Introducing George

[Arragonis]

Oh and PS - if anyone can suggest improvements to my technique please do.

[euromodder]

I hope it's the camera that's shaking so badly ?
I'm afraid I can't see it through because of the shaking, it makes me dizzy.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Oh and PS - if anyone can suggest improvements to my technique please do.

It looks like the acceleration may have been at bit brisk at a few points.

[focus1.6uk]

60+ mpg is good for the commute! A few suggestions:

The camera would probably be more steady if it was mounted rigidly. My brother has had good results in his car by using a homemade wooden mount fitted to the metal posts of the passengers headrest.

I find that turning the engine off during neutral coast to a distant set of lights, especially down hill can bring up average mpg versus waiting til the car is stopped to switch off. Im happy with the effort needed for when the PAS is inactive and when the vacuum for the brake servo eventually runs out when EOC.

In small cars I've driven (Saxo 1.1 and Cinquecento Sporting 1.1) keeping the revs below 4000 and using extra load, instead of more revs, helps by avoiding the huge increase in BSFC as friction increases drastically with high revs.

The Ford and Vauxhall owner's manuals I have at the moment advise along these lines "use 3/4 or 2/3 of full throttle and 2/3 or 3/4 maximum engine speed reduces consumption upto 50% vs full throttle".

Ive seen similar advice in most manuals ive come across so I similar generic statement should be fairly applicable to George

Apologies if I've missed anything or if you know my points and I've wasted everyones time on the internet

[Arragonis]

The camera mount is quite nice as I can move it about, I put it behind the mirror so it doesn't get in the way. It is a flex mount though and the phone is heavy so it does bounce a little. I'll see what I can do about it, I may be able to use the mount and anchor it against something with padding to prevent rattles.

Thanks for the tips - any acceleration is only to get it out of the way - less time at lower MPGs, or thats the theory anyway.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Thanks for the tips - any acceleration is only to get it out of the way - less time at lower MPGs, or thats the theory anyway.

But you may be taking the engine out of the sweet spot island on the BSFC map. I know on my Prius the sweet spot is at way less than max HP and is at only moderate acceleration.

[Arragonis]

True, I'm trying to find a map suitable for this engine. I did think about doing it myself but others have tried and failed with other cars. One thing I have noticed is that you can accelerate with WOT and then if you lift off maybe 15% there is a sweet spot where George accelerates more.

Looking under the bonnet George looks to have an old-style wire connected to the throttle fitment, but I am told he does run fly by wire.

Mr Haynes has finally delivered a manual for Aygos, and I have a copy - which I am studying...

[Arragonis]

Update - only the MMT ones do fly by wire.

[Arragonis]

Video of the other half - uploading takes ages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OBohATaSfI

[larrybuck]

Wow! A little more congestion on the way home!

I was happy to pick out the 4 motorcycles. I was beginning to wonder if hardly anyone rode there!

At about the 17:20 min. mark when you were stopped at the light, I couldn't help but notice ahead of you in the lane to your right; the white car wagon, soon joined by a dark colored cousin right behind him. That defenately looked like a throwback in style, though 3rd brakelights were present.
They reminded me of older Thames taxi's?? Hope you can clear that up for me!

It was basically '84 when the 3rd brake light started here. Those 2 vehicles made me think of a Checkers cab here, that eventually grew crash bumpers, side marker lights, etc., until they finally quit making them.
A humorous memory of them for me; was during my high school years, my town actually used them as police cars. I think ours had 327 Chevies in them. The interiors were so plain that I saw a policeman literally washing out the inside with a garden hose! Plenty of room inside for prisoners.

I got to see them in "chase mode several times" ( not after me, LOL!) With the big light bar on top, it just looked like a big white elephant trying to lope along over rises and small hills! It makes me laugh!

Anyway; back to your commute; I see reality finally hit at the 26 min. where you had to halt for 2 signal changes.

Previous to that; pretty much, it appeared you had a charmed life in regards to nearly meeting all the green lights.

I noticed that your leafs changing color are slower than here. We are about done here, the color has maxxed out, and even a touch of snow is predicted for here next weekend, even at only 200 feet elevation.

Again: Thanks for sharing your ride with all of us!

It gave me the idea of recording a motorcycle ride out in the country here!


Does anyone know if a low tech 3-4 year old Verizon phone, or a 1yr. Sprint Evo phone might be well suited for such a task? How many continuous minutes on battery alone might these guys go for?


Since the bike I have in mind has a bikini fairing, trying to figure out how, and where to mount it, and fight vibration too, seems a serious challenge!

Happy early Thanksgiving, because no matter what country most of us Ecomodders live in; we daily have a lot to be thankful for!!!