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Modder status:Noob Saibot
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Athens, I HATE GA, USA
Posts: 11
Thanks: 6
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I can't escape the Saturn S Series xD
My story begins a short while after getting my learners permit. My brother had aquired a 1995 Saturn Sl1 from our step-mother for his first car, and this was what both he and I learned to drive a manual in. I was enthused by the idea that this car was so much more fun and intuitive to drive, and at the same time I could achieve a better mpg with a manual. I was instantly convinced that I would never own an automatic vehicle, and so far, I haven't. :D
Fun fact: my dad had his cousin, Tony, replace the motor, in this car due to horriffic Saturn oil problems, with a '96 motor.
So I actually got my lisence when I was almost 19, and shortly after I turned 19 I aquired a 1996 Saturn Sl(as in the base model with rack and pinion steering that I miss so...) that was reconditioned. This car, when I got it, was a complete mess... It burnt so much oil that my brother and I started cleaning the spark plugs daily. At it's worst, I was refilling my oil before every start and using approx 5 qts/week. I was using a tank every two weeks, and still getting 30 mpg through all of that crap, and through all of that crap, I formed a bond with that car. When my brother found stopleak chunks and water on the dipstick one day, I promised her that I'd give her the rest she needed, and restore her to working condition, and with my next income tax check, I did just that. I bought a 95 SOHC, and Tony replaced the motor in my car for me.
Fun Fact: what Tony's computer program said was a 16 hour job, he accomplished in 4. I love my mechanic. :D
All of the love that I had put into my car was now returned to me in it's reborn state. I instantly saw my gas mileage increase to around 37-38/tank, and instantly, I wanted more. I began coming up with my own hypermiling techniques. The entire time I owned this car, I was completely oblivious to the hypermiling community. In the slightly rolling hills of northeast Georgia, I was able to achieve 42 mpg on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this reconditioned car was bound for the scrapyard, as I am a self induced insomniac... you can deduce the rest. T-T
A few years later, I'm living in the High Rockies of Colorado, and a few months ago I bought a new car. 1995 Saturn Sl1(see the pattern forming xD). The owner of the car was very upset that it was sitting, as he had lost hisd lisence to a DUI. He had apparently formed the same relationship with this car that I had formed with mine. He decided he wanted me to have it, after a conversation we had about the research I was doing on HHO(DON'T SAY IT! I have already learned my fallacies). I also told him about my background with Saturns, and he was instantly convinced that I was the only one he wanted to sell it to, and I took it off of his hands for a measly $500.
After learning about my fallacy in HHO, I began looking into proven ways to increase efficiency, and this website is what I found. With the reletively few mods and the driving habit adjustments that I have done, so far, I am getting 40 mpg. Pretty impressive considering my house is at about 8.4~k feet above sea level and cross winds, steep grades, and weather are inevitable. I also live off of I70, so timely acceleration to interstate speeds are also something that I cannot avoid, more often than not.
I'm already becoming very ambitious, and one day, I hope to be the first member of Team Cummins, with an eco modded Semi truck! \m/ I am lisenced to operate class A vehicles, so owner operator is definately a possible future for me, although I havent held a CDL job yet in the year I've had the lisence, due to the aforementioned wreck(which comes off of my 3 year record 2 days from today!!!)
On a side note, I'm also a computer gamer, and have long wanted to enter the case modding community, so this kind of stuff looks like a bigger version of that hobby with a lot more return. xD Look forward to seeing an aero S Series coming from this direction sometime in the future, as I plan to make the Aquajet live up to the name the previous owner gave it. :D
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