Introducing George

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Worryingly this new engine is not massively smaller than George's real engine...

LOL

You could remove the fan belt and get an electric fan for it

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Worryingly this new engine is not massively smaller than George's real engine...

Imagine the weight savings if you swapped it in

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by 320touring

Interesting to hear what you're saying re the WAI- I imagine the electronics used to meter air intake in your engine are too complex to be fooled by the "hot air" arguement...

Mine,on the other hand...

I think its much simpler than that - because the intake "box" is directly on top of the engine it gets to a specific temp all the time, so there isn't any effect of the WAI vs not using it. So the electronics are not getting any warmer temps than normal anyway.

The installation in the original Daihatsu the engine was designed for have a device which may help with faster warm up.

[Arragonis]

Update - the Electric motor has proved to be a bit of a failure - Mrs A has banned it from running due to noise - maybe if I added Slick 50 ? Also the cam-belt mechanism has proved to be unreliable allowing the timing to slip by a tooth or so on the belt. It will only get worse.

Tried an alternative route around Edinburgh - basically going the other way around the city instead of the route I normally take. The distance is about the same, maybe an additional mile in the new route compared to the normal one.

In the mornings it really isn't a starter due to the time it takes because of traffic - roughly 50% longer depending on when I set off.

On the way home though it takes about the same time - maybe 2-5 minutes more - and the traffic flow is more "hypermile friendly" - i.e. no crawling traffic, you are either moving or not so the engine can be shut off. Got an average of 82.3 using that route vs high 60s on my normal route. I need to try it a few more times to check traffic flows now that people are getting back into the miserable existence of working in Edinburgh after the break.

<SmallRant>Edinburgh is a city where the council hates people using cars but allows the building of things like shopping centres and zillions of new shopping centres, apartment blocks, and even the offices of uk.gov in Scotland by the waterfront, which means zillions of people want to drive there.

Buses are no use as they have to use the same roads and the new train set (i.e. the trams) don't go there - genius!</SmallRant>

And breathe.

EDIT - Other planned mods now I have some spare pennies will be LED tail and indicator bulbs - already have LED sidelights - and perhaps some DRLs on the front like the new Aygo has.

[320touring]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Tried an alternative route around Edinburgh - basically going the other way around the city instead of the route I normally take. The distance is about the same, maybe an additional mile in the new route compared to the normal one.

In the mornings it really isn't a starter due to the time it takes because of traffic - roughly 50% longer depending on when I set off.

On the way home though it takes about the same time - maybe 2-5 minutes more - and the traffic flow is more "hypermile friendly" - i.e. no crawling traffic, you are either moving or not so the engine can be shut off. Got an average of 82.3 using that route vs high 60s on my normal route. I need to try it a few more times to check traffic flows now that people are getting back into the miserable existence of working in Edinburgh after the break.

<SmallRant>Edinburgh is a city where the council hates people using cars but allows the building of things like shopping centres and zillions of new shopping centres, apartment blocks, and even the offices of uk.gov in Scotland by the waterfront, which means zillions of people want to drive there.

Buses are no use as they have to use the same roads and the new train set (i.e. the trams) don't go there - genius!</SmallRant>

And breathe.

I don't envy you, that top part is a nightmare! I have a garage I use in Restalrig, and getting in/out of there can be hellish.

how far along the a720 do you have to go to get to work (what Junction?) ever considered the "Midlothian" side of things? penty roads that run parallel

EDIT - Other planned mods now I have some spare pennies will be LED tail and indicator bulbs - already have LED sidelights - and perhaps some DRLs on the front like the new Aygo has.

where did you get the sidelights? tempted to get them and led indicators for the BMW- reduce the current consumption. Headlights will get the 50% brighter h1 (55w) bulbs, as I'm a fan of seeing where I'm going

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by 320touring

how far along the a720 do you have to go to get to work (what Junction?) ever considered the "Midlothian" side of things? penty roads that run parallel

I come off at Straighton, and there is only the sort road by the 720 from the ski place I think. Plus Midlothian has more traffic lights (permanent and temporary) per mile than anywhere I know.

Thanks to this traffic "management" I come off and then go through LoanHead instead of using the main road - there are 11 sets of lights in 1 mile that way.

Originally Posted by 320touring

where did you get the sidelights? tempted to get them and led indicators for the BMW- reduce the current consumption.

The bay of flea was my source for the LEDs - nothing fancy, just the ones Halfords do too - no idea if they make a difference to current consumption but they are brighter so I can use the headlights less - which has an effect on GPH.

Originally Posted by 320touring

Headlights will get the 50% brighter h1 (55w) bulbs, as I'm a fan of seeing where I'm going

Osram Nightbreakers are the ones I have been recommended and may switch too as I find the standard lights a little dull, or I'm getting old - again.

[Arragonis]

PS2 - of course the new Aygo facelift differs only in the front bumper shape - hmmm.

[Piwoslaw]

Are you lookiing for any, or almost any, LED DRLs, or would you like to fit the newer OEMs? In the latter case, would it be a direct replacement? I understand that they fit the new bumper, but what about the one you have? And if you were to replace the whole bumper, then would that be a direct fit?

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Are you lookiing for any, or almost any, LED DRLs, or would you like to fit the newer OEMs? In the latter case, would it be a direct replacement? I understand that they fit the new bumper, but what about the one you have? And if you were to replace the whole bumper, then would that be a direct fit?

The current bumper I have doesn't have a space for DRLs - they were not an option even for a dealer fit when I bought George. A guy who does loads of bug modifications on a different forum is (apparently) doing a DRL conversion which fits into the foglight spaces and as I don't have foglights I may copy his method onto George. The Ring Lyra kit has all the wiring to make them road legal here - i.e. off with side and headlights, on with ignition etc. The limitations on height and distance from the sides is the tricky bit.

I was pondering the new bumper as I think it will be a straight fit, but I read someone had been quoted £300 just for the moulding, so when you add painting, fitting and the lights, well, maybe not. I could DIY it but my painting skills are rubbish.

It looks all of the bugs have been modified so that they all have the (Aygo) front wings and bonnet (hood) with the raised centre part, but different bumpers which would make sense to save money and also rationalise the production lines as the new bugs are due next year. I assume the factory is currently gearing up for that so one less different thing to worry about for them.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

The current bumper I have doesn't have a space for DRLs - they were not an option even for a dealer fit when I bought George.

Same here, but that didn't stop me:

I got mine installed in about 2 hours (not counting the wiring). The only plastics I had to cut were behind the DRLs, and was only a few square cm.

It should be easy for you to find LEDs that fit between your grille's ribs - there are many, many more shapes and sizes available now than when I did mine 3 years ago