First MPG concious vehicle...and Im LOVIN it!!!

[66sprint6]

Just filled up and calculated 37.5mpg for the last tank!!! Funny how that extra 2mpg allowed for 3 extra days of driving LOL. I noticed a trend of fillin up every 9 days but this time I squeeked off 12 before havin to top off again. I imagine its entirely thanks to the tuneup, namely the thermostat and housing now allowing the motor to warm up properly. Ide like to see if the spoiler will help at all but most of my driving is in town so I dunno. I DO know that Im gonna mess with grill blocks next, if allowin the motor to warm up can make that big of a difference, Ide love to see what I could do if it warmed up quicker for those short trips.
Matt

[larrybuck]

Congrats! I've enjoyed watching your progress.

Isn't it fun how affordable the mpg. mods are compared to classic high performance
parts?

[66sprint6]

Ive always had to do all my own work and often make my own parts or make junkyard parts work, even in the high performance hobby and Ive grown to enjoy every bit of it. The hunt for the part at the junkyard, takin it off and gettin it home, repairing and then makin it work. Same works in this world as well. I always knew I needed somethin economical but bein a speed/power lover I didnt know if I could make it fun enough to enjoy on a daily basis. Now I am hooked and I enjoy every mile of it!!! I noticed two nights ago that I had just gone over 230 miles and I was just centered on half tank. Thats farther than my truck would go on an entire 16 gallon tank!!! Needless to say that adds a large amount of enjoyment to ditchin the fast, shiney loud cars and trucks and jumpin in the white econobox every day lol. I still got the cars and truck, but I dont rely on em anymore which means I can have fun with them and not have any burden of "will this mod hurt my MPG?"
Matt

[66sprint6]

Im also hoping this slight increase in MPG every tank or two will be a continual thing as I mod and learn to drive along the way!
Matt

[66sprint6]

Filled up right before Christmas and was not only blessed with $.90/gallon discount thanks to Kroger Plus program, but also saw another increase in MPG! This time I clicked off at 38.8MPG. I had a few more highway miles but only about 30 or 40 over the entire tank. I know that eventually this trend will stop but man what I wouldnt give to see 40 with a majority of in town driving!!! Im also surprised cause its winter and was expecting the mileage to start droppin accordingly but it has been mild and Im not sure when the winter gas will hit if it hasnt already.

Regardless, I decided to try shifting at 2500rpm this time around rather than 2K. Im not driving any more aggressively, just lettin the RPMs rise a bit more. Im also lookin at possibly engine braking to try and let the engine cut the injectors when rolling into a turn or to a stop. I wont try it until after this tank tho Im thinking. Im waiting for the weather to dry up so I can toss together a grill block as well so I still have some (hopefully) improvement to make!
Matt

[66sprint6]

39.5MPG on last tank...hope this trend continues, would LOVE to see 40+ nearly all in town driving!!! I made up a grill block last night because the cold has finally started setting in and drove it around town. She actually got hot enough for the fan to turn on which I realized was the first time Ide ever heard it, but it didnt come on very often which concerned me. Im gonna replace the relays and make sure its up to snuff then I might have to either grab an aftermarket temp gauge or lazer thermometer to keep an eye on things. Usually when I drive around the needle never goes higher than half the gauge, even on the hottest days so far. Now itll go between 3/4 and the end of the gauge but never into the red. I dont trust stock gauges tho so I pulled over and checked under the hood. I could put my hand on the valve cover without it burnin the hell out of me, but couldnt hold there long without it causing some discomfort. The upper radiator hose on the otherhand was warm, but not even close to what I would call hot. ANYways, I think Im on to somethin and might be able to squeeze a bit more outta this car with the cooling system up to snuff and the grill block in place.

For the grill block, I used a foam excercise pad that I was using as a "creeper" around the garage. It would never lay flat bein that it came in a roll so I rarely used it. The way the Escort lower bumper is set up, you dont even have to tape, screw, glue or ziptie it to stay in, it wedged between the bumper support and the bumper and isnt goin anywhere. I completely blocked the entire lower grill and left only the small area around the Ford emblem in the upper grill open. Apparently this does little for cooling cause it ran the temp gauge up despite bein 27* outside. If I can get the fan working properly and it still doesnt cool it enough Ill cut a small hole in the lower but Ide like to not have to do so. Ill take pics of the setup later.
Matt

[Arragonis]

Firstly hello, I've skimmed this thread and welcome of recognising the savings you can make with the right car. You seem to be well on the right track but I wondered about a couple of things.

Firstly tyre pressures - have you experimented with going higher ? My factory setting is mid-30s but I run 40+ most of the time. When I got my car in July last year this was the mod that made the instant "detectable" change. You may need to go high and then back off for ride comfort but you shouldn't see a drop in grip - it may even improve.

Secondly an instant MPG readout of some kind is worth the money and will pay you back. We didn't get the "Mazda Escort" here in the UK (we got an altogether worse car...) so I'm not sure if a Scangauge or similar will work. If not there are other options but any kind of readout will pay you back over time.

But based on your history so far it seems 40+ will be yours quite soon.

And as you tap the savings can be put into other stuff like fun cars, trips and so on.

[66sprint6]

Im runnin 55psi right now and Im not really sure Im comfortable goin too much higher. Your right tho, tire pressure alone seems to be the best initial mod second only to driving style!!! Im pushin for 40mpg mostly in town, but wonder if my quest will be cut short now that cooler weather has finally started making its way into the area. Weve been "blessed" with temps usually in the mid 40s and even higher at times, but this week its dropped into the 20s and is not headed back to the 50s LOL Im having issues with my electric fan not working so Im sorting that out this weekend then itll be time to put the full grill block back into use! I will let the fan do the job of cooling things down once they get to full temp. Im hoping this one mod alone with push me into the 40s but only time and a couple hundred more miles will tell LOL
Matt

[66sprint6]

Oh, and Scangauge wont work unfortunately but I might play around with some mpguino or similar soon...I wanna keep playin with what Im doin now for the moment, then when its time to squeeze every last drop out of it I will go with a gauge to read instant readings. Thats prolly when Ill start playin with P&G and EOC as well as sittin at lights with the engine off etc. The numbers Im gettin are without P&G, only EOCing into parking spots and my driveway, coasting in neatral (5 speed), very little to NO engine braking and letting the car idle at every stop light. I wanna get a few more tanks in and then I will experiment with engine braking to try and keep the rpms up above the injector cutoff rpm and then mess around with EOC and sittin at lights with the motor off.
Matt

[66sprint6]

Filled up this afternoon and came up with mi 38mpg! I was hopin to make some gains with the new grill block but the issue with my cooling fan made me have to back it down a bit. I should have the new controller soon so I can get back to it. I was under the car tonight putting yet another shifter in the car along with another shift linkage rod (out of a newer car with less play) and noticed the steering rack was loose on one side. I knew I was havin major issues with it, but two nuts tightened up and now my steering is spot on perfect and tight as can be. I took it out to clean it and test it out and noticed I can now coast ALOT further that I could before...wonder if the loose steering rack was causin issues. Anyways, I look forward to continuing my quest to break into the 40s!!!

Matt