My Green Skoda Fabia (VW Polo) R3 CRTDI - finally smashed the 3L / 80MPG barrier

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by GreenTDI

I found an astonishing article about Gerhard Plattner who drove a stock Fabia Greenline to nearly 107 MPG on a 1246 mile trip. Assuming this is real, what could be achieved with aerodynamic and weight-reductive changes to this car, AKA ecomodding And how does that man drive? That's perhaps the biggest question.

https://www.carscoops.com/2011/05/ge...-again-drives/

It is interesting that they don't disclose an average speed, or even the amount of time it took him to do the trip, his times of departure and arrival, or the route he took.

You can be sure he did all of the hypermiling tricks that you see us doing here. It appears that he might have had an escort by some sort of police force on the highways. My bet is that he was drafting those cars. He would also have his tire pressuring exceedingly high. He would likely be using the pulse and glide driving technique and the variety of other techniques that are talked about on this site and others.

He doesn't disclose that full set of techniques, because he does not want people imitating him en mass. He appears to have a minor PR purpose in promoting to people that they day have in their hands the ability to help reduce greenhouse gases by not driving like a lunatic with a leadfoot. Strange career!

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by GreenTDI

A sportfilter could have more effect after chip tuning, when more air is required.
The air intake is already in front of the engine compartment, so it's getting cool air directly from the upper grill.

You may want to look at TDIclub.com for good information about the VW diesel. They do not recommend aftermarket cone style filters as the factory filter is already very good and free flowing. I have seen where some owners will add a second duct to the air box.

Originally Posted by GreenTDI

I'm thinking about removing the passenger windshield wiper. Looking at the regulations, I see that it's allowed. Hurray!

I have tuft tested the hood/windshield/A pillar/side window area send found the air is flowing forward at the base of the windshield. The wipers are in a “recirculation bubble” so nothing is to be gained there, at least on the Golf.

Originally Posted by GreenTDI

I found an astonishing article about Gerhard Plattner who drove a stock Fabia Greenline to nearly 107 MPG on a 1246 mile trip.

I suspect he is using E-Off pulse and glide to get those astonishing numbers. I do not recommend doing this in a turbo diesel except as an extreme mpg stunt. You could probably achieve those numbers in a totally stock Fabia Greenline. I plan to keep my car a long time and I would worry about turbo issues among other things.

[GreenTDI]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

It is interesting that they don't disclose an average speed, or even the amount of time it took him to do the trip, his times of departure and arrival, or the route he took.

He drove the distance mainly on the biggest highway in Germany (back and forth) in 2 days with few brakes not longer than an hour, so the engine didn't cool down. Found a video (in Spanish) about his stunt. On that footage he's not slipstreaming any car, he's going 55 MPH and at the end I see an average speed of 51 MPH on his BC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy1zqsAXOZE

But of course he would have used techniques that are not recommended for everyone, unless you know what you are doing (and that's a large minority, unfortunately) That may explain the lack of information.

[GreenTDI]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

They do not recommend aftermarket cone style filters as the factory filter is already very good and free flowing.

Yes I've heard that before. A diesel engine normally gets an abundance of air to work with. Maybe if it got 100hp/liter it could benefit from another filter. That could be a test for the dynamometer when it will get the software upgrade ...

Originally Posted by COcyclist

. The wipers are in a “pressure bubble” so nothing is to be gained there, at least on the Golf.

The wipers stick out a bit on my car, they don't sit under the hood but quite high on the window. That's different for every car.

[oil pan 4]

Do you have brake drag reduction springs?

[ptitviet]

Nice post!!!

Is there any additional potential in your car by changing final gear ratio? What is your RPM at 80km/h for instance? Lowering rpm will result in an increased engine load and therefore a better fuel efficiency.

[GreenTDI]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Do you have brake drag reduction springs?

Looked it up ont YouTube. What a great invention! And quite easy to do myself. Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by ptitviet

Nice post!!!

Is there any additional potential in your car by changing final gear ratio? What is your RPM at 80km/h for instance? Lowering rpm will result in an increased engine load and therefore a better fuel efficiency.

1500 rpm at 80 km/h or 50 mph. Lower rpm's in highest gear and a slight ascent of the road are causing the engine to hum. So given the standard engine output (~80 hp) 5th gear is long enough.
The cheapest way to extend the gears is to increase the tire size.
The Fabia has a 195/55 tire which is too wide and too small. Next tire could be 175/70 and would result in 1400 rpm at 80 km/h.

[GreenTDI]

Got a picture of the consumption on a flat road and a windless condition at 16°C without changes (so before installation of the grill cover)
At 100 km/h or 62mph at 1900 rpm - my favorite highway speed - it was consuming 3,3 - 3,4 l/100km or 69,2 - 71,3 MPG according BC.
That's not bad at that speed.

[oil pan 4]

Our stoopid gas guzzling hybrid Hyundai car would only get 48 to 50mpg at that speed with the low rolling resistance tires.
Moat people don't realize it but your diesel is actually a hybrid.

[GreenTDI]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Moat people don't realize it but your diesel is actually a hybrid.

So that's why there is only room for a 10 gallon fuel tank. They filled the rest with batteries! Dieselgate was not enough, VW?