and how your efforts are working or not. The use the feedback. Every hill, every slowdown or stop, I'm keeping a mental tally of my recent and long-term "high score". Like this: goal 70 mpg, trip max 65 mpg, last valley 62 mpg. Then the next cycle I aim to at a minimum to match 62, even better to match or top 65, with an eye at 70 the whole time.

Pulse & Glide eoc all the time. EOC is my default mode, while pulse is the special case when I need more momentum.

Minor mods:
engine belly pan that should have been there from the factory
tire pressure
winter grille block
light weight wheels and LRR tires
upgraded rear sway bar - more for fun but it can help keep momentum up in corners
battery charger at night to make up for the loss of alternator during all the eoc
LED lights and eco headlights (45W instead of 55)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...fit-24769.html

[NoD~]

Holy cow, I made a top-10 list? Awesome!

For mods, look here: Details: Red 2.0 - 1998 Dodge Neon Fuel Economy - EcoModder.com

(mods summery: lots of weight redux, eco tires, lots of front end blocking, extended front bumper, rear wheel skirts, temp wheel covers, higher compression engine, solar sunroof battery charger, block heater)

So, here's my techniques I use every day (kind of in order of daily route):
-(pre-driving) block heater on timer, so warmed car up for an hour before I leave each day.
-Start car and drive! No time to idle. I don't care how cold it is!
-Throttle is ~50% most of the time. Higher RPM + Highway is usually closed to 70-80%.
-Shifting at 2-2.5k on a cooler engine or in city, highway is 2.5-3.2k shift points.
-Accelerate as needed, then immediately go into neutral and hit the engine kill switch. (P&G+Eoff everywhere, city or highway, unless traffic is too tight)
-Coast until you come to your stop, or need to accelerate again. Daily route usually lands me 10-15MPH at the stop and then I bump to start again, hit the brakes to make the legal requirement of stopping, then go!
-Highway speeds are optimal around 40-55mph and using 4th gear for that. 45-60mph isn't much worse, but only used when necessary. 50-60mph when really needing to go!
-Up hill, drop 5-10 mph off of the above, pending steepness and traffic. Try to hit a decent speed before hitting the start of the hill and coast as much as possible.
-Down hill, neutral coast until towards bottom, where acceleration goes on before hitting the coming uphill.
-Steep downhill where speeds get out of control, use 4th gear. Computer cuts fuel injectors and free alternator to battery charging.
-Always take the side roads with less traffic and stop lights. Much more consistent and easier to find a routine.

Pic is of my recent trip with all the current and latest mods. Trip to and from Oregon coast was over 1000 miles, vast majority of it highway. Used all techniques mentioned above and got 57.75 + 59.14 MPG.

[The donkey CRX]

Great results. That is the first Neon I have ever seen that looks "mean" Kind of like an angry puppy.

Only kidding!

[mloveland78]

Its my first time in the Top ten! I've been close for a while, bouncing around 15th to 13th place. Seems like others are better than me at hypermiling. It was the Green Grand Prix that put me in the Top Ten. I made some additional modifications that proved to be well worth it and I was able to get 122 mpg at the event over 84 miles on the track. I used a lot of EOC and DWL during the event to get this mileage, as well as having support from my navigator to keep my close to the ideal lap time. Mods to the car include:
Alternator Delete with two deep cycle batteries and volt meter to monitor the batteries, plus on-board smart charger.
Front air dam / engine belly pan
Mirror, wiper, trim, stock battery, radio, and interior delete
Kamm Back
Wheel Covers with sign vinyl ( made a much bigger difference than I thought they would)
MPGuino (super important, this was my first mod)
nearly bald tires at 50 psi
Grill block
Mobil 1 Advanced fuel economy 0w30 motor oil
Full synthetic trans oil
Injector Kill switch (super important, was my second mod)
Alignment at 0 deg toe front and rear
hot air intake copied from Mule VX with intake temp gauge.
Plus I drive the same route to work every day and challenge myself to do better than the day before. I make note of hat mileage I get at each leg and try to make it better by more EOC or timing the lights better, or dealing with traffic differently. You have to make it fun and keep your head in the game.

[aardvarcus]

I never would have guessed, but since my truck is in the “Top 10 gasoline trucks in % over EPA” on 4/19/15 I will post a brief summary. All the details are in my build thread.
(6. 2005 Tacoma 4x4 Manual Access - Amocat 44.1111%)
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...oma-29663.html

In summary, my truck is a 2005 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab, 2.7L 4 Cylinder, 5 Speed Manual, 4x4. The truck is my daily driver, which includes long commutes to work, trips hauling construction materials, and driving off road.

Completed Eco-Mods-
Adjusting the Nut behind the wheel
Amsoil synthetic fluids in front diff, rear diff, transmission, and transfer case
Mobil 1 synthetic engine oil/ Wix Oil Filter
Michelin LTX M/S2 LT 235/85R16 Tires (Factory size was P 245/75R16)
Factory Toyota 16” TRD Offroad alloys (Stock was steel wheels)
Conveyor Belt Front Air Dam
Some LED Exterior Lights
Ultra Gauge, GPS

In progress mods-
Half Aeroshell/Wing
Underbody belly pan/ skid plate
Electric Fan Conversion

[The donkey CRX]

Congratulations on your GGP results. You made all us VX guys proud !!

[pgfpro]

Very Cool Idea, thanks BabyDiesel!!!

My car is a little... I mean a lot different.
First its a turbo AWD and anyone in their right mind would not try to make it a FE car. Its also a automatic transmission. Another major FE problem.

I wanted to have a car that would perform at the track and run decent 1/4 mile times in the 9's at over a 130 mph. I also wanted to have a performance car that could still get great fuel mileage. So I started building the perfect beast. The AWD helps it run sub 1.3 second 0 to 60 mph. The turbo's give it the power to make over 650 WHP when needed. The Engine Management helps me tune all the ECU parameters at my finger tips, including Lean Burn for FE.

The biggest contribute to my FE is my home built Lean burn system. Its design is to be able to run over 30:1 A/F ratios without a miss-fire.
My Lean Burn system makes it possible to run with almost no throttle pumping losses by utilizing the turbo's.

Trying to keep it short so I will call it good. If anyone wants to see more on my car check out my build thread. Thanks again everyone for your builds and camaraderie.


1991 Talon TSi Compound Turbo AWD
Automatic 4 speed
Off road Lean-Burn 30:1+ A/F
2800 lbs with driver
650+ WHP
0 to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds
Current Mods: Engine:
2.0L
modified 1g turbo pistons, spray-guided crown
Ultra Lean Burn system.
modified head, spray-guided high heat direct port.
custom camshafts.
intake manifold, high heat direct port w/adjustable port angle injection.

Turbo System:
High-pressure Modified Blow-Down Turbine 13g internal gate dump to atm.
Low- pressure stock configuration FP Red BB, mid mount.
DNP Turbo exhaust manifold.
44mm Tial Bi-Pass waste gate.
FMIC 3" core.
LP Turbo pre-intercooler.
Tilton 40-527 external oil pump.
Jegs 12V Vacuum pump.

ECU:
ECM Link Engine Management system.

EGR:
HOT/COLD Electronic controlled cold EGR system.

Transmission:
Transtar/IPT 5 disk front clutch kit in stock basket, Transtar/IPT end clutches, double up stock flexplate, John Deere HyGard fluid, Foreign Muscle DSM (Transmission Control Unit), EPROM Upgrade full line pressure with pre-set rpm shift points.
2g lock-up converter.

Rear antenna and rear wiper removal.
Front bumper lower grill block.

No-Lift Braking:
Activates extreme lean burn secondary map and maintains positive intake pressure with no pumping losses.

Secondary Waste Solvent fuel system
Rota Grid Wheels 14.5 lbs
Hoosier QTP Tires

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by pgfpro

Very Cool Idea, thanks BabyDiesel!!!

My car is a little... I mean a lot different.
First its a turbo AWD and anyone in their right mind would not try to make it a FE car. Its also a automatic transmission. Another major FE problem.

I wanted to have a car that would perform at the track and run decent 1/4 mile times in the 9's at over a 130 mph. I also wanted to have a performance car that could still get great fuel mileage. So I started building the perfect beast. The AWD helps it run sub 1.3 second 0 to 60 mph. The turbo's give it the power to make over 650 WHP when needed. The Engine Management helps me tune all the ECU parameters at my finger tips, including Lean Burn for FE.

The biggest contribute to my FE is my home built Lean burn system. Its design is to be able to run over 30:1 A/F ratios without a miss-fire.
My Lean Burn system makes it possible to run with almost no throttle pumping losses by utilizing the turbo's.

Trying to keep it short so I will call it good. If anyone wants to see more on my car check out my build thread. Thanks again everyone for your builds and camaraderie.


1991 Talon TSi Compound Turbo AWD
Automatic 4 speed
Off road Lean-Burn 30:1+ A/F
2800 lbs with driver
650+ WHP
0 to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds
Current Mods: Engine:
2.0L
modified 1g turbo pistons, spray-guided crown
Ultra Lean Burn system.
modified head, spray-guided high heat direct port.
custom camshafts.
intake manifold, high heat direct port w/adjustable port angle injection.

Turbo System:
High-pressure Modified Blow-Down Turbine 13g internal gate dump to atm.
Low- pressure stock configuration FP Red BB, mid mount.
DNP Turbo exhaust manifold.
44mm Tial Bi-Pass waste gate.
FMIC 3" core.
LP Turbo pre-intercooler.
Tilton 40-527 external oil pump.
Jegs 12V Vacuum pump.

ECU:
ECM Link Engine Management system.

EGR:
HOT/COLD Electronic controlled cold EGR system.

Transmission:
Transtar/IPT 5 disk front clutch kit in stock basket, Transtar/IPT end clutches, double up stock flexplate, John Deere HyGard fluid, Foreign Muscle DSM (Transmission Control Unit), EPROM Upgrade full line pressure with pre-set rpm shift points.
2g lock-up converter.

Rear antenna and rear wiper removal.
Front bumper lower grill block.

No-Lift Braking:
Activates extreme lean burn secondary map and maintains positive intake pressure with no pumping losses.

Secondary Waste Solvent fuel system
Rota Grid Wheels 14.5 lbs
Hoosier QTP Tires

Incredibly unqiue and impressive car man!