My little econobox
 

Don't hate too much please! I have been working on this car for many years, and still have much to do.

1994 Ford Escort LX-Sport
Lowered 3" front, 2.5 rear (Raked stance, I am a muscle car fan at heart!)
1.9 SOHC, 32-38mpg,
Manual Trans
16x7 aluminum wheels/205-55 rubbers

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Full LED swap, Green HID's, Other than the HID lights, the whole setup consumes less power thus creating less electrical drain, thus less timing retardation when driving at night. Don't know if anyone elses does that or not, pretty sure it happens on all FI cars.

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Lots more to come, but if you got the time, you ain't got the money...

Never heard of an alt load/timing connection before.

I think I get what he means. Less engine load means the engine can run leaner. Less load on the altenator means less engine load. It`s either that or the drop in voltage is somehow retarding the spark advance.

I have to ask about that patina (the patchy, worn looking paint).
How did it happen? Normal wear over time, sanding/grinding off the paint, etc?
Is that your style? A rat rod thing?
Have you seen fuel efficiency improvement from weight savings of less paint?

I'm with Frank Lee.

I like it, the pic of the rear reminds me of a lx fox body. I always wanted to put the gt grill on mine to.I never got that kind of mpgs out of my 96. The patina is the new trend in cars not my fav but as they say to each his own.

Do you have any plans for more fe? 40 dosen't seem that far off

Wow at all the response, stubby nailed it, since its EFI, the increased voltage load retards the ignition timing. Its currently flat black, green interior LEDs, and green HID headlights. Next on my agenda is another battery, higher amperage alternator gits (to compensate for the ignition timing issue) and a hydrogen cell. Its been a constant work in progress, and I will eventually pan the entire underside for better aerodynamics at highway speeds. One thing at a time... thanks for the positive and curious comments!

Why on Earth would we hate you for that lovely creature? It's a perfect little car for Ecomodding, and it sounds like you're already off to a great start. You weren't worried about the paint job were you? Just spray on something to keep the rust away and pick a color when you're done with the body mods...

(owner of a sturdy 1993 Ford Festiva with rattlecan paint job and a worse CD than yours due to boxiness)

Welcome to the site BTW!

But when the rust comes, if it doesn't affect the structural integrity, it's always possible to make a lightweight fiberglass patch to replace the rusty panel :D

A worse CD? What's that, forgive my ignorance on that one. I wanted to do a BP swapped festival but its impossible to find the two for a reasonable price. Thanks again, and my car has no rust surprisingly, but its a NC car, transferred to MS. Bought it when I was stationed at ft. Bragg. Took a little getting used to the 1.9 after being in a 03 F150 supercab with a 5.4 lol.

CD: Coefficient of Dragging - the resistence imposed by the airflows to the vehicle's movement.

I'm afraid it's not that simple.
It might slightly retard the timing to compensate for decreased vacuum caused by increased throttle angle. It has to in order to maintain correct timing.

The retarded timing isn't the issue. The issue is slightly increased load imposed by the alternator and subsequent slightly increased fuel consumption. And charging system voltage in itself has absolutely nothing to do with ignition timing.

He`s probably just reading the results on his MPGuino or whatever instrument of what happens when he turns on the lights. He sees the timing retard when the electrical load is high and it drops when it is low.

That being said, I would suggest seeing if you can find an affordable underdrive pulley. That`ll decrease the load on the engine all around.

Ignition retard yes or no, more electrical load = more mechanical load on the engine. So reducing lighting load will help FE.

I'm not sure whether the LED swap by itself will be visible as helpful above the "noise" of random changes the car experiences daily. But it's a good move.

I realized a good 4-5 mpg improvement when I disconnected my alternator output cable. The car's entire electrical system now runs off deep cycle batteries, with no load on the alternator.

The improvement is even more noticeable when driving in rain. Wipers + fan + lights + (for defrost) a/c compressor clutch if available = much electrical usage. In a moderate rain I can now get essentially the same FE as on a clear day.

Wow, I love the responses! I've always been a more, more, more kind of modification guy, power wise. I'm enjoying learning a bit more about raising fuel economy. Next on my list is to learn about how to make a supercharged vehicle get good fuel economy....

A few pics...

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The deep cycle batteries weight does better than the drain from the alternator? That's pretty good imo. :thumbup:

Depends on what engine we're talking about. The GM 3800 supercharged engines can get 30mpg real world in a light vehicle if you keep your foot out of it. The supercharger might cause a lot of drag, but it also increases the intake charge efficiency or some such.

Now if you're talking a big V8 engine, you're probably SOL. :p

It's on a RWD Thunderbird supercoupe.