I have been lurking as a guest for several weeks, and am very impressed with the site. I have been watching metrompg for about a year from when I used to own a metro myself. It was totaled in a parking lot last winter.
I decided to just drive my jeep XJ for the rest of the winter and through the snow here in Wyoming, but by spring...I was looking toward getting better gas mileage again either on the motorcycle, or by looking for a new project vehicle.
A friend's son went into the military and was selling a 1998 Neon SOHC, 5speed, as he had no way to take it with him. it was a little bigger than the Metro and had 4 doors, so it seemed worthwhile. Unfortunately, it turned out to also have a spun bearing. So, while deciding whether to replace the motor or rebuild, I was driving down a side-street near my place and saw a 1997 DOHC Auto for sale. The blocks on these engines are pretty much a direct swap, so I figured it was worth the cost and having the spare parts.
It ran so well that I decided to go the other direction. I have been taking parts off of the '98 and going to the '97. So far most of the mods have been for runability, with FE being a concern at the same time. Fueleconomy.gov rates this vehicle in it's current configuration at 22/31 with 25 combined. That is with the auto trans (more on that later). My current best in a combined tank is 35 and all highway tank has been 39, so I feel like it is on the way.
For the record, I like driving, so the goal was to ecomod the car to get better than 40mpg combined without having to hypermile. Cruise control and AC as well as some creature comforts are necessary fir the well being of my family life, and anyone who has been to Wyoming knows that 50-100 miles between towns could really drag on you if the comfort level was not there. So far, I have added a free flowing WAI, an adjustable thermostat for the cooling fans, the optional narrower Bridgestone touring tires (inflated to sidewall pressure) removed the "fan" hubcaps and replaced with the stock ones which are much smoother, added a "redneck" airdam to the front lip, and of course tuned the car up. I have also rin an auto-rx cleaniing through the engine and am curently on the rinse phase. After that is done I will be going to synthetic fluids.
I tend to drive kind of "middle of the pack". I accelerate briskly, not excessively, but also not at a crawl. I do the indicated speed limit as long as conditions permit and tend to drive to the 1/4 tank mark in the summer and the 1/2 in the winter.
Currently, the car is still running on the ATX, but since I have a parts car with an MTX, which gets MUCH better MPG, I will likely change that over this winter when the snow makes it difficult to drive the Neon. I'll go back to driving the jeep then since that is what it was made for
Between now and then the next several projects are.
1. Finish installation of cruise control from Donor Car
2. Install the adjustable lowering springs to put the car closer to the road. Install sway bars at that time and have an alignment done.
3. free flowing muffler
4. Air "escape" holes in rear bumper.
Other Ideas I am playing with since the car really is an experiment
Vortex Generators
Browns Gas (hho) injector
scanguage
Side skirts
LED lights (not much of a change I know)
This is a hobby/testing car, and so I figure whatever I save as compared to driving the jeep can get put back into the car, so the add-ons will come slowly except for the ones I can remove from the parts car or do for low cost.
A little about me, I turned wrenches professionally for about 10 years before going into computers abot 15 years ago, so I am pretty comfortable with modding a vehicle for the purpose I am aiming for. Currently I work as a net-admin, but still stay up on my hobby of working on cars and motorcycles.
Jim
Today
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