Moro from Finland
 

This site has been interesting. Lots of ideas and nice practical cases.

I drive with Opel Astra Caravan 1.6 16v 2001 and at the moment my last year fuel consumption is 5.94 l / 100km. (39.6 MPG)

At the moment the temperature is about -30 C (-22F) and the best way to keep fuel consumption low is to drive with bicycle. :)

These are my modifications at the moment:

- motor block heater (must be here)
- Dual xenon headlights
- LED daytime running lights
- some other LED bulbs
- higher tyre pressures
- internat grill block
- 0W-40 motor oils
- Scangauge II
- thin line windshield wipers
- often bicyle in the trunk :)

Next likely mods:

- 0W-30 "fuel economy" motoroil
- low viscosity full synthetic ATF fluid (manual gearbox)

I have though about these (some more and some less):

- temperature compensated plug in battery charger
- bigger alternator pulley
- ride height mod ? lower ? adjustable ? (need higher in the winters... "hillamaasturi")
- aerodynamically cleaner underside of the car
- rear wheel skirts
- smoother wheel covers
- outer grill block (active or passive)
- all bulbs to ledbulbs (not xenon headlights)
- roof rack removal (longitudinal)
- small (boat tail style) wing back of the car
- alternator removal (just quick belt removal)
- bigger battery capacity (needed if alternator is off)
- electromagnetic alternator clutch
- better battery technic (AGM ?)
- internal radio antenna
- smaller side mirrors
- some small aerodynamical mods
- powersteering delete (not legal :( ... but could burn the fuse :rolleyes: )
- removeable boat tale bicycle rack to hook :D
- in case of total motor downfall --> 1.2 liter motor
- in case of total gearbox downfall --> longer geared gearbox

i think that was most of the ideas ...

Hello Tollo and welcome to EcoModder:)

It looks like you have already brought your fuel consumption down, which is a very good start. Keep up the good work, you'll find lots of help in this forum.
Have you seen how Vekke has modded his Seat Cordoba Vario?

I noticed Vekke but haven't seen those pictures before.

" :thumbup: " need to say more ? :)

Does anyone else have problems to get approvement from wife/girlfriend to your mods ? :)

We both drive with the same car, so I need the "approvement" and I can't do mods that change the look of the car or need extra attention when driving.

You're not the only one with that problem here;) I got lucky, as my wife is also eco, plus my Kammback and rear skirts look almost OEM, so I got away with them. No boattail, though. There are things you can do which are (almost) invisible, and since it's not a good idea to keep everything a secret (you don't want her to find out by herself), then stress that your mods will be fully reversible. Here's a short list of things you can try to get past her:

• Automatic grille block,
• Full bellypan,
• Smooth hub caps,
• Low RR tires,
• Roof rack delete,
• Warm air intake (for gas, not diesel),
• Engine kill button.

Good luck!!

It is hard to know if your wife dislikes attention, and/or association with Green causes, or if she has been looking at the enthusiast magazines, in which the cars are liberally draped with fine-looking women on their way to a swim. You may even be facing both problems. Maybe you can make eco-modding a trade for something she does.
I got my girlfriend pissed off when I wouldn't burn much carbon to see her, but she now combines trips to visit me.

does you contry drive'd on the lefts side of the rode or on the rite side?

We have right side traffic. Our neighbour Sweden changed their left side traffic on 1967 to right side.

----

There is lot's of discussion of the warm air intake but this is my conclusion:

You can get some benefits when:
-Engine is oversized to eco driving (like mine 1.6l)
-Low compression ratio (mine 10.5 ... not so low but low enough ?)
-You do not drive in hot conditions (intake air is already warm enough)

I'm still "processing..." to next mod...

going on...
 

Here is my update if someone is interested.

Last year average is now 5.8 l / 100km. (slowly going down) (40.5 US MPG)

last mods done:

- ScanGauge installed
- Mobil ATF SHC transmission fluid to manual gearbox works fine in astra G manual gearbox (not yet problems)
- Roofrack removal done (OEM caravan racks)
- Mobil 0W-30 fueleconomy oil in motor (not yet problems)
- Higher frontgrill blocked and motor air intake under hood. (intake air 8 Kelvin higher helps in cold conditions)
- Cleaning at least 20kg of extra stuff.

Next mods ??

- something with alternator (double size pulley ? )
- aerodynamical mods mostly under the car
- led bulbs to registerplate
- finishing the roofrack removal (covers)
- finishing the higher frontgrill (something else than PVC tape :) )
- lower suspension ?

- no need for new tyres. Economic driving makes tyres last almost forever.