First Check after changing style

[davyboy]

Okay so I'm going to start by saying I haven't changed anything except my driving style. I used to start in 2nd gear and shift when the rpm hit 2000, now I still usually start in 2nd gear, however only to get rolling, sometimes start in 3rd gear. Now I also shift between 1200-1400 rpm, keeping my rpm below 1500, (usually sits between 1400-1500 traveling in 5th at 60kmph).

My city mileage before was around 24.5, and now from one tank of doing this its 26.5mpg.

That's a 2mph increase from simply changing my shift points.

I still have to change oil and transmission fluid now (transmission fluid with a much higher quality synthetic which will have less friction and break down a lot slower). Also some jerk cut me off some time this test period, and I ended up going over a curb... HARD, and my rear right shock for most of the test period has been completely dead, my order just came in so replacing that will also increase that, once all that's done I'll post a new rating.

[zonker]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Okay so I'm going to start by saying I haven't changed anything except my driving style. I used to start in 2nd gear and shift when the rpm hit 2000, now I still usually start in 2nd gear, however only to get rolling, sometimes start in 3rd gear. Now I also shift between 1200-1400 rpm, keeping my rpm below 1500, (usually sits between 1400-1500 traveling in 5th at 60kmph).

My city mileage before was around 24.5, and now from one tank of doing this its 26.5mpg.

That's a 2mph increase from simply changing my shift points.

I still have to change oil and transmission fluid now (transmission fluid with a much higher quality synthetic which will have less friction and break down a lot slower). Also some jerk cut me off some time this test period, and I ended up going over a curb... HARD, and my rear right shock for most of the test period has been completely dead, my order just came in so replacing that will also increase that, once all that's done I'll post a new rating.

Gotta love those ford zetec motors... they make 90 percent of their torque at low V8 style rpms so you can lug them much easier than the normal gas engine 4 cyl. Good show!

[davyboy]

Thank you, just replaced rear shocks, one was so dead that when I undid the upper mount it sank under its own weight, top cover that is supposed to slide down had come off and almost all fluid had leaked out...

No wonder ever bump made the whole car vibrate and it would vibrate just below highway speed...

That in and of itself will probably give me a major boost, and since the zetec comes with a basic CAI (sucks air into bottom of box from under hood lip) I took off top of stock air box and added a cone filter to the end leaving it to get some of the warm air (like a warm air intake) and now can start off easier in lower gear without it having so much as a struggle...

Next is to change the oil with a synthetic and transmission fluid to reduce friction within the engine then clean out the engine once more and replace the fuel filter for even better economy...

Oh and that 2mpg equates to an 8.22% increase in economy...

[gasstingy]

Good job. Other tricks will come to you and you'll get better and better economy. I like the challenge of it all, just as I occasionally like the fun of banging gears. {OK, not so much banging gears as I used to do. }

The only mod I've done to my car has been to adjust the nut behind the wheel. I'm consistently 7+ mpg over EPA highway rating. I find that with a manual trans, beating EPA is not too tough. But then, most of my driving is rural roads, very little city driving.

[davyboy]

That's the difference with us, almost 95% or most months 100% of my driving is in the city...

[zonker]

LOL I just finished one full week of using hypermiling driving habits on my USPS mail truck (LLV in Postal Speak).

Figure I am a perfect candidate for real world testing because my driving route, time of day, and distance each day is very similar.

If the future weeks prove out what this first week did, I am saving well over a gallon of fuel per 150 miles of travel. Normally my mpg is in the 10-12 range. I broke 15mpg for the first time ever!

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by zonker

... Normally my mpg is in the 10-12 range. I broke 15mpg for the first time ever!

Wow. Those "LLVs" aren't that big - the USPS certainly could use something that gets better mpg. I can't imagine that they're locked into those mini-Jeeps forever. With a gazillion of those things delivering mail every day,
there's a real opportunity to save some serious money.

The brown truck company is testing and using several kinds of alternatives. I think they have both hybrid trucks (much bigger than LLVs of course) and some natural gas too. Plus they've done computer studies to optimize their routes to minimize fuel consumption and maximize safety - mostly by nearly eliminating left turns in their routes.

[gasstingy]

Zonker: That's great!

That shows 25 to 50% improvement. The Postal Service should have you teach the other drivers what you're doing to greatly improve fuel economy. An internal competition with some kind of recognition could dramatically lower their fuel bill.

Just curious, how many miles is your daily route?

[zonker]

I'm sure if they found out what my current driving style is (with EOC's and P&G), I'd probably be reprimanded for voilating safety rules.

Alas, although they are the benefactor of my using less fuel, as labor jobs within large companies goes - no good deed goes un-punished.

My route is 27 stops (minimum) and 26 miles long but my odometer/speedometer reads 15% slower than it should so my LLV registers it as 22 miles, meaning that my 15.07 mpg pull is actually 17.7 mpg.

LLV's are 4 cyl Chevy S10's with a heavy un-aero friendly steel/aluminum body. These things will do maybe 75mph with a heavy tailwind lol. Some of these LLV's are CNG powered, but most like mine are good 'ol regular unleaded gas powered.

[zonker]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Wow. Those "LLVs" aren't that big - the USPS certainly could use something that gets better mpg. I can't imagine that they're locked into those mini-Jeeps forever. With a gazillion of those things delivering mail every day,
there's a real opportunity to save some serious money.

I can attest that any vehicle when doing mail delivery driving will get horrid gas mileage. When i started work at the USPS, I used to use my personal vehicle, a Ford Escort
Wagon for Rural route delivery. I would get 17-19 mpg during work hours and 23-27 mpg during normal drive time.

USPS has the worlds largest fleet of vehicles, and most of them are well over 10 years old, but due to the current financial situation we are in, I don't suspect any type of upgrade or replacement will be taken into account, other than the upcoming onboard cameras and GPS that is being pilot programmed right now.

Originally Posted by brucepick

The brown truck company is testing and using several kinds of alternatives. I think they have both hybrid trucks (much bigger than LLVs of course) and some natural gas too. Plus they've done computer studies to optimize their routes to minimize fuel consumption and maximize safety - mostly by nearly eliminating left turns in their routes.

We have similar route plans too - little to no left turns, and extreme discouragement to drive in reverse.