Hello from Poland
 

I read some texts on car efficiency.

Having 1984 Mercedes 2 liter gas, manual transmission 190E
I'm looking ways to improve the ride.


Best wishes for you,

Andrew.

Hello Andrew, welcome to EcoModder:)

Have you done any mods (grille block, higher tire pressure, weight reduction) or changed your driving (slow down, pulse & glide, engine off at red lights) yet?

Please add your Mercedes to the Garage and start a fuel log.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for replys!

I have just read the thread of Piwoslaw and was impressed with the white nun-like mod. Aerodynamics is real point for thought in FE, many cars are made in the market selling rules, not concenrning much aerodynamics. I thought MB 190 sedan can also easily have such roof extender.

Pictures from the under-car also show some field of improvement.
You guy do a heroic job, ecodriving the overcrowded roads of Poland.

The only eco-gauge in my car is underpressure meter. MB 190E has no electronic fuel measurement, so it will be no explicit figures.. I drive 7 liters of gas in 100 km in long run [34 mpg] - it is fairly good for me and guys from mercedes forum didn't belive. [i asked if they have any failures in their cars for driving reacher? :D ]

Made an engine cylinder pressure-back repair and changed the engine synchro-chain was the work for recreating brand conditions.

For me it is a basis.

I have changed tyres from 195/60 R 15 to Michelin economy 175/50 R15 rear and 175/55 R15 front which made the car swinging lighter [ligther steering wheel action and whole vechicle lighter mobility]. Reading posts of changing width I am convinced to the real world figures:

A - 55.9 mpg (US) average (regular tires)
B - 60.9 mpg (US) average (donut tires)" -these are from MetroMPG

I am interested in mods which have engineering effect:

a) fuel preheating [gas]
youtube "Fuel Pre Heater Project for 89 Ford Mustang"

b) spark plug mod
"Firestorm Spark Plug"
i saw DIY welding project to obtain these results.

I can weld so it can be a challenge of a sort.

I have also done much reading on HHO.

we will see what happens.. :rolleyes:

The results on a sedan are less than on a car with a rear hatch like Piwoslaws 206SW.

Given the weigh and size, that's certainly not bad.

Narrower tyres will help, but their overall diameter is a lot smaller than the 195/60 !
The 175/55 front tyres are 6,8% smaller ; the rear 175/50 tyres are 9.6% smaller, so they turn almost 10% faster, meaning your engine does 10% more rpm.
And that's not good.

Are you compensating for this difference ?
Because your car will show 7% or 10% more kilometers than it is really doing (depending on where the speed / distance is measured).

You can compare tyre sizes here :
Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing

Euromodder is right about the tire size. You should keep your engine's rpms as low as possible, and make sure you take your tire size into account when measuring distance. Have you checked your odometer with a GPS?

Don't worry about the Mercedes forum, I've got the same with other Peugeot owners... But it's nothing to worry about - my fuel consumption has given a few people something to think about.

> Given the weigh and size, that's certainly not bad.

you are very kind! :)


> their overall diameter is a lot smaller

i'm precisely aware of that :thumbup:

Euromod, Pivoslaw [i think the pronounciacion could be this way ;)]

OF COURSE motor pumping is not needed.

i suspect that you think the smaller diameter tyres are by chance.. or worse - by wrong reasoning.

I engineered it due to the long gear changes [my gearbox is manual].
With bigger [brand numbers'] tyres I couldn't change to the next gear earlier:

3rd could propel the car only from 50km/h upward
4th could propel the car only from 70 km/h upward

so I had to ride the vechicle with 2nd gear in curved streets
and ride 3rd in long lines..

very reeeving.. not pleasant.
Big torque - yes, but what it was for in easy driving?

so.. the the solution was not m'em bigger, but smaller :D
to make next gear go earlier.

tyre calculator was my friend and workshop guys were
openly distrustful and unwilling to confide what am doing [and cooperate also :(].


And now:

3rd can propel the car from 40km/h
4th can propel the car from 60 km/h

Have I modified the gearbox? :)

in functionnal manner - yes i have modified the transmission factor.

I have not increased the revs, i've leaped them down.
i am a electrical engineer with phd in economic optimization [that's a fact]. hihi
so tuning things is close to my interests.

I haven't checked GPS, but it is a good idea.

>>I thought MB 190 sedan can also easily have such roof extender.
>The results on a sedan are less than on a car with a rear hatch like Piwoslaws 206SW.

i see..
I thought how to make the extender, how to glue it :) - there is an opening along the window rubber - it could help.


Does the front windshield side fence make the additional drag?
It is a pocket -like one [very stylish but very draggy..?].
I think it can.

From other mods:
- i have changed oil in gearbox and transmission to leaner one [as lean as in automatic gearbox - nearly water] and add super-antifriction additive [not ptfe, not fat, glutty oil type].
- the same oil additive to the engine - less friction and a lot cleaner oil now.
- have changed motor oil from 10W40 to 5W30 - leaner one. These days the oils have so high grades: "SJ" "SL"

Works well.


Thank you for your posts! hope my is also of interest.

That's a nice trick. It's worth doing if you don't need higher speeds. BTW, is your transmission a 4- or 5-speed? Have you found any information on other forums about swapping the gearbox for one with more gears and/or better gear ratios?
Have you read Groar's Megane modding thread? He's tried both extending the roof of his sedan and extending the trunk (boot) hatch, and it seems that the best answer is a combination of both.

as a new user i am pressed to be "quiet"
[my administrator, many-forums user and power user practice is OF COURSE useless
read this:]
--------------------------------------------
To be able to send PMs your post count must be 10 or greater.

You currently have 4 posts and you can send PMs to following users only:
Mike, SVOboy, MetroMPG, Darin, Daox, TomO, Lazarus, RH77, AndrewJ, tasdrouille
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so I answer to Pivoslaw private, but in the topic :

Dzięki Adam za podpowiedzi!

Co do wątku w technicznych to zobaczę najpierw, ale można oczywiście zrobić nowy.

Za matę podziękuję, ponieważ auto stoi w garażu i raczej nie jeżdżę tak dużo, aby istotnie poczuć jej kupno :)

Natomiast w ogóle się zastanawiam nad kołderką jakąś dla silnika - szybciej się ogrzeje, a chłodzenie i tak chłodzi w dużym obiegu, jeśli potrzeba. To jest w linii Twoich prac z zasłanianiem chłodnicy.

Pozdrawiam, Andrzej.

Sorry about that, I forgot that there is a post count limit for PMs. It's one of the ways we try to fight with spammers. You'll be up to 10 soon:)

I'll move my tech-talk over to your car's thread:
AKWroclaw's Mercedes 190E modding, mending and bending

PS: A garażu to tylko zazdrościć...