Hi, new to the forum

[minardifans]

Hi, My name is Rob, and I am new to all this ecomodding stuff, but I am keen to learn.

I am from Wales in the UK and currently own a Citroen Picasso 2.0 HDI.

After gradual increases in fuel prices I have taken steps to increase the fuel economy of my car. The Picasso is my No2 car (my wife drives a newer one) and mine is used simply to take my son to school and myself to work, so my first step towards saving fuel was to remove all the rear 3 seats out of the car along with any tools and other junk out of the boot. I have stored the seats in the loft for future use. Believe me these seats are heavy, I reckon all three together come to about 90Kgs. Plus all the stuff in the boot so I reckon about 100kgs.

My workplace is about 15 miles from where I live and after removing all that weight my MPG improved from 38.9mpg tp 44.1mpg (UK)

So this has now become an obsession. I have made a couple of little splitters that throw the air away from the front tyres, put all new tyres on a pumped them up to the handbook max and folded the passenger side mirror away and my MPG was now 49.6MPG.

My next steps are to fill in the grill (the upper grill on the Picasso is cosmetic only) and to fit smooth wheel trims and windscreen wipers... see how it goes.

Any other tips and hints towards saving fuel would be appreciated. I am about to read the section about Hypermilling? see if that helps too. Great site, I'm finding it ever so interesting.

[larrybuck]

You have certainly made some GREAT gains in a very short period of time.

The only other drastic thing that some people do is: join an auto club w towing/flat repair,
so they don't have to carry the weight of the spare/jack. This idea usually used strictly
with urbanites.

I don't go with that myself; just mentioned mostly in humor. I prefer to have a spare.

[Peter7307]

Hey Rob , Welcome to the place.
Have a look through the "65+ Efficiency mods" list at the top of the page.

Some of it won't be applicable to you but there is a lot which can be used regardless of vehicle type , environment etc.

By the way 50 MPG from a Picasso IS pretty impressive already.

Cheers for now ,

Peter.

[minardifans]

Nice comment about the spare tyre... It's very difficult to get the spare tyre off the picasso anyway because the holding cage for it underneath the car is rather worn. On the new grand picasso there is no spare tyre because where the spare tyre would normally go there are two extra seats. So I could in theory do away with the spare tyre and simply buy a foam kit to keep in the car like the new car comes with. Great idea.

I checked all the tyre pressures last night and noticed that both rear tyres were down a bit, both front and back are meant to be 33psi and none were over 30, so we'll see what difference that makes today. Also I've taken off the wheel trims for now because they stick out and the plain uncovered wheels don't. I have plenty of spare corex (that plastic cardboard like stuff) board at work that I will acquire to cover them.

[brucepick]

More tyre pressure = less flexing of the rubber as the flat spot moves to meet the pavement. Less flexing = less energy needed to constantly reshape the tyre.

If your tires are now in the low 30's psi range, you definitely have the possibility of gaining mpg by increasing the pressure. My first suggestion would be to pump the tires to whatever is imprinted on the sidewalls, and see how you like the handling and the um, seat comfort. I'd guess that handling will improve, but you will have to see how it plays out on your car.

[Tango Charlie]

Welcome to EM, Rob!
Definitely peruse the 100+ Hypermilling Tips, as your driving technique has the largest influence on your mileage. We refer to this as "tightening the nut behind the wheel".

And some of us are just nuttier than others.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by minardifans

I checked all the tyre pressures last night and noticed that both rear tyres were down a bit, both front and back are meant to be 33psi and none were over 30

33psi recommended ?
That's just about flat tyres

Have a look what the tyre manufacturer says on the sidewall - it'll likely be a lot higher.
Crank up the pressure - 45 psi should really be possible without the ride getting bouncy. If it gets bouncy, back off the pressure a bit.

I'm running 51 psi, but I'm going to let the pressure on the rear tyres drop a bit to around 45 psi - the rear of my car is lightened like you've done, and it's sidestepping a bit too much for my liking.

I have plenty of spare corex (that plastic cardboard like stuff) board at work

It's what the Yanks call coroplast.


There's a lot to be gained by altering your driving style.

By the mpg you're getting, you're already using engine braking to slow down.
Well, you can still do better than that
Engine braking is still braking, so you're wasting energy/fuel.

Coasting in Neutral will help your mileage - and in Wales you should have some good opportunities.
If the downhill slope is to steep, you obviously keep it in gear and use engine braking to control speed - using no fuel at all as it cuts off.
But on those not-so-steep downhills, there's a good chance you can sustain speed with the engine in neutral, and gravity driving the car.

Slowing down can also be done by coasting in neutral - but you'll have to start it way earlier than usual with engine braking.
With a bit of practice, you'll get to know the points along the route where you need to be at X mph to get to the next light, the next stopsign, the next sharp turn or whatever, with an appropriate speed.

Accelerate swiftly, but shift up rather early if you don't already - 1800 rpm will probably work well on the 2L HDi .
Shift from 1 into 2 right away, within a car length or so.


Park efficiently: with a warm engine, park so that you can drive away immediately without manoeuvring with a cold engine.
If available, use parking spaces where you can drive straight through without any manoeuvring at all.


There plenty more tips though

[minardifans]

I've tried the coasting in neutral, there are a few big downhill slopes on my route and it certainly helps.

[minardifans]

The car didn't do to well over the last two days as we had high winds over here in wales which really affects a car this tall and slab sided. Nearly 50MPG one day, 45 the next two days. :r

And I agree about the comments about the nut behind the wheel. I have been limiting my speed to no more than 70mph as I normally drive at *couch* mph. And not pressing the gas when I come to a slope, just allowing the car to slow until I reach the peak.