Hello all EMs. - Page 3 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Daox · 04-23-2008, 08:40 AM

Wow, I really lost track of this thread. My daily commute is 95% highway. Half of it is in a 65 mph zone and half is in a 55 mph zone. I pulse and glide from 65-55 in the 65 zone and 60-50 in the 55 zone. I leave early to go to work (usually arrive around 30 minutes early) to avoid traffic.

I'm highly considering the warm air intake for the Matrix as my wife does not pulse and glide like I do. However, I haven't actually done anything as far as installing it yet. Here is a thread that explains the warm air intake: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529

Loory · 04-23-2008, 07:48 PM

Hi Nden, thanks for the welcome.
Yes i like the ScanGauge very much, i have it since a few weeks already and three things i like in particular is the MPG, the GPH (gallons per hour) and the TPS (throttle position sensor).

Loory · 04-23-2008, 08:17 PM

Daox, your millage is great ! 47 MPG at speeds above 50mph, great.

Thanks for the link about WAI ? Maybe i will try it in the near futur, i also wonder if a fuel heater could make a difference. I also want to try a Protium gaz optimizer but not totaly decided yet, they have great testimonials from their clients.

Are you pushing the clutch or shift to neutral every time you glide with your manual Vibe ?

I'm in the same situation, my wife doesn't use the ScanGauge and also not much driving techniques, she run the car 50% of the time but its ok she may learn later hopefully.

trikkonceptz · 05-01-2008, 10:43 PM

Well welcome fellow Vibe owner, my vibe is an '04 auto and I have similar goals for my vehicle as I commute hwy 51 miles each way every day.

Here is an unofficial update on acetone as I just went through my first tank using it. I saw a jump of nearly 3mpg to a new high of 36mpg.

The changes I made with this tank were; inflated tires to 44psi, ran the a/c only on the morning commute, ran the fan with windows up on the night trip home. I'm sure all three contribute to the gain, but hopefully the next fill up will support or debunk this change.

As far as how much acetone, I am using 1mL/Gal

I'll keep you posted on the changes and I can't wait until I get my Scangauge.

MetroMPG · 05-02-2008, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loory

I also want to try a Protium gaz optimizer but not totaly decided yet, they have great testimonials from their clients.

I wouldn't spend a lot of time on that. You can find testimonials for just about every kind of gimmick out there!

trikkonceptz: I'm glad you recognize that it's impossible to definitively say whether or not something contributes to a change in fuel economy when you change multiple items at once. Generally, an A-B-A test is the way to test.

Loory · 05-02-2008, 08:28 AM

trikkonceptz
Hi and happy to ear from you (auto. Vibe owner).
Thanks for you input about acetone and things !
Frankly, i didn't know it was that hard to get the Vibe (autom.) much more fuel efficient, i would have made all i could to convince my wife to learn manual if i knew it.
By the way she was quite unhappy when she saw the roof rack remove the other day but it's ok finally, my father n mother laugh at me too but it's ok too, it's not that i spend alot of money on gaz i'm doing that, it's just that i can't understand and accept that a so small car and engine like this is not much more FE mainly in town, my heavy 210hp 2003 Jetta 1.8T (manual) was better in town, on highway it was about the same but i do it mainly as a game because we use about one tank a month with 90% in city driving.
ScanGauge is a great device, i think it should be standard equipment on all cars.
For your mods, if you want a great n easy one, it's the upper grill block, the two grills can be unpoped by the inside very easily and what i did is to install a double sided tape all around them and i used some window insulating plastic film (the one you can shrink with hair dryer) and you just pop it back in n that's it, but the lower part grills and fog ereas in the other hand seems quite difficult to get flush blocked.
Good luck and see you later.

MetroMPG,
Thank you for your input about the Protium Optimizer, i hope it will help for FE because i ordered it a week ago and they said there's about 4 weeks delay before they ship the device. I'm quite desperate to see that it's so difficult to get my city FE much higher with my autom. transm. that's why i decided to try the Protium.
Where i work, two guys told me they had great result with the "Tornado" or "Vortex" device, you know the one you put in your air filter piping ? One guy said about 5mpg(imp) beter on a V6 Escape and the other one said a few mpg on his GMC V8, i said to myself wtf could this be true! (???).
Also have you heard about the TunerPro before at http://www.tunerpro.net/
it's a free, donate-if-you-like-it tuning platform aimed at making tuning easier and cheaper for DIYers, when i found this page i said maybe some hypermillers are using or could use this to modify or enhance the engine parameters (fuel map, advance ...) in the ECU, it's quite technical but maybe it's not that difficult to learn.
I would like to thank you btw for all the advices and tricks you give to all of us on the WWW about FE. and congrat. for your great FE results.

Daox · 05-02-2008, 08:33 AM

Loory, I wouldn't bother with a fuel warmer on the Vibe. The fuel rail is really tucked in close to the engine and already gets quite warm I'm sure as there is an engine cover (plastic thing you see when you pop the hood) that has insulation on the backside of it. I'm sure the fuel rail stays nice and warm once the engine is up to temperature. Here is a picture that shows how close the fuel rail is to the head. As you can see, the bottom side is surrounded by the intake manifold. In the second picture (not my engine) you can see that the engine cover goes completely over the top of the fuel rail and pretty much touches the intake manifold where you see the step in the intake manifold. It really seals in that area. The boys at Toyota are a smart bunch.

When I pulse and glide in the Matrix I always use engine on and I shift to neutral 95% of the time. On rare occasion going up a steep hill I won't take it out of gear because I know I need to pulse again soon.

Loory · 05-02-2008, 08:50 AM

Hi Daox,
Thanks alot for these infos, i'm quite convinced now that the fuel warmer is not necessary.
I will use the P&G too with my auto. transm. realy soon as i'm out of town for a while, i intend to pulse and shift the transm. to Neutral to the next stop sign or traffic light.
BTW what should i do to display my FE at the bottom of my replys at Ecomodder like you all do, you know your "34.5MPGus for Matrix and 43.2 MPGus for Paseo" blue and green window ?
Good day.

Loory · 05-02-2008, 09:05 AM

trikkonceptz
Hi again. About your 44psi tire pressure, from the door sticker i'm supposed to inflate them all at 32psi and i tink this 32psi is there in order to wear them evenly, not too hard (center wear) - not too soft (sides wear). I have them at 34psi now and i'm afraid to go higher than that because of probable uneven wear.
Am i wrong on thinking like so or would i be able to make as much miles with them at 44psi than i would at 32psi ?

trikkonceptz · 05-02-2008, 09:12 AM

I'm sure there are others than can chime in with better advice, but 44psi is the max psi listed on the tire and I am going to assume that is the max pressure we can use before we start to see uneven wear in every day use.

I have read many here using 55 psi+ but have to assume that is hell on the tires, at 44psi I can already see a difference in how the car rides.

BTW how hard was it to remove the roof rack? Thats coming off this week.