Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > EcoModding Central
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 11-22-2010, 11:48 PM   #1 (permalink)
Ecomodder en route
 
KITT222's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: South of the Cities, Minnesota
Posts: 190

Vib - '04 Pontiac Vibe base
Thanks: 10
Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts
I return with a car!

(Sorry, not sure where to put this, so I hope here is okay...)

Hello Ecomodder folks! I registered here as a lurker, and without a car, and just a permit a year or so ago. But now I return with a car and a license! The car is an '04 Pontiac Vibe with an auto transmission (I know, I know, but it's hard to find a Vibe that cheap, and even a manual Vibe in general!), sunroof, and alloy wheels and 78200 miles. A year and a half of research led me to this car, and I am happy! But my original intentions have held true: I want to squeeze every mile I can out of it. Especially considering I'm a teenager who'll have to pay for his own gas.

As a bit of a perk/get me up, I am doing some ecomodding as a school science project. I have 5 test subjects (me included) that will drive the car twice stock, get the average MPG, and then twice with the additions: upper and lower grill blocks, at least front wheel covers, wheel skirts, partial kammback, and wheel air deflectors. I have plenty of coroplast (thanks all to my dads friend) in the beautiful color of white.

I have mocked up most of it, but I need help with the rear wheel skirt. The rear bumper and rocker panels are curved way under, leaving the wheel mostly exposed. Currently I am thinking of something like those plastic mudflaps on both sides of the wheel well, with the skirt propped up by those things. Yet an issue is that we (my dad and I) don't want to drill holes into the car, so that makes mounting this a bit of an issue. So, yeah. I'll post pictures of my car later, and any help with the rear wheel skirts is appreciated!

-Thanks!

  Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 11-22-2010, 11:55 PM   #2 (permalink)
Dartmouth 2010
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hanover, NH
Posts: 6,447

Vegan Powa! - '91 Honda CRX DX
Team Honda
90 day: 66.52 mpg (US)
Thanks: 92
Thanked 122 Times in 90 Posts
Send a message via AIM to SVOboy Send a message via MSN to SVOboy Send a message via Yahoo to SVOboy
Do you have any pictures of the rear wheel well area so we can get a better idea of what you're talking about?
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2010, 10:26 AM   #3 (permalink)
Batman Junior
 
MetroMPG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,058
Thanked 6,957 Times in 3,602 Posts
Welcome back, Kitt.

Sounds fun to be making it the subject of a school project. I like the 5 sets of drivers idea.

Are you planning to make it a "blind" test? You could theoretically lead the driver to the car literally blindfolded, so they're not able to see whether they're about to drive the modded or un-modded version. (You'd have to mask the top of the rear window to hide the presense of the partial Kammback). It'd improve the validity of the experiment. Just a thought.

As for drilling into the car, I hear you. I also did not want to drill into my car's wheel arches to attach the skirts.

So I made these little brackets:







from: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...metro-103.html

I used the mud flap as an attachment point for the aft end of the skirt.

Keep us posted! I hope you'll share your project report with us.
__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2010, 05:20 PM   #4 (permalink)
Deadly Efficient
 
Tango Charlie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Goshen, Indiana
Posts: 1,234

Olivia - '03 Pontiac Vibe base
90 day: 36.01 mpg (US)

R2-D2 - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 58.81 mpg (US)
Thanks: 134
Thanked 176 Times in 91 Posts
Yay, another Vibe!
Here's what my rear wheel wells look like;





Yeah, not real easy to skirt. Not impossible by any means, though. I look forward to see what you come up with.
__________________
-Terry
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2010, 05:40 PM   #5 (permalink)
Ecomodder en route
 
KITT222's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: South of the Cities, Minnesota
Posts: 190

Vib - '04 Pontiac Vibe base
Thanks: 10
Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts
Geez Tango, my rear tires are bald compared to yours. They were like that when we bought it (last Sunday). Really need to press my dad for a new set. Metro, I think I'll progress with something like that, thanks! The pictures I have are WAY big. My camera takes HUGE pictures. On my 1024x850 (I think...) screen they are enormous, so I'll grab some with my humble phone and use those. I think I'll move to a build thread type of thing. Soon I am going off on my first real run with it to see what kind of MPG I can get. I'm not expecting anything too huge, since it's currently about 20 here, but I hope for something good.

As for blind testing, well, maybe. I am the only test subject who WANTS to see an increase, but I wouldn't taint my own data. My step-mom has a Corolla, and got it because it was cheap, and she rarely drives anywhere, so it wouldn't apply to her much. My sister, maybe, but she has a Celica with a sport bodykit. Cousin, Camaro V6 (looking for better car, IE Civic), and dad, big, loud full-size Chevy truck. I really saw this car as practical, stylish, and efficient, so I went for it. I'm really the only one who went for FE in buying their car, so I don't think they would taint the data either. Plus the car will probably be more 'slippery' with the mods, so they could figure it out.

And just as a general question: my dad rented a Mazda 3 auto from Iowa and drove 250 miles to home, and used 10 gallons of gas, so that means 25MPG. Is that right for the cold, or was there something up?
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2010, 09:18 PM   #6 (permalink)
Deadly Efficient
 
Tango Charlie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Goshen, Indiana
Posts: 1,234

Olivia - '03 Pontiac Vibe base
90 day: 36.01 mpg (US)

R2-D2 - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 58.81 mpg (US)
Thanks: 134
Thanked 176 Times in 91 Posts
Those are my new three-month-old Nokian EnTyres. So far, I haven't been too terribly impressed with their wet weather traction. Waiting to see what they're gonna do in the snow and ice this winter.

25mpg in a Mazda 3? I dunno, what's the EPA rating for it?
__________________
-Terry
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2010, 10:30 PM   #7 (permalink)
Ecomodder en route
 
KITT222's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: South of the Cities, Minnesota
Posts: 190

Vib - '04 Pontiac Vibe base
Thanks: 10
Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts
Almost the same as the Vibe: 33MPG hwy, and it was all highway on the way back (he flew down, and drove up).

All my pictures are too high quality and too big, (even the ones from my phone) to upload. I'll figure a way around it though. I'll find a way...

I also returned with 23.9MPG average on my little juant around town, but mostly because I let it sit for a few minutes warming up. The instant MPG was consistently reading mid-lower 30s (in between jumps to 114 and 76), which I would expect, at 50MPH. I'll get a solid number as time goes on though.

By the way Tango, just wanted you to know, your build thread with Olivia originally got me interested in the Vibe as a car. I did my research and it turns out to be a brilliant little car. So thanks for turning me on to it!

Last edited by KITT222; 11-23-2010 at 11:17 PM..
  Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to KITT222 For This Useful Post:
Tango Charlie (11-24-2010)
Old 11-24-2010, 01:16 AM   #8 (permalink)
Pokémoderator
 
cfg83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,864

1999 Saturn SW2 - '99 Saturn SW2 Wagon
Team Saturn
90 day: 40.49 mpg (US)
Thanks: 439
Thanked 530 Times in 356 Posts
KITT222 -

Welcome to EM! If you create an album, the pictures you upload to the album will be "autosized" for you. You can do that as follows :

1 - Click on "User CP" in upper-right corner of webpage
2 - Click on "Picture & Albums" along left column of webpage
3 - Click on "Add Album"
4 - Go Crazy!!!!

What is really nice is that if you click on the picture you have uploaded, you are given a URL that you can copy-paste into your reply :



PS - Love them Vibes!

CarloSW2
__________________

What's your EPA MPG? Go Here and find out!
American Solar Energy Society
  Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to cfg83 For This Useful Post:
KITT222 (11-24-2010)
Old 11-24-2010, 06:02 PM   #9 (permalink)
Ecomodder en route
 
KITT222's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: South of the Cities, Minnesota
Posts: 190

Vib - '04 Pontiac Vibe base
Thanks: 10
Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts
Aha! Thank you. Well here is a pair of picture of my Vibe from two nights ago in our garage before I sized up a few mods for it.



  Reply With Quote
Old 11-24-2010, 06:47 PM   #10 (permalink)
Batman Junior
 
MetroMPG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,058
Thanked 6,957 Times in 3,602 Posts
You haven't removed the roof racks yet?? :-O

__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread


Thread Tools


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Discussion on tire efficiency Ernie Rogers General Efficiency Discussion 69 12-27-2014 01:17 PM
Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift MetroMPG Fossil Fuel Free 1041 07-28-2014 09:19 AM
EcoModding for Beginners: Getting great gas mileage. SVOboy EcoModding Central 55 08-20-2012 11:34 PM
Electric Car Wind Generator Charger demo unit bennelson Fossil Fuel Free 12 04-28-2009 11:20 AM
$500 and 30mpg car? possible? olderthanme EcoModding Central 6 07-15-2008 09:37 PM



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com