Hypermiling tech that damages car parts

[fusion210]

Meh on the clutch, they're designed to last a long time. They're also designed to slip.
My beater lasted 65k hypermiled miles on a junkyard setup. A crusty flywheel from one car, disc from another car and finally the pressure plate from an entirely different third car. I couldn't tell you which one I grabbed the throw out bearing from. I didn't even use an alignment tool.

It only died because I was testing a reprogrammed PCM I bought to see if it was authentic. That alignment tool would have come in handy at 7,700rpm! The friction material on the disc managed to disappear. Limped it home and slapped in a different setup.

[California98Civic]

45K miles bump starting scores of times a day on the OEM 1998 clutch and flywheel, which have a total 220,000 miles on them. Still going strong.

I was having starter problems before my transmission swap. Seventeen months of daily driving later and maybe a dozen starts per day and that same OEM starter has not failed once.



james

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by theaveng

There are some techniques I think are a bad idea:

- forced autostop because it wears-out the ignition switch
- to neutral & then back in gear, because it wears-out the clutch faster
- "death turns" that make tires squeal & lose rubber

I prefer not to waste money repairing stuff.

Forced auto stop? If a car has start stop, why wouldn't one use it? If you mean EOC, then my engine off time surely makes up for it. Almost 2k right now. I guess if it all blew right now I could upgrade everything to premium equipment, and just redo it every two years.

If one properly uses their clutch, there is little to no wear. Instead of the constant shifting of an average person, one clutch use then engine off, then one clutch use back to where I was. Much better than using brakes, accelerating, and , many many shifts to be in the same position.

If your turns are resulting in death, please get an adult to take you to the police station. It is the only honorable thing to do. If your tires squeal, please put air in them. It will also help your fuel economy. It is important for me to use all of the tread on my tires, so I must keep an appropriate speed in turns.

Remember, outside apex outside! Go for as straight a line as possible, regardless if you are at turtle speed or murder mach one. I mean, death speed.

[mcrews]

Op,
You missed complaining about bad wear from over inflated tires.....

[markweatherill]

Top tip: Leave the window or sunroof open so you can enter and leave your vehicle without wearing out the door locks and hinges.

[Frank Lee]

My strategy: Leave vehicles stationary; walk or bike everywhere.

[H-Man]

Originally Posted by markweatherill

Top tip: Leave the window or sunroof open so you can enter and leave your vehicle without wearing out the door locks and hinges.

Top tip: Put 4 doughnut spares on your car so that you travel less distance per mile on the odometer and you go slower for a given speedometer reading.

[cowmeat]

I paid a thousand bucks for the Black Widow well over two years ago. The gas savings between my former Land Rover and the Festiva paid for the car in less than six months.
The gas savings for all the mods I've put on the Black Widow since I joined ecomodders have already paid off the mods. I've gained 17 mpg after joining the site, and I was already getting 43 mpg.
If I wear the clutch out bump starting, so be it! It's the original clutch, with 132,000 miles on it, it needed to be replaced before I bought the car, lol.

I assume you wouldn't bat an eye at the cost of coil overs, a cold air intake, full exhaust, etc . . . . . .

[Xist]

I remember reading an article where someone rode along with an Ecomodder, who had his entire route timed, and took a corner at twice the suggested speed. I remember Dad drove me somewhere in his Focus and took a corner at 50 MPH with a sign suggesting 25.

How much momentum do you lose making a 90° turn? Do you lose more momentum if your tires squeal? If I time the main light, I can EoC three-fifths of a mile through a left turn, up train tracks, and bump-start at a stop sign. I need to come to a complete stop with my engine running, but to me it makes more sense than turning the key.

For what it is worth, at least around here, I believe that you can be ticketed with "exhibition of speed" for squealing your tires, which at least used to give you the full compliment of points that you can receive before losing your license. If you also receive a speeding ticket or already had one, congratulations! You now ride a bike!

[backpacker3]

Even though you shouldn't perform "death turns" link xist was saying, they won't really damage your car unless one of 3 things happen;

1 you hit a pot hole
2 you blow out a shock or spring
3 you skid wildly out of control into the nearest solid immovable object

Will it wear your tire quicker sure but the car itself isn't going to have a problem.