I just bought Canada's cheapest 3-cylinder Mitsubishi Mirage. EcoMods now in progress...

[MetroMPG]

Now that the headlight is secured to the car again, the quarter is back on... aero mods!

Kamm & skirts...




Coro wheel discs...



Air dam, passenger mirror blank ...



I wish I'd kept all the mods I made back in 2014 for the Mirage that Mitsubishi loaned me to review. Woulda saved me a bunch of time.




Thread: 2014 Mirage aeromods A-B test: grille block, mini-Kammback, air dam, mirrors, 1 wiper

Oh, I also taped up the many panel gaps in the front of the car, between the headlights, bumper, hood, fenders.


I'm going to pick up a sheet of black coroplast later this aft.

[Xist]

Was that 1989 Accord the size of my 2000 Civic?

I do not even know when I moved my car from the garage to next to the driveway and that is all that I have driven her since I blew the head gasket last year. I never have time to work on my car!

I wish that I had not broken my power steering pump and ripped off the bumper... it is bad enough that I need to fix random repairs and the crazy damage my brother does.

[MetroMPG]

Cut to the chase: 56 mpg US / 4.2 L/100 km for its first fuel log entry.

Boo. Stupid fuel hog. I want my money back!

It's the 2nd best fill I've had in a Mirage. (The best was 60 MPG US for the SMCC economy run back in 2014). But it's still somewhat underwhelming, eh?

The tank included 350 km of freeway driving the car back from Toronto, plus a bit of Toronto city driving, all of which dragged down the average. And mostly un-modded (PSI, partial grille block, passenger mirror delete) for much of the tank.

I've had some more promising round trips lately:




^ That one was on a trip I do often in the summer, where I'd normally see a high-70 MPG result in the Metro or Firefly. Considering ambient temps were around freezing, not terrible! But it was a pretty hardcore drive (slow average speed, tons of EOC).

Here's a more "normal" drive from last weekend:






That one was even colder: -10 C (14 F) start, -5 C by mid-day. Mostly a back road/scenic route journey with little other traffic, flat-ish terrain, 80 km/h = 50 mph limit. Dry conditions, light wind @ ~10 km/h.

Driving with load was the main technique used, with an average cruising speed around the limit (OK, probably a little bit under, especially before the drivetrain warmed up) .

Stupid fuel hog needs moar mods! Especially a coolant heater.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Not bad!

Any plans to do an alternator delete eventually like Daox? With the shorter gearing do you feel much more engine drag when taking your food off the gas pedal compared to the Metros?

[MetroMPG]

I really don't do enough DFCO to know. I always need to scrub surface rust off my brake rotors, so if I need to slow down, the engine is usually off and I just hit the binders.


Alternator control would be cool to do, yes.



===



So, this evening I went to pull the passenger seats out of the car for temporary weight reduction... but I can't pull the front passenger one because it's got a side airbag built in, and the computer will freak out.


Stupid smart car! I want my money back.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

So, this evening I went to pull the passenger seats out of the car for temporary weight reduction... but I can't pull the front passenger one because it's got a side airbag built in, and the computer will freak out.


Stupid smart car! I want my money back.

The airbag computer won't know the difference between the airbag and a resistor.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I owned a manual Accord! Ancient history though. 1989 model. Pop-up headlights!

I got my first 89 Accord in 93. Loved it so much I replaced it with an 89 Accord in 2000. Manuals were easier to find back in the 80s.

Originally Posted by Xist

Was that 1989 Accord the size of my 2000 Civic?

It was the same size as my 2013 Fit, so probably.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Gasoline Fumes

The airbag computer won't know the difference between the airbag and a resistor.

And the occupant sensor too?



I suppose I could just look these things up on one of those online inquiry motors.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

And the occupant sensor too?



I suppose I could just look these things up on one of those online inquiry motors.

I've never dealt with occupant sensors.

[Fat Charlie]

A lot of times it's a "seat angle sensor".

Maybe mount it on the driver's seat frame?