How do I score?
 

So how do I score in the 40mpgs in my neon? I went from 26 up to 32... Is there a secret to this?

Some things that I don't understand about ecomodding that might help:

1st question:::::The thermostat.... are people replacing them with higher temp ones? can i do that? should I do that? what is the usual advantages? Mine usually stays pretty low (about half) so I could spare some degrees if it will help me enough...

2nd question:::::And what is "lean burn" will someone explain this to me? can I do that to my car? *sorry im ignorant* :o

3ed question:::::I have no idea how to do this and dont have the money anyways but how much would it cost to convert to manual? how much would that make me go up?

Thanks for the help :D

Sorry about all the CRX-CRAZY comments I make all the time...
I think I just realized that it cant be THAT hard to get a good 40mpg in the neon so I think I will just keep the neon and be happy with it :)

1. I don't know. A block heater would probably do more good, but since you're in SC, it might not make too much of a difference.

2. Lean burn is a feature on certain engines, I know Honda and Mitsubishi have them, that basically reuses some exhaust product as gas again. Some quick definitions are available here. It's not really a 'bolt-on' modification you can just add to your car, unless you want to swap the entire engine with a lean burn engine. Unless another model of your car had a lean-burn engine, it would be pretty difficult to add the engine, you'd have to make custom engine mounts, fit the engine to the transmission, and deal with other issues as well.

3. It will cost whatever a manual transmission, clutch pedal, shifter assembly, and some other various parts will cost you at a junkyard, eBay, or wherever else you can find them. Let's say $500 in parts, plus the time it will take you to swap the transmission, and figure out all the other electronic stuff as well....the newer the car, the harder it is, for the most part. You probably wouldn't see an overall financial gain for a while, unless you could sell the automatic parts for a decent amount. Personally, I would save the manual swap for when your automatic starts acting funky, or developing leaks, or some other reason to replace it. I'm sure that you can find a guide online for converting a Neon to a manual. Neon's are fairly common cars, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a guide on how to do it.

Also, what does your typical route look like? Unless you're driving highway miles, 40MPG is going to be very tough with an automatic. If you're getting 32 city, then that is very impressive, and you really should be happy with it.

Hey thanks!

I'm sorry but what exactly is a block heater, I understand it heats the block of the engine but is it something i bolt to the block or almost just like a normal heater that i just plug in and put under the engine to heat it up a little before i drive?

Jeez, that would be awesome if I can go up on the heat on the thermostat b/c it never gets over half anyways, even in the worst conditions iv only gone up like 1 mm haha.. :)

My typical route I would say is litterally probably 1/2 suburbs 1/2 highway
I usually try to go 40 in the suburban roads and 55 on highway, unless its night, which case I usually go 50-55...

for my old fiero I got to choose from 160, 180, and 195 degree thermostats all for the same model so there should be a way to go up on the neon...

There is probably a 185 or 190* tstat in there now. I'm assuming you have the 2.4 w/ a 3 speed auto, right?

There is no lean burn option for Neons (or any Chrysler, for that matter..) There is EGR, but it's difficult to mess with safely.

Well my stock thermostat is a 195 so I would need a little higher

Not likely to find one, honestly. 195 is fairly high as it is. The Tstat options are actually only there if you're having problems with running too hot. If you block your grille, it's probably OK to go down to a lower temp tstat, to give your radiator more of a chance to cool the fluid from a lower temp than normal.

IF you're overcooling, obviously, you'd want a higher t-stat.

Your OEM temp gauge is crap - get a thermometer or a scangauge or something to actually monitor your real engine temps. That OEM gauge reads normal within a certain range of temps... not the actual temp. It won't tell you that you're overheating until you're right near danger zone.

So what engine/trans do you have?

2.0 Liter
3 speed auto

Your auto has lockup, but it's fluid controlled.

You dont have a TCU/TCM, so you can swap in a 5 speed from a Neon/PTC at will, as long as it's one that comes from a 2.0/2.4 engine.

The longest gears are from base model PTC's. You'll need to swap in the PCM from a 5 speed Neon, though.

Check Neons.org for swap info, but I probably wouldn't bother signing up there, it's a "brat" community.

You've got a 3 speed and you get into 3rd gear around 35 mph? If it's anything like my stepkid's 91 Cavalier (2.2 L4, 3 spd auto), it does really well keeping at 45 tops. Pushing it to 55 just drinks the gas so fast you'd swear there was a hole in the tank. The lack of OD is what hurts when you have to keep higher speeds to keep from backing up traffic. Is there any different way you can take?

I agree, you've probably got the higher temp thermostat in there. If you wanna run hotter, you can try various grille blocks, which should also improve aero. Even with my grille blocked, it doesn't run any hotter, but I know my gauge would read hotter if the engine was. Of course if I lived in SC where it really gets warm I might notice a difference.

Oh another thing, how many miles is your commute? If it is pretty short, that would make it harder to get better mpg.

I think my commute is usually about 20 miles a day.

Based on my own observations, your transmission can take short stints of EOC, like 200 ft to a red light, for instance.

This might help you out a bit. If you know you're going to stop at the light anyway, you might as well shut 'er down a few feet before hand, and coast up to the light in Neutral.

Else, you could always think about weight reduction and aero modding, not that there's too many bad lines on the car to begin with. The grille is wholly unnecessarily large, though, and those side mirrors could stand to be smaller/inside the car, for starters.

Thinking about the back of the car, you might benefit from a deck-extension spoiler, like those used on NHRA cars (but not as hideous) to help reattach flow from the roofline at a virtual 12-14* angle. Easy enough to visualize, just run a string from your roof at a 12* angle, and another one at a 14* angle, and see how long your deck spoiler would have to be to reattach flow beyond the deck lid.

Smooth wheel covers, or something approximating them, as well as rear wheel skirts and a partial "sunscreen" type Kamm extension over the rear window would all be valid mods that could easily be made to look half decent and not cost that much. They'd all get you closer to 40 as well.

I think the coup de grace, so to speak, will be when you get some more experience under your belt, finally get down and greasy, and swap that tranny over to a 5 speed. That will put you "over the hill" in terms of fuel economy, for sure.

I'm estimating that when I do the 5 speed swap in Cara, I should have no problem seeing 33-35 MPG average, with my normal driving cycle (average tank speed ~40MPH) mostly due to the ability to take advantage of longer gearing, and shift at lower engine speeds, and maintain low vehicle speed in a 1:1 relationship w/ the input shaft of the transmission, rather than the variable input of the torque convertor (when under 40 MPH). There's something to be said for a direct clutch link, ya know?

Look at this neon :p This is what I want :D
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1252175290
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1252175290

might look into the neons history... the rated mpg moves around weird, why does the 97 get 3mpg better on the highway?

hwy mpg for 3spd auto
2000, 01 - 28
1999 - 29
1995, 96, 98 - 30
1997 - 31

Without actually looking id say it probably has something to do with the weight/size of the neon getting bigger each year b/c they went from sporty-ish to more like a small family car but that is just me guessing

but I never thought of that, good idea though... thanks

That's right, it's weight and power differences, plus the generational differences, including aero changes.

This is yet another WTF moment for me as far as MPG and neons go... This is a AUTO neon from this website (obviously)
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1252273612

i'd tend to think that the first 2 entries are not actual, at best mileage and fuel were rounded off. unless you contact the owner, i'd ignore those 2 entries and just look at the rest of the fuel log.

That would still not explain the other really great scores for the same car...
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1252275292

havent you had similar numbers? those tanks were all $4/gal+ fillups, i'm guessin the guy was pretty motivated.

Not to mention that no two cars are maintained the same, and thus, no two cars operate the same. One car will always use more fuel than another. The idea is to get within a range of fuel economy, whether you're slightly over, slightly under, or exact with someone else.

Yeah I have gotten 32.6 & 33.2 but the random 34, That must be all highway right?

more likely, but i really have no idea... what makes you think that car is a 2000 and not a 97 that gets the better epa ratings? i dont see a year for it. but they have it down for being rated 31hwy

The 34 is a short fill, making it more prone to error. It could have just been filled at a different station or something, making it not completely fill up. Either way, the other scores are similar to yours, so what's the problem? They might not have been going 70-80 when they got the 32-33 tanks.