Hello new here 2008 Suzuki SX4 Sport Sedan MT
 

I have been checking out the site. I'm amazed at the results some have had with there mpg. I live in just outside of Denver Colorado I comute 37 miles each way to work. I grew up in Vegas and have heavy foot most of the time. So it has been a real difficult for me to change the way I drive. I love to drive and I like to drive fast. So my plan is to use the money I save on gas for toys for the car. My average mpg was 32.4. All I have done so far is change they way I drive and have managed to bump my average to 37.1. That seems to max with just driving habits. 95 percent of my drive is all highway. I will still put my foot into it when I head up to mountains since that when I find driving most enjoyable. The only mod I have done to the car is a K&N air filter. So I am looking for Ideas to save money on the daily grind. I must note that I'm not willing to go with out the creature comforts I spend way to much time in the car each week to not be comfortable. Thank you in advance for you input.

could try a scanguage? I've been reading about suzuki alot lately. Don't think I'll get one anytime soon but they seem to be very nice cars. Like the sx4 very much. Is your sx4 awd or fwd? what trim level, manual or auto? Welcome.

It is a FWD MT transmission. Happy to report my average is up to 38.2, my car now displays avg mpg as well as mpg on the go. I have the convienience package. Power everything. Mods I am considering is tires, underbelly pan if if i can justify the effort. Adding fog lights they will fill the cavities from not having them. maybe reprogram the ecu if it does not cost to much. I figure that these enhancments will allow the car to to save money on the drive to to a from work must will make the car faster when I want to have fun on the mountain roads

Since your mostly highway. Aeromods will definitely give you the bang for the buck. Belly pan, tire pressure, grill block to start and try to slow down as much as you can stand. What's the highway EPA for your car?

Specs on the car is as follows
2.0-liter, 143-horsepower (at 5800 rpm) and 136 lb-ft of torque (at 3500 rpm)
EPA estimates are 22 city and 30 highway
Engine Type dual overhead cam 16-valve aluminum
alloy inline 4-cylinder
Engine Size 2.0 liters / x cu. in.
Horsepower 143 @ 5800 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) 136 @ 3500 rpm
Transmission 5-speed manual
Wheelbase / Length 98.4 in. / 177.6 in.
Curb Weight 2668 lbs.
Pounds Per Horsepower 18.7
Fuel Capacity 13.2 gal.
Fuel Requirement 87-octane unleaded regular gasoline
Tires P205/50 VR17 Dunlop SP Sport 7000
Brakes, front/rear vented disc / solid disc,
ABS and EBD standard
Suspension, front/rear independent MacPherson strut /
semi-independent torsion beam axle
Drivetrain transverse front engine,
front-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE
EPA Fuel Economy - miles per gallon
city / highway / observed 22 / 30 / 27
0 to 60 mph 9.2 sec


Fifth gear in this car is a real disipointment and is not geared properly for the states most of the areas I drive the speed limit is 75 so at those speeds the fuel economy drops considerably. So my plan was to change the tires that are now worn enough to not be safe for the upcoming winter from 205/50/17 to 225/55/17. I know I may take a small hit for the wider size but that is ok since it will enhance grip in the turns and that is where I typically push the fun factor. Since the tire is a little taller it will fill the gap between the tire and fender. I think it will help the final gearing a little, do I have that right? There is close to 4 inches of gap. I'm at 36000 so when I hit 60000 and the stock struts are worn out I wll be droping the ride 2.5 inches maybe 3. Will blocking the lower opening on bumper make that much of a difference? How much can I gain from underpanning, the entire car? Any mods I do has to look good so I'm at a loss on how to block the lower bumper opening it is pretty big. I will not block the upper portion I will not risk overheating the car. I have a 100,000 mile warranty to keep in mind.

I gained 7% fuel economy with a 50% grill block, a windshield wiper block, and a smooth front and rear belly pan. All of the mods were done with coroplast, think campaign signs. The ones I got had a vynal layer on them that peeled right off, leaving a nice white surface to work with. Doing an upper grill block is preferable (leaving the lower one open/partially open) as it screws less with your aerodynamics. Pop your hood an look at where there is a radiator, in my car, there was only a radiator on one side, so the other side got the grill block.
Your taller tires would work well with better aerodynamics, since the lower load seen (due to improved aerodynamics) means less power needed (so taller gearing is preferable). Just remember to not go TOO high, as you still need to be able to accelerate. Also, remember that you are going to be screwing with the speed reading you are getting. My speedo is off by 6% due to the larger tires I am running.

What rpms are you running at 70-75?

wyatt,

thanks for the info so it looks like I have some things to do I will do my research and think it to death, what ever i do will have to be cheap and look good. I am not willing to uglifiy my car to mpg. My avg is now up to 39.5 so i am really pleased with just driving habits on the daily grind to and from work. i have not played with air pressure in the tires yet. i forgot to check on the RPM's I will do that on the way home. I did not hit 70 this morning i was following a fed ex truck (2.5 secs behind him) most of the way so i did not exceed 65. I have had really good luck letting other cars break up the wind for me. so if it wasnt for that i do not think my results would be nearly as good. I always maintain a safe distance according to the laws and doing so is still helpful.

Ok I took some notes on the way into work these are my RPM's on the highway no cars in front of me in 5th gear
70mph 3000RPM
75mph 3200RPM
80mph 3500RPM
85mph 3700RPM

Your already 30% over highway EPA. Some people take quite awhile to get there. Took me 1.5years to get 50% over EPA. So you are well on your way.
Read up on some of the advanced hypermilling techniques. Now that you have the basics the advanced ones "might" bring some fun to driving without having to "go-fast".

I agree with the others your most bang for the buck will be lots of little aero changes. Each one maybe only a percent but do 5-10 of them and they start adding up.

If you could stand to run 60 MPH you could see a pretty good increase in FE.:)

It might be different in the US, but 205/50/17 is unusually narrow for 17" here, so wider tyres are cheaper !

It will make all gears longer.
Tyre size calculator.

They'll all help, but it's difficult to say by how much as every car is different.

The biggest gains are usually to be made thru driving style and lower speed, unless you want to go all out on aerodynamic mods and start adding very visible things like a boattail, wheelskirts and a redesigned front fender.

Speed and high fuel economy takes something like basjoos' aerocivic. :)

Block it on the inside and paint the block black - car manufacturers are doing the same.

See if the radiator extends down to the lower opening - it probably will - if so it can grab cold air down there.

Obviously, it's advisable to monitor intake and coolant temp. before and after this kind of mod.

I ran those speeds to answer the question someone had for me. I ran the tire caculation and this is what I came up with.

Stock Tire - 205/50R17 >Search Tires Tire 1 - 225/55R17 >Search Tires
Section Width: 8.07 in 205 mm
Section Width: 8.85 in 225 mm

Rim Diameter: 17 in 431.8 mm
Rim Diameter: 17 in 431.8 mm

Rim Width Range: 5.5 - 7.5 in
Rim Width Range: 6 - 8 in

Overall Diameter: 25.07 in 636.77 mm
Overall Diameter: 26.74 in 679.19 mm

Sidewall Height: 4.03 in 102.36 mm
Sidewall Height: 4.87 in 123.69 mm

Radius: 12.53 in 318.26 mm
Radius: 13.37 in 339.59 mm

Circumference: 78.75 in 2000.2 mm
Circumference: 84.00 in 2133.6 mm

Revs per Mile: 829.6
Revs per Mile: 777.8

Actual Speed: 60 mph 100 km/h
Speedometer1: 56.2 mph 93.7 km/h

Speedometer Difference: - Speedometer Difference: 6.659% too slow
Diameter Difference: - Diameter Difference: 6.25%
If I could drive 60 the entire way to work that would be great but 18 miles of my trip is in a 75 zone, so unless I can trail a semi that is going that slow I have to go at least 65.

The rest of the drive is in a 65 zone so it is easier to keep the speeds down, it is also a good deal of stop and go traffice getting into downtown Denver, so the speeds are usually pretty slow. We have a hour glass freeway 5 lanes to 3 lanes to 5 lanes again so the traffic backs up and then flows ok to bottleneck again. We could all save alot of fuel consumption if the roads were better designed.

I have no problem with driving slower and saving gas. But on the weekends going up to the mountains, I will drive for the enjoyment of it and not for fuel economy. I can alway coast most of the way home coming back to recoupe the fun I had on the mountain roads. I am not trying to save the world, I just want to save some money so I have more funds for toys in the car. My next project is a car PC, that will make it nice for monitoring the car. I will be installing a second monitor to replace the insrument cluster to monitor all of the stats of the car.

Right now i am looking into how I want to do the grill block upper and lower. I think I will block the lower opening completely and block the middle of the upper one leaving a 1 inch opening around the outside so the engine can still bring in fresh air to keep it cool and whatch the temps closely after that. I think all that is left to do is my method of exicution.

Good news my dash is reading an an average of 40.2mpg I think it could be better but the last coulple of days the traffic has been really bad. I still need to adjust the air pressure in the tires maybe I will get to that this weekend, not sure how much of a differnce to expect from the tires. Is there a limit or recomendation as to what is safe?

Thanks again for all the suggestions and support.