Hello fellow modders
 

My name is Tony we recent purchased a 14 Chevrolet Spark Ls. It was purchased due to the increasing gas prices and my commute to work requires I actually own a fuel efficient car. I'm hoping to obtain some value knowledge while visiting this forum and potentially fulfill my modding bug.

I did look at a 13 Mirage but was really not impressed with how the previous owner cared for the car ( ran it out of oil .. kept documentation of it to prove it was fixed even).

Hoping to learn from fellow Spark or Sonic owners who may have some insight on improving the MPG of these cars .

Welcome!
I'd grab some wheels from the first generation Honda Insight. You can probably get a set for under $200, make sure you get the center caps included because people want too much money for a set on eBay. They are light weight, aerodynamic and look the part of an ecomodder.

After doing some searching they appear to be the same size as a 14" wheel that comes on the Spark. You'll want to verify that. The tires will be much smaller if they are included but are possibly the lowest rolling resistance you can buy. It would throw off the odometer but you may be able to use them as well.

Pretty cheap at a u-pull-it style junkyard if you can find them there. Otherwise try https://www.car-part.com/

Some people get even more extreme and use the spares from that car on their Insight because they are even lighter and smaller.

The only issue in going with a 14" or 15" wheel now is the seemingly limited choices for tires that have a low rolling resistance.

Good Morning,


Our Spark has stock 15" rims so would utilizing a similar idea with other 15" rims work ?

Could I possibly "modify"my rims to be similar to the Insight design ? Once I get home I'll take a photo of the Dpark so maybe others can chime in.

I'm really excites to potentially do some mild modifications to improve on mpg.

The car presently doesn't have cruise control, I've pondered adding it to the vehicle. Has there been testing done (haven't searched) surrounding the effectiveness of cruise and mpg ? One thing I didn't mention is the vehicle is a 5spd and it has the 1.2L.

You'll need a minimum number of posts to show pix. [5 or more?]

A quick glance at duckduckgo.com/?q=15%22+moon+disks&iax=shopping&ia=shopping finds that a set of four is around $100-130. Then you can paint them to look like the Insight. :)

Did that model insight ever come with 15" rims?

Is your Spark fitted with a CVT?

Good Morning,

It has a 5 spd manual transmission, pretty basic model doesn't have power locks ( minus rewrite hatch ) . I have to keep the rear seating and the few things I carry. Otherwise this is my 2nd tank of fuel and I'm currently averaging 39mpg according to my drivers information center. I'll calculate it once I need to fuel up again to obtain a more accurate number.

Any other tips for a daily driver or should I start a new thread possibly? Was hoping to come across other Spark owners or owners or similar style vehicles.

Downsizing from 15" to 14" wheels may cause issues with fitment with brakes. While Insight wheels are the cream of the crop for being lightweight and aero, the cost to buy them, and new tires, and potentially spacers to make them fit, may not make it financially worthwhile.

But that all depends on your goals for modifying.....more power? better fuel economy? make the car cheaper to operate without spending much? aesthetic limitations?

Increasing tire pressure and adjusting driving style will improve fuel economy more than all the modifications in the world.

Morning,

My goal is fuel economy and reliability honestly. So my second thought was getting rid of unnecessary weight. And, continuing with gaining knowledge from this forum and adjusting my driving habits. I do want to obtain a 2nd set of rims/tires for winter driving in Wisconsin ao maybe locating a 15" set of insight rims would be beneficial for summer driving.

Are there any tire manufacturers that would be recommended that are specific to mpg ? I know those tires are available. As of now the car has a mitch match set from the previous owner. This is my 2nd tank and I'll know my MPG after I fuel up this morning.

Would cruise control be beneficial for MPG goals? It currently doesn't have it and it's a nice feature but it's not needed.

I looked around the forum, over inflation or tires seems to be another option. The tires now are currently at 38psi, maybe on the next tank I'll jump them to 40psi? I've seen many discuss an increase to 70 or even 80psi! I'm new here but that definitely seems unsafe, and would potentially cause premature failure of the time, please correct me if I'm wrong though .

Insight wheels
 

This guy posted his wheels from Canada,

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...ale-40176.html

I'm waiting for photos, thank you.

Clocked in at 41.08MPG today , not bad I'd like to try and increase that with adjustments to my tire psi and driving habits.

Sometimes it's quite helpful, as long as it's adaptative.

I’ve stopped us adaptive cruise, as it is not that smart in my generation of software.
I have a speed limiter function, which allows ME to drive the car, but helps prevent intervention from the constabulary:-0
The CC also has disadvantages of using rear brakes to slow the vehicle on hills. Went through rear brakes fairly quickly when I first had the car, and didn’t realise the cause.
To my mind, an alert driver can easily outperform cc in the fuel economy stakes.

Most of my references to adaptative cruise controls were talks to interstate bus drivers, yet nowadays truckers and bus drivers often have a more comprehensive training on how to use features such as the adaptative cruise control. I never forget a night in 2007 when a bus driver told me he could drive from the city I lived at that time and my hometown and almost never touch the pedals, and my father then questioned me how that would be possible, then I had to explain about the adaptative cruise control and braking retarders.

So would standard cruise for longer commutes not be beneficial unless I'm more active with it? I didn't think anything beyond a universal kit was possible .

Hello Tmugz88 - welcome.

I had a 2016 Spark but it was the EV. First things first - is your goal to save money or to save fuel and show the highest MPG you can? (We have people on Ecomodder in both camps) I ask because you could spend $1000 on new wheels and tires to save $100 in fuel.

14 inch wheels will work on your car (Tire Rack sells them). When buying a used wheel be very careful to research and make sure the bolt pattern, size, center hub and offset are all correct.

Personally I run about 45 psi in my tires. Near the max pressure but not over it. I also run higher pressure in the front than the rear because I want more neutral handling.

One easy thing you could do is get rid of your spare tire, jack, and tire change kit. The Spark EV did not have one and just had a factory air pump with tire sealant. You could buy a can of fix-a-flat and save about 30 lbs of weight. That depends on your risk tolerance. My 2017 Bolt didn't come with a spare tire and I bought a Spark spare from a junkyard because I've had enough flat tires to always want a spare with me.

You could also remove the rear center seatbelt if you don't need it for small kids or car seats.

Another easy thing is a grill block. Most of your center grill is blocked off already but you could use tape, cardboard, or some custom made plastic panels to block off more of the grill. It is likely way oversized for use in Northern Wisconsin and is sized to flow enough air to keep the car from overheating going up steep passes in death valley at 120F outside temp. Just keep an eye on your temperatures (I blocked about 30% of my grill in a 2003 VW TDI and 2004 Prius while living in Alabama with no issue)

For a factory look you could buy the top grill from a Spark EV

It may depend on route conditions and other factors, but maybe you could benefit from a cruise control. A few truckers and bus drivers I talked to said the adaptative cruise control was an useful feature for them, yet commercial drivers tend to have better training on how to use specific features.

I deleted a bit more of your response but I'm looking for long term MPG goals. My current employer is 30 miles away. I was just hired for a job job that will require a lot more travel with less fuel reimbursement. So I'm definitely looking for better MPG.

Personally I run about 45 psi in my tires. Near the max pressure but not over it. I also run higher pressure in the front than the rear because I want more neutral handling.

I'm presently playing with my tire pressure and adjusting it in 2psi incriminate. I believe the mismatch tires on the car (lion heart and fuzion) is causing a marginal decrease in mpg.

One easy thing you could do is get rid of your spare tire, jack, and tire change kit. The Spark EV did not have one and just had a factory air pump with tire sealant. You could buy a can of fix-a-flat and save about 30 lbs of weight. That depends on your risk tolerance. My 2017 Bolt didn't come with a spare tire and I bought a Spark spare from a junkyard because I've had enough flat tires to always want a spare with me.

My 2014 didn't come with a spare just the repair kit.

You could also remove the rear center seatbelt if you don't need it for small kids or car seats.

I unfortunately need to keep the safety gear due to having children .

Another easy thing is a grill block. Most of your center grill is blocked off already but you could use tape, cardboard, or some custom made plastic panels to block off more of the grill. It is likely way oversized for use in Northern Wisconsin and is sized to flow enough air to keep the car from overheating going up steep passes in death valley at 120F outside temp. Just keep an eye on your temperatures (I blocked about 30% of my grill in a 2003 VW TDI and 2004 Prius while living in Alabama with no issue)

Are you referring to blocking infront or behind the grill?

I'm sorry my phone wouldn't let me quote you properly so this was the end result @ JSH.

A lot of my driving is highway , I think of it as more of a luxury than a necessity. But at $450 installed or $300 if I do it thay seems like a lot. Thank you for sharing your opinion and additional insight.

You could do a grill block on the inside or the outside of the grill. On my Prius and Jetta Wagon I used black duct tape on the black plastic grill to block off sections of grill and reduce airflow. It is an easy way to test to see how much can be blocked without causing overheating problems. Some people use black foam pipe insulation zip tied to the grill for the same effect. In older days when radiators were easier to get to people would just use a piece of cardboard placed between the grill and radiator to block airflow in the winter so engines would heat up faster. There are lots of ways to do it.

Or you could do the reverse - buy a Spark EV grill that is completely blocked and start adding holes to it.

EV grill
https://images.caricos.com/c/chevrol..._1920x1080.jpg

ICE grill
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OMoAA...4qO/s-l300.jpg

I don't believe that a grill like that will work, I'll have to maybe see if an EV was offered during my model years.

I need to look a bit more into the benefits of doing this for MPG. I've done the blockage for my radiator in my work trucks previously when I worked for FedEx Ground. Definitely helps increase the heat in the trucks too.

The Spark EV was sold from 2014 - 2016. The center grill is obviously different but the top one looks like it might be the same.

Awesome I'l have to do some research. I know I'll need to look into installing an aftermarket temp guage,these cars didn't come with them as you probably know.

I would buy an OBDII reader and the Torque Pro app (if you have an android phone) You can pull a huge amount of information from the car computer.

I totally forgot I have the torq pro app already, so that fixes that issue.

What were you getting consistently with the EV?

The Spark EV was a lease so I didn't do any mods besides upgrading the stock LRR tires to performance all-seasons. It averaged 4.43 miles / KWh (149 MPGe). Total cost (all-in) was $0.28 per mile.

Even when Torque or other apps could be useful, I'd not disconsider a temp gauge.

Just so I understand correctly, we're you getting 149mgp completely on electric ? I'm sorry I'm still learning a lot about this world lol.

I'd like to see 45-50mpg conservatively with my 2014 Spark as my daily driver.

Torque will likely give him ambient temp, coolant temp, transmission temp, and intake air temp in one display.

Yes, I had a 2016 Spark EV which is an purely electric car with a 82 mile range.

45 mpg should be doable with a gas Spark driving on the highway if you are willing to slow down a bit. You will see a big difference between a steady 55 mph, 65 mph, and 75 mph.

That's a good point, yet a physical coolant temp gauge would still be useful when his phone's battery dies.