Happy 10th birthday to us!! Celebrating ten years = chance to win lots of stuff!
 

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1513024990

A decade ago, if you'd asked me what I would think about celebrating EcoModder's 10-year anniversary, I'd have said...

"WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT FUEL EFFICIENCY?? YOU MEAN I STILL CAN'T AFFORD TO DRIVE A GIANT SUV?!"

Ha ha. Kidding! I'm not buying a giant SUV until they make one with 3-cylinders, EV mode and a sub-0.20 drag coefficient!

We're marking the big milestone by giving away more of The Customary Birthday Loot than usual.

On Friday, January 5th, we'll draw prizes randomly based on forum posts made between today and then. (So the more you post, the better your odds. Not that our hard-core members need any motivation.)


Birthday Party Prizes!

• ONE ScanGauge II: (again generously provided by Linear Logic) will be awarded at random to one member* who posts in any thread in the forum between 12:01 AM EST today (Dec. 7) and noon EST on Friday, Jan. 5th.

• TWO (2) ScanGauge-e's: (generously provided by Linear Logic) the ScanGauge II's little brother (see comparison)

• High quality analog tire pressure gauge: we'll send the winner something chosen from Amazon.

• Bluetooth OBD-II dongle (generously provided by Panlong) For Android smart phone, eg. compatible with the Torque app (Amazon link for more info)

• EcoModder decals: 2 additional randomly chosen members who post in the forum in the same time period will receive a pair of decals.

* NOTE: Only members who joined before today can win. Winners must claim their prize within 10 days of the winners announcement (by contacting us via private message), or we reserve the right to draw another name in your place.

Good news/bad news: forum participation generally tracks gasoline prices in the U.S., which means with low prices your odds of winning are almost at 10-year highs!

Happy Birthday and THANKS to everyone here -- thanks for helping to make EcoModder a community and a resource to be proud of.


Discuss...

What stands out as the most notable efficiency-related changes in your automotive world in the last decade?

Woohoo, happy birthday to us! :)

Happy birthday! I’ve been here for a while now still seeking fuel mileage.

I would not use that thread to describe myself. If this were a dating site I would say "Desperate, lonely, and a little whiny," but if I did use that phrase, I might get in trouble with the district.

So, what are my chances of securing booty if I open 100 threads each day, and posted random thoughts?

You know, like I don't already do that...

Even though it's not 3-cyl and might not feature such an outstanding drag coefficient, even I got impressed when I got to know the current generation of the Volvo XC90. But anyway, for something nearly the size of a Chevy Tahoe, its range fitted only with 4-cyl engines smaller than the one used in a Brazilian Chevy Blazer from 10 years ago is something noteworthy, and probably in that very same timeframe most of us would laugh at someone who tried to anticipate that.

Nah, what Darin really wants is a nice Chevy Trax, or Buick Encore! :D

Which is basically a worsened Aveo :D

But anyway, many things happened in the last 10 years, like the first presentation of the Chevrolet Volt still as a concept-car for example. Who could guess that GM would actually develop a direct opponent to the Prius by then?

decade surprises?
 

Yup!

A decade ago, I was driving a home-made $1000 EV runabout. I probably wouldn't have guessed that 10 years later, you could buy a whole bunch of plug-in cars. I've lost count of how many different EV's and PHEVs are available in North America now.

Thanks for the giveaway. Currently I have a 1999 Metro and 2 2000 Honda Insights. It's always great to come here for information as well as seeing some of the cool mods others are doing. Mostly I'm a lurker.

Changing with the times.
 

In ten years, what will we be discussing?

Carbon negative bio-fuels?

Breakthrough in batteries that were not on the horizon?

Anti-matter AAA size prime storage cells?

Congrats Ecomodder.

So awesome!
This forum has changed my perspective several times.

Just this last week, I tried to talk my wife putting aero hubcaps on her Nissan Leaf! :)

Next is to replace my Subaru Outback with an EV once it and the Leaf are paid off. Or, an electric motorcycle... Zero's keep getting better...

The year 2022 looks like it will have a bumper crop of plugin vehicles, even a Jeep Wrangler!

Tesla might be rolling out their pickup and small SUV by then.

Everyone is getting on the bandwagon of EVs, especially how several cities & countries have put in bans for IC vehicles. Now we just have to make it stick.

What is going to be happening by 2027?
Solid state batteries?
Pure carbon fiber framed vehicles that is not more than a $100k?
Exercise cars that are autonomous driving that have bicycle pedals inside for exercise and range extension?

I've not been using my old ScanGauge in the new RAV4 yet. It's still programed for the old Ford Escape.
I have been thinking about getting a new one for the Prius.
Now that it's getting older and maybe a new ScanGauge-E can read the state of the 144 volt battery pack..?.
Might be a good project to start up next Spring..

Only the SGII can monitor hybrid pack functions with the X-gauges feature. The SG-E doesn't have x-gauge capability.

(a) went from large truck to small 2-door SUV
(b) went from auto trans to manual

Biggest thing would be driver-less cars, but currently just the push for a more fuel Conservative cars by all manufactures.

Happy birthday to us! ;)

OBD II thing verified to actually work on 1996 to 2004 vehicles? I have two Bluetooth "OBD II" dongles that apparently are for CAN only, 2005 and later.

Congrats to everyone who made it possible, specially to Forum Administrators!

THANK YOU!

10 years goes by pretty fast, doesn't it?

Better integration of individual components is a huge difference in new vehicles between now and then. OEM's have the technology to combine all the good stuff: cylinder deactivation, better CdA, transmission optimization, etc. In 10 years we'll be talking about more of the same, only with a lot more EV's in the mix.

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday! I found this forum years ago when I had a long commute to work, I was able to push on average 45mpg out of a 2003 civic, but with all the information on here, I chose a Jetta TDI as my current vehicle as I could not find an insight. I love it and have been able to squeeze upwards of 54mpg on winter diesel and snow tires. Thank you so much for the great info here.

Not a whole lot has changed for me. I still drive a small white Honda, manual transmission. But this one is square at the back. It burns a little more gas for that, but I can DO so much more with it. Also, a trailer hitch.

Here's another big change:

10 years ago, peak oil was a hot topic.

Now you're more likely to read about peak demand.

10 years ago electric cars were rare homebuilt conversions or small series experiments. Hybrids were the rare Insight, which just went out of production, or the 2nd gen Prius and the Civic, but nothing more. Phones were phones; some had a tiny screen and a camera, but nothing much. How things have changed!

Happy birthday, Ecomodder! Up for another 10 years of economy tinkering. Wonder what cars we drive then...

Happy Birthday ecomodder. Been following for some time now. All the best and here's to many more years of helping us all get better fuel mileage.

peak-a-boo
 

Another "peak" thought...

In Canada & the US, the past 10 years has seen peak economy car - ie. the rise, peak & now the beginning of the decline of efficient econoboxes.

When EcoModder started in late '07, pretty much the only entry level cars available with at least a 35+ mpg highway rating were: Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio.

The selection of 35+ MPG hwy choices exploded in the following years:

Ford Fiesta SFE & 1.0L ecoboost, Cobalt XFE, Hyundai Accent, Smart, Golf diesel, Nissan Versa, Fiat 500, Chevrolet Sonic, Mitsu Mirage. (I'm sure I forgot some.)

But it's since peaked. Entry level economy cars are starting to be killed off, replaced by more expensive and less efficient crossovers, often based on the same platform.

I'm still driving the Vx but I added a 2000 f250 diesel with manual tranny to the fleet I'm getting a little over 23mpg in it.

Also, during Harvey, we had a man-made fuel shortage. My family made it through unscathed! We were able to go 10 days without needing fuel!

We've gone from prognostications about the viability of hybrids to prognostications about the viability of EVs. My guess is that things will pan out the same way, but it's still interesting to see. Everything old is new again and all that. Apparently Gassavers went from an enthusiast site to something else after a bunch of peeps went from there to here.

Happy Birthday!!! I still LOVE modding vehicles to get more MPGs . I have taken a stock ext cab truck from 18 and it now gets 23 to 25 depending on terrain. My next goal it to try for 26 to 28 . If I can do this with a V8 there is no reason the big 3 can't do even more afterall they are suppose to be smarter than me. FYI nothing I have done is nothing more than common knowledge and some simple research. If I were to do a undercarriage enclosure no telling what this truck would do.

You guys that are doing stuff should really share pictures and stuff. We love seeing what you guys are doing. It gets the creative juices flowing, and new ideas come about, and cooler modifications happen!

Woot, a giveway!

So much has happened in the last decade, but nothing really sticks out. Variable valve timing and lift surely have gotten better. If Mazda's new "gasoline diesel" engine works out, maybe that could be it. I'm sure CVT is in there, but that still seems like driving a slingshot.

I'll see if my ELM357 works in the Previa-- the Previa is kindof 'up on blocks' in a manner of speaking, though...

Nice. Didn't know the site was that old. Learned lots but still can't get close to EPA mpg for my car. Still improved my mpg so happy.

well shoot! wouldn't mind a scanguage for sure! I think a big improvement is adding diesel engines to half ton trucks... Europe has been doing it for a LONG time! I drove so many little diesel Toyota pickups while deployed and yes they were old and rough but they sipped the gas even compared to the little 22r/22re's that came in American models.

Plus adding the little eco monitors on vehicles. I know they aren't super accurate but it was always fun to try and keep the number as high as you can with out getting too many people made at you on the highway.

This is the best forum I've ever been on. Everyone is very welcoming and I've learned a lot of useful information that has increased my efficiency. Thankyou eco modder!

Happy 10th to the greenest of the green, and a great site!
Thanks all,
skipperj

Good point - they're on a lot more cars than they used to be.

Even the new MX-5 Miata has a decent graphical MPG display.

Bappy Hirthday to Us
 

10 down....many to go. only limited by how long till the transporters take over.

The one thing I never got in all these years, was the gift I was promised as an HHO-skeptic.

Maybe in the next ten years. :rolleyes:

Happy Birthday, EM!!! What a milestone :)


The biggest change in MY automotive world was going from a '67 Mustang convertible as a daily driver to the Echo. It instantly doubled and eventually nearly tripled my fuel economy (something I had already been keeping track of for a good while). It also taught me to more readily accept modern cars, and was a platform I used to start to understand diagnosis and maintenance of computerized vehicles.

Looking around the automotive landscape, man, has everything changed rapidly. Direct injection, small turbo engines, more gears and (finally) more properly tall highway gearing. They've done good work in terms of getting cars to put out great numbers, even as weight's increasing, etc. It's taken this long, it seems, to compete with the old titans of the 1980s which could effortlessly sling out big numbers. The downside of course is the complexity, etc. I never asked for an iPad on the dash, and I'm not that wild about all the power stuff I'll have to fork money out to fix when it's 15 years old and in my driveway. Also, what they've been able to do with automatic transmissions...I never thought they would kill off manuals as they seem to be, nor did I see a day when the automatic would be such a "no-brainer" choice for most people - BETTER FE numbers on the Monroney, AND in many cases a faster set of marketing numbers for 0-60, etc. Weird.