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

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

And the occupant sensor too?

That's usually just a switch.

[MetroMPG]

Definitely have to research the seat issue more.

For now, I'm replacing cardboard with coroplast.

Kammback first...

[MetroMPG]

On just in time for a torrential rain warning for tomorrow that would have killed the cardboard version.



You can get away with cardboard mods in winter, but only as long as it stays below freezing!



Just need to replace the cardboard air dam before the skies open.

[Daox]

Looks good!

What kind of FE increase do you think the kamm gives you?

[MetroMPG]

I think the improvement it's pretty small, mostly because the rear roofline & spoiler are already shaped decently for low drag.

If I recall, when I tested the kammback on the Firefly, it was good for something like a 4% MPG gain at my typical testing speed of 80 km/h. But the rear of the Firefly is much less optimized from the factory than the Mirage back end.

When I tested a smaller kamm as just one item in a group of mods on a Mirage I was loaned 5 years ago, the whole group was good for an improvement of 4.5 % @ 90 km/h / 56 mph.


Edit: another Mirage Forum member made and tested one and couldn't detect any difference. Not sure of testing methodology, though.

[MetroMPG]

Replaced the cardboard with coro...








I learned one of the downsides of the Mirage's Cadillac-soft suspension is you're gonna scrape your air dam on a lot more dips & bumps than on a different car with same front clearance but firmer suspenders!

[MetroMPG]

Not surprisingly, the car loves warmer weather:




^ Temps went above freezing this weekend, and that was the result of a 50 mile / 80 km drive at or near the 80 km/h speed limit.



Details: 3C / 37 F ambient, wet roads, 10 km/h / 6 mph tailwind. Lots of EOC in the sub/urban portions on either end of the trip.



Of course, by the time I headed back on the return trip, the wind speed had doubled and was now a 20 km/h headwind. The car reported 62.

---

I'm nearing the next fill-up. The computer says 60.5 for the tank, which will probably be more like 58 if I'm lucky.

This car is a fuel-sucking pig! Needs moar mods. Box cavity?

[MetroMPG]

I really should rename it to Fuel Sucking Pig...

My 2nd measured fill was only marginally better than the first: 56.6 MPG US vs. 56 last time.

Part of the problem I realized is the MPG instrumenation has been somewhat screwed up (reading high) from keying-off to kill the engine. Thus affecting the feedback loop to my brain, hands & feet.

Motivated me to add a warm air intake (simple aluminum dryer ducting between the intake and exhaust manifold area).


Plus, the latest mod installed just yesterday is a proper shifter-mounted kill switch (via Crank Position Sensor interrupt). It might be the first Mirage with this particular mod over on the Mirage forum, so I shared a bit of a how-to...

[MetroMPG]

I ordered this:




1k Watts, baby!

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Definitely have to research the seat issue more.

For now, I'm replacing cardboard with coroplast.

Kammback first...

how did you make that? i don't think it will effect the visibility too much on my tahoe

I noticed there is a circle of turbulent air in the back the picks up water from the ground (when it's not raining the water still gets on the the back glass from the wet ground) i did not see this on other suvs


I also suggest if your going to use it put a reflective sticker on it most jurisdictions would claim you have too much over hang on the car i see california it's can be less then 4 feet overhang 24604.(a)




do you think this can be done as long as it's less then 4 feet I should be ok it would only be the top portion were the glass is as not to block the light signals...