How did YOU find EcoModder.com?
 

With EM getting popular it scores high in search engines, plus publicity in articles. But back when I found EcoModder it was somewhere between the 5th and 7th page of a Google search, but I found that out only after finding EM. Here's the story:

First we go back 7-8 years, I was in a small city in the middle of the Utah desert for 2 days. There, I noticed an old (circa 1950's or 1960's) pick-up truck with rear wheel skirts. I believe they where DIY's, but the rust on them and on the truck helped them blend right in.
Fast forward to late 2008.
The Wife and I are planning to buy our first car, and since we are both eco-minded weirdos we were looking for something with very good FE. But that wasn't enough for me, no, I wanted to further reduce the fuel consumption of the car we hadn't even bought yet. So, I googled. I had those wheel skirts in the back of my head all that time, but I didn't even know what they were called, but after a while I found the following article at MetroMPG.com: Testing grille blocking & wheel skirts: +5.7% improvement. Nice. Finally some real info. From there I quickly found a link to EcoModder.com, and, well, here I am. My name is Adam, I've been addicted since...

So what's your story? How did you stumble along? Do you remember with thread brought you here, or did you find the EcoModder.com in the media?

I think I got here from http://www.metrompg.com. Feels like years ago... oh wait, it has been years. :)

Fleeing from another gas mileage forum (gs) that started down the path to the dark side - snake oil add-ons that don't work.

...while GOOGLE-searching for information on the MPG-gauges.

I was part of 4btswaps.com for the longest time, and it was because i wanted to get a 4bt put into my Explorer for fuel economy. Time went by, and I realized I wanted to learn more about improving gas mileage, but kept finding snake oil sites instead. I googled several different phrases and finally stumbled on this site, the first one that wasn't trying to sell me something. Been here ever since.

EDIT: After reading Laurentiu's post below me, I recall also that it was the 100+ hypermiling tip that brought me to this site. I read an article about a new fad called "hypermiling" and googled it, which brought me the the link listed in the next post.

Thanks to Laurentiu for reminding me!

Yes, I remember very well, it was the 100+ hypermiling tips,

100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

And I found that after googling the word "hypermiling" with the word forum.
Such a strange word I thought then...hypermiling...:confused:

:p

Dox, linked me to the site (from Matrix Owners).

First I saw a video of someone on YouTube showing their Toyota Yaris getting 40+MPG on a Scan Gauge II. Then I looked up Scan Gauge II and found Gas Savers. I saw MetroMPG posting their and looked at some of the links in his signature and found this place.

I found ecomodder by searching for the word hypermiling. Which I found while searching for economical (not new) cars options. Initially got hooked reading basjoos thread for making the aerocivic. What the "F___" is a basjoos? I found that one too. ;-)

I think I came over from a mileage log sig-link on CleanMPG. How I got to Clean MPG, I'm totally not sure.

I was doing searches on what I could do to my Jeep to improve power, emissions and FE. I think the search was had something to do with how high of a compression ratio I could go on pump gas and not blow up the engine.

Google searching for a fuel economy gauge led to the Scan Gauge which led to ecomodder among other fuel economy links.

Saw something on "hypermiling" either in a magazine or TV, googled it. Then about 5 websites later, I found this one.

Coincidentally, I started MetroMPG.com in September 2005, the same week GasSavers started up.

Eventually someone there linked to one of my posts, and that's how I found out about that forum. So I signed up. Met Ben (SVOboy) and a bunch of others.

Trivia: Ben and I were going to officially take over GasSavers from Matt (we and a few other mods had basically been running the place without him anyway), but our agreement fell apart at the last minute.

So we struck out on our own and started EcoModder.

My story is somewhat like Darin's, except I started out at honda-tech, which I met Matt and we brainstormed GasSavers, eventually founding it...then Darin tells the rest :)

I came here via a google search for FE instrumentation.

I think this site has a lot to offer people, so I like to drop links occasionally on other sites like InsightCentral. Plus there's the EcoModder.com lettering on my car.

Hello -

In 2005 we moved into our first home, but it was 35 miles from work. I combed the interweb for all sorts of MPG solutions and joined GasSavers. SVOboy contacted me when EM was starting out and I joined up. I *think* my car is the 27th added to the garage because the URL for my car has "vehicleid=27" in it.

CarloSW2

Since Metro has #11 and #12, and SVOBoy has #13, I reckon you're the 17th.

Robert -

Woo-hoo! I guess that makes me an early-adopter. Now if I could only afford an Aptera I could adopt that too ...

CarloSW2

So you didn't find ecomodder, you founded it? Just thought the play on words was irresistable!

BTW thanks for striking out on your own!

I found this site in a hotel in Jackson Tennessee.

I was on my way home from visiting the grandparents for Christmas in 2007. The hotel gave me my first internet access in over a week. While clicking around I found an article on wired.com about the Aerocivic.

A few weeks later, I filled up my paper fuel log for my old Hyundai. I signed up here when I remembered that Ecomodder had fuel logs.

Links from other forums.

I don't even bother to post on the same "other forums" any more.

regards
Mech

Like Daox, I found my way here via MetroMPG.com.

I remember reading the articles that Darin posted, always waiting for the next installment. Then the posting slowed and I found out why - he was working on articles here. The rest is history. Thanks Darin, you have contributed so much to the hypermiling community. :thumbup:

I came here via an article about Forkenswift, likely either from Fark or Slashdot.

while GOOGLEing for information on MPG mods

After getting my license I was driving my mom's "gas saver" car, a 1990 Mercedes Benz, until I got my own. Thing was I could actually observe the gas gauge's descent in a to-from trip across town and knew I could do better. One night in January I must have punched in those key words, "improving fuel economy", and found ecomodder. Since then, I've adjusted the nut behind the wheel and the rest is history :)

Googled megasquirt mpg improvements and somehow landed here. for last 6 months I've been an unregistered lurker.:thumbup:

Congrats on de-lurking, RobbMeeX!

I googled Forklift motor shaft and ended up here. Looks like just the place to get info on converting my riding mower to electric.

Googling MPG instrumentation and wound up here. I've always had an interest in aerodynamics and learning ways to make processes that I'm forced into doing *driving to and from work* more efficient. Now it's like a fun game of "how high can I get that number!".

:D

my younger brother told me about it. he came here a long time ago he said.

I learned about hypermiling a year ago, but didn't think too much of it. But when I saw ecomodding at GenVibe.com and saw an ecomodding/hypermiling article on MSN.com, I found this place.

Now I'm motivated. :thumbup:

I found a link someplace to the forkenswift.

Blame Allert Jacobs for that ;)
I was following some velomobile related links, and wound up here.

From someone's signature at cleanmpg.com :D

(Other than that I've been interested in hypermiling since I've got a vehicle.)

google is your friend,... after every search with useful information to getting the best possible FE lead me to here. So I figured its time to register.

I believe I was searching google for how to get better mpg since gas was so high at the time

Bump !
I was just about to create a thread asking the same thing, but did a search first.

Interesting reading. Thanks for posting the topic.

Personally, I joined this forum from CleanMPG when Darin created it. This site was laid out so much better with it's clean interface and uncluttered look. I was hooked !

( BTW For years I never could figure out what that picture was on the header. Then one day I finally saw that it was the Flea from the front with a motion blur filter, just like the " E" and the wrench in the logo, it just dawned on me one day. I think that logo is pure genius. )


I found CleanMPG and then this site by doing a search for automotive aerodynamics. I first started playing around with the aero on my cars in the early nineties. I added a cardboard kammback and a grilleblock to my mid 80s' Monte Carlo, but gave up on it when i read that the NASCAR version with a fully reworked front end and backlight only decreased in drag by a few counts. My mileage was horrible with that car ( about 13-15 ), and i knew any mods i did wouldn't show up anyway.
I bought a 280Z ( 240z bodystyle ) at the same time, thinking that the car was aerodynamic. What impressed me was the curvature of the windshield from the top view and the sleek look of the car.
I never would have guessed that the car had a Cd of .475 !
One thing I remember well about that car was how quickly it stopped when i let off the gas. The front end just swallowed air !

Before that, i had a '69 Camaro and found an absolute gem of a magazine article on ecomodding a 1969 Camaro - just like mine.

( Of all the cars to ecomod ...right ?? )

The magazine was from the late seventies / very early eighties and had lots of muscle cars with clown paint jobs ( multicolor stripes and shag carpet )
In the magazine article, they did coast down testing and also did some fluid testing using a tube with a dye. As the car came up to speed, airflow would push the fluid out and show the airflow pattern on the car.
The tests were very well, done and I would really love to have that magazine back.
I wish I knew the name of it. It was so unexpected to find a test like that in a magazine - something like " Rod & Custom " or similar was the name.
They tested a large homemade airdam using coast down testing and found that it actually hurt the mpg on the Camaro.
I really wish i still had that magazine.

I used to collect articles on aerodynamics as a teen and several of the articles Aerohead posts are quite familiar. Road &Track was good about printing the Cd of a car in the early 80s and early 90s when aero was a bragging point much like the horsepower is today.

Basjoos beat me to it when it came to aeromodding a Civic hatch, and I've been jealous of him ever since :-)
I bought the exact same Civic as he has in late 2000, and always planned a full aero rework, but just never had the guts to do it and not worry about what people thought of me.
Watching him do literally every mod i had in my head was strange. It was as if we had the exact same ideas.
I really admire the way he actually built that car, versus just dream about it.

If you Google "hypermiling in a Festiva" you'll see how I landed here, lol!

I had been driving Black Widow for almost two years and had never broken 45 mpg. I knew I should be able to do better, so as I started searching for ways to increase my mileage, Ecomodder.com was literally the first thing that popped up, and here I still am!

+1 for searching before posting :thumbup: