Hello from Croatia
 

Hi,
my name is Andrej, 26 y.o., i'm from Croatia -> Google ;)

I'm driving Toyota Corolla 2.0 diesel, 85KW, year 2006.
My MPG is 38 to 57.

I live in a small town (200.000 people) on the coast, here is all downhill and uphill wherever you go. Yes, the town is not so big, but here (same in all the Europe) the roads are little and traffic is big.

If the roads were flat, MPG would be about 70 with out problems.

I joined this forum/site to see how i can get more MPG.
Here, in Europe, gas/diesel is very expensive: cca. = 7,65 $/gallon.

Sorry for my bad English, my mother language is Croatian and Italian, English i had learned only in School and watching TV and movies ;)

See ya!

Hello Andrej, welcome to EM:)

$7.65 per gallon of diesel? That's even more than we have here (just shy of $6 last weekend). I'm surprised that there are still lots of drivers driving like fuel was free...

Have you modded your vehicle yet? Maybe higher tire pressure or a grille block?

Welcome to ecomodder .

The European gang is growing ;-)

7,65$ its price for gas, diesel is 6,91$.
Where are drivers drivin' like fuel was free??? And why do you think so?

I dont know how to modificate my car? How much did you get MPG with higher tire pressure, grill block, back tires "shild"...?

Welcome aboard. Croatia is definitely on my short list of places I'd like to take a holiday. I've seen some beautiful pictures from a friend of mine on Flickr.

How much have you started to incorporate hypermiling techniques (see the 100+ Hypermiling Tips link at the very top of the page)? If you're driving a standard transmission and willing to do some extra work, like drive with your engine off while coasting down hills, you can really get some remarkable MPG. Obviously some caution needs to be shown, as you lose power brakes and steering, but with some practice it can make quite a difference in your mileage.

yes, Croatia is beutiful country, for living, holiday, whatever...

I saw and red all the hypermiling techniques...

I cant turn the engine off while coasting down hill becaouse its too dangerous with traffic, small roads with lots of turns etc. I rather put in higher gear and cruise downhill but with enging running, steer and brakes full functionaly!!!

With downhill and in gear engine is running without gas/diesel, when you slow down to the minimum rpm, about 800, then engine is powered with gas/diesel.

With this mode i do not spend any diesel, its more secure and just little slower ;)

I don't turn the engine off either when coasting, as I want to keep the powersteering and assisted brakes for safety.

But coasting still gives better results than using engine braking (or DFCO - decellerating Fuel Cut Off as it'soften called here).

Try coasting on the safe, slight downhills, and you'll get further up the next hill ;)

That's the situation you have to avoid when using engine braking.

When the hill is steep enough, you have to use engine braking for safety - and it doesn't even cost any fuel.

But when the hills are not so steep, it's more efficient to coast, even with the engine on.

Even on a flat road, it's more efficient to coast from further away than to use engine braking as I've found out.


There are plenty of tips for efficient driving in the hills - like not using cruise control.

Pumping the tires to higher pressure (3.5 bar) increases coasting distance (reduces rolling resistance), the grille block helps the engine warm up faster. I don't have any numbers for those, but my Kammback and rear wheel skirts were tested to lower fuel consumption by 7% at 70 km/h and 8% at 100 km/h.

to 3,5??? In Corolla manual its said that pressure need to be 2,4.

With higher pressure you are gambling with trackion and security!!!!
Also the consumption of tire is faster!?

Wheel skirts are so ugly, my opinion, i'll see to make skirts with possibitility to take them off easily so i can use them only for longer trips... when aerodinamics is needit

My car's door sticker says 2.8-3.2 bar, but the tires' max sidewall pressure is 3.5 bar. I started with MAX-10%=3.2 and increased it when I felt good with it. I will not go above 3.5 bar.

That's what everyone says, but...
"Inflation pressure does not affect grip": Autospeed article.
It appears that increasing tire pressure reduces braking distance.

must check max pressure of the tires....

But there is another problem that here in Croatia, not only, also in Slovenia, Bosnia, Italy roads in the cities are bumpy, highways are perfectly flat! :D With high tire pressure is not very comfortable to be in the car with bumpy road :D

Also in 90% cases i must park my vehicle on the sidewalk, that means that in 1 year i must climbe with 2 o 4 tires 300 times on the sidewalk high around 20 - 25cm ... :(

And that's probably too low ;)

Officially, it's 2,3 to 2,5 on my car.
I'm using 3.2 bar (45psi).

You lose comfort, but I've never noticed worse handling.
Actually, I started increasing the tyre pressure to improve the car's handling long before joining ecomodder !

Not really.
(Far) Too high pressure means the centre of the tyre will wear faster, so keep an eye out for such wear.

My tyres wore out on the shoulders @ the manufacturer's intended pressure. Increasing the pressure actually reduced the wear and spread it out better over the entire tyre.

Even at 3 bar and above, the shoulders still wear faster than the centre - it's just not as bad as it was.


Long ago, they were fashionable on cars ;)

I know, in the 80s & 90s my dad was driving Citroen GS :D
http://www.gs-gsa-ig.de/GS-A%20Galer...-GS-Pallas.jpg

Welcome to EcoModder, :thumbup: Sounds like you're doing well with your vehicle already, how prevalent is diesel in croatia?

cant say exactly...
Statistics says that there are much more gasoline vehicle...
5 years ago many people were buying gasoline cars and then they installed GAS, LPG.
Approximately in 2005 price of GAS was 2,8 $/gallon, diesel 5,6 $/gallon and gasoline 5,9 $/gallon

Today (01.2001) the prices are: Gas = 4,2 $/gallon, diesel = 6,9 $/gallon and gasolina = 7,5 $/gallon.

So no one anymore, or very little % of gasoline drivers, install gas in their cars, diesel is again IN after 1 decade (10 years).

Why? Because with diesel you can make more MPG and maintenance is cheaper than vehicle vith gas, LPG. There are no major to the repairs 150.000km (routine maintenance).

I'm driving Toyota with very good turbines, "Bosch" pumps, must do 500.000km. VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes etc. are using Bosh pumps that are no more good quality.

Conclusion, from year to year ratio changes of diesel/gasoline vehicles.