Long intro from western Mass
 

Hi, my name's Dan and I own a '05 Toyota Corolla LE A/T. Originally a few years back when I started modding my car, I was into performance (quicker acceleration), but now geared toward fuel economy and don't care about acceleration. I discoved that the mods I did do helped with fuel economy a little :).

I have been doing some minor hypermiling techniques such as letting off the gas way ahead when I see a red light and watching traffic, smooth and steady acceleration from stops, not going more than 65 MPH on the highway, and some other things. I've been recording my f/e every fill up and have a SGII. One thing that hurts my f/e is living in western MA and dealing with the hills, especially because I live on a mountain roughly 300+ ft above my town. I have been averaging 36-37 MPG with a car that only gets 26-35 MPG as per the EPA ratings. I have a sheet metal underbody panel that I did a few months ago, but it didn't seem to help much :(. With the winter approaching, i definitely plan to do a grille block.

I'm open to any advice or help and would love to learn how to get even better f/e.

Sorry for such a long intro, here's a pic of my car

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...2/IMG_3407.jpg

welcome.I have driven out that way. it is quite hilly. your fuel is doing good.

I have not figured out the under belly pan yet, I am glad you were honest. I have never used one, its ridiculous.

there is alot to find around the forum. I am simple, but there is deeper thoughts. alot of it repeated often.

Welcome....I know those hills though I do live in town so don't have to deal with them regularly. I too was into performance and I agree that performance mods can help MPG if they are aimed at increasing engine efficiency and you drive for mileage. That is especially true if your normal driving terrain requires that you use your gas pedal for more than just a place to rest your right foot. I think that your belly pan probably only makes a measurable difference at highway speeds and I would pay attention during the winter to make sure that it doesn't ride up on deep snow and leave you with your wheels spinning. That happened to me once in my Corvette, I backed over a snow bank and the spare tire cover under the rear rode up onto the snow and took enough weight off my rear wheels that I couldn't move.:o Good luck with your efforts.

Welcome fellow Masshole! I also have a Toyota Corolla, though mine is a 2002 with a manual transmission, I have to say that the belly pan is one of the more likely mods to help your fuel economy on the highway, do you do much highway driving? Have you considered installing a grill-block? That is one of the most effective and cheapest mods you can do. Good luck and again, welcome to Ecomodder!

Thanks for the welcome guys

I usually do about a 50/50 city/highway mix. I definitely am planning to do a grill-block soon.