Ecoscort - 98 Ford Escort ZX2 ecomodding thread

[BabyDiesel]

Surprisingly the speedometer is perfect I GPS-certified it last night. The GPS's speed followed my speedometer exactly even through aggressive P&G. I do not think the gear driven odometer is the same way. I have been adding +3.5% mileage at the end of a tank for the difference in tire size. I am going to start using 3% to adjust for treadwear... yes I am that nit-pickey

I went up one size from 186/65 to 185/70s for fuel economy reasons. Since my other tires were bald when I put these on, I gained 0.75" of ground clearance! It filled in the fender gap some as well. Just imagine how big the gap was before the slightly bigger tires!

I won't let you imagine it Here is a picture of the gap with a ZX2 running 165 Potenzas (Tygen1). From top of the tire to fender is HUGE.



The 2" drop will be to fix the gap, along with improving my finesse ratio and improving aerodynamics, both top and bottom

Yeah, I heard the dangerous and "you're putting people's lives at risk" many times. Also a lecture on brake fade? I told them that these wheels are structurally strong as any steel wheel and that I don't use my brakes very often. Tire man said "Alright, you're young"

I will definitely invest in DIY tire removal and mounting hardware when funds start coming in. It will be well worth the headache and save $ in the long run. If I can just buy a balancer for cheap as well...

[BabyDiesel]

I have many aero mods planned for today, along with fixing a dragging brake and cleaning up the interior! Pictures/details to come later!

[Arragonis]

People think that size is dangerous ?

One of my old cars ran 135R12 S 65 tyres - and that was the standard size

[BabyDiesel]

The specific rim I used is considered dangerous, because they are used for spares. The tires are no good, but the rims are as strong as any other steel rim out there. I don't know where the myth comes from.

[BabyDiesel]

If anyone has been following what is happening in the Aerodynamics section, you will know that I did coast-down testing on Ecoscort. How did it do?

Using an Excel sheet and directions from Instrucables.com, I determined that my coefficient of drag is down to 0.269 and my coefficient of rolling resistance is 0.01. Pretty swell numbers for a car that started out with a Cd of 0.33 and has Chinese tires

Link to the test - http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post481522

I almost have the rough draft of the front fender skirts complete! Very excited to see how they perform I should have them on the car tomorrow morning... if i can get out of bed early enough

Wheel covers will be going back on as well.

[BabyDiesel]

My front skirts failed so badly that I am not going to post any pictures of them nor the testing. Let's just say that my 4 mile test would have resulted in a blown sidewall

I left for vacation in Myrtle Beach today. There was a lot of heavy rain and wet roads in the way down, but I still got 44.6 mpg

Ecoscort is sitting pretty out in the lot

[dirtydave]

hell yea the car is looking good!

[BabyDiesel]

Thanks Dave!

If any of the seasoned members can remember Tygen1 from several years back, you will probably remember that he was as crazy and dedicated as I am. I recently got in contact with him. I found out that he is no longer in the Eco-game, but he is helping me out in many ways.

The biggest thing he is doing to help me is he is giving me his lean burn module that helped him get such high mileage! Ty said that at 50 mph, in lean burn mode his instant readout was around the low 70s.

Watch out, I'm soon to be an Prius/Mirage/Insight-buster

[Arragonis]

Take care.

[dirtydave]

lean burn module????