n00b here - current ride is Nissan Versa
 

Hello everyone!

n00b here, been doing as best I can with mileage for some time, but found this site and have implemented some changes already from here.

I added an air dam to my F150 made out of landscaping seperator. It was a bit more flimsy than I liked so I bent up some 1/4" round steel rod and ran it into the hollow edge the strip comes with, worked like a charm.

Bought a scan-gauge, so I will probably test the F150 with and without the dam and report back.

On the Versa I haven't done much, she gets exactly 29.5mpg for me, but I hope to improve that some. I will be removing the mirrors and adding something less massive soon and again I will report how that goes. I may add an air dam to her as well, but I want to try to make it an air-operated device as the clearance is already fairly low. I'll also be adding some grill block-outs for the fog light holes and the main grill inlet similar to several threads here.

Nice forum, I hope I can add to the fun!

Welcome to ecomodder.com!
You can get some major FE gains with that Versa just by adjusting "the nut behind the steering wheel". Just speaking from experience with my 4-liter Mustang. :)

Welcome. Probably 90% of your fuel economy gains will come from changing your driver behavior - keeping speeds down, and conserving momentum. Aeromods will only help with the remaining 10%.

...and, the slower you're traveling, less penalty there is for poor aerodynamics (freeway is where aero really comes in to play).

Well we will see. I already drive pretty frugal, but perhaps the SG will show me some areas to improve on. I really bought it for testing as the ODB2 meter only shows % load.

You're not even scratching the surface, until you beat the EPA combined estimated fuel economy for your Versa. You should eventually be able to beat it by ~40% with an automatic, 75% with a manual. 140% of 29.5 mpg = 41.3 mpg should be your long-term goal. Beating the EPA combined estimate of 29.5 mpg is your immediate goal. After all, my xB has a lower (28 mpg) combined estimate than your Versa.

Very true. I generally average more MPG commuting than I do on road trips, especially since I deleted 21 freeway (65-75MPH) miles from my daily commute. It reduced my daily (round trip) commute by 5.2 miles and "gave" me almost 2 MPG. :)
So it takes a few minutes longer to get to work. No big deal to me.

Well that *is* very encouraging!

I have upped the tire pressure to 40psi now and am striving to keep the revs under 2k. It is hot here now and I just had the windows tinted, so running the AC for a few days more than I normally would.

So preheated air is better in the winter? I always thought cooler was better...more dense.

I also need to yank the defrost detect switch harness loose as I think this affected my winter numbers last year, from 2010 on you can't just override the defrost AC with the AC switch...bummer.

Defrost switch disabled...that was fun!

For anyone following this later, the connector to unplug is actually on the starboard side of the main harness connection to the climate controls. It has a red and black wire, kinda tricky to get at the release nub on it too.

Acceleration under 2k is a good way to avoid unnecessary acceleration, but I think you'd be surprised how many EM members report good FE results with slightly more brisk acceleration - not to mention the added bonus of less tailgaters when taking off from red lights. I'm not saying to nail the throttle, but a little more brisk may be useful.

Nothing wrong with it - just saying that 2,000 is not a special value in any way that I know of. For all I know maybe the Versa responds well to it.

Welcome to ecomodder!
The ScanGauge should be helpful in both vehicles - good move.

I recommend that if you are comfortable with your tires at 40 psi, bring them up to "max sidewall", that is the sidewall imprint, when cold. Likely they are marked either 44 or 51 psi.

Which do you drive more - the F150 or the Versa?

Welcome

I have the 1.6l manual Versa Base, not the 1.8l. MPG at 45mph seems to be very good, it drops rapidly at higher speeds.

The upper grill can be closed off completely without affecting engine temps. I now run with the lower grill open, not covered as shown in this pic.

The foglight openings are easy to cover and leave a fairly smooth front end.

I have a lawn edging front spoiler. The front end mods make it easy for me to hypermile in the mid 40's mpg at slow speeds (typically around 45mph with a lot of coasting, no engine off coasting). However driving at the speed limit like a normal driver (hard braking) drops that quickly to the lower 30's mpg.

http://cruisenews.net/whacked/versa/02V2009/1.jpg

Hey skylark!

Your thread was how I found this place.

I will be getting some black Coroplast today and will be fabing up some block-outs for the fog dimples as a minimum. You mention leaving the bottom open now...I had hoped to go the opposite with the top grill open and the bottom closed or mostly closed. Did you ever try this?

I won't be messing with the grill openings until I get the scan gauge so I can watch the temps.

I also plan to put a lower dam on...probably with some tire flares(is that the right term?)

After that I will mess with the mirrors, I have several ideas for solutions there from simple replacement to custom fabed up units.

Blocking the upper grill is generally considered better for aerodynamics versus blocking the lower grill. The reason being is the air going over the car can follow the smooth profile of the vehicle (less drag) vs the air going under the car hitting all the unaerodynamic underside of the car (more drag).

The airflow path to the radiator looks better from the bottom opening, and I have had no overheating issues since opening the bottom grill up.

Ah, so you did have some overheating issues with the lower grill blocked off? Even with just the partial block?

Yes, very quick overheating with the full block, warm running with the partial opening shown. Heat measured by Scangauge.

Scangauge came in today's mail and is installed.

Had to go get some milk for the girl, so filled her up and ready to start checking numbers. The Drive home from the store registered 35mpg...encouraging.

Driving with the scangauge is a sport and becomes an obsession.

Ok, got the SG calibrated to speed shown on GPS, which is different than the speedo shows.

Drove in to work this morning and display shows 36.3mpg.

So, either 1) the SG isn't calibrated properly (though the manual pretty clearly states this is the only parameter affecting distance)
Or
2) I have been doing much better than I thought all along and the odo has been lying to me about my distances.

Am I missing something?

There's a distance calibration (which you've done), and a fuel usage calibration. You should fill your tank, zero the distance, and do the fuel calibration on the next tank fill. Other factors affecting SG mpg estimates are engine displacement, gas tank size, and cutoff. Make sure they're set up, and you've set your fuel type to hybrid if you EOC. Both SG and UG give overly optimistic fuel usage estimates until they're fully calibrated.

Ahhhhh...that makes sense.

We will have to wait a week or so then to see what happens.

I only engine on coast...so no need for hybrid mode.

I guess I may as well start testing aero mods with this tank then, as it's numbers are only relative to the one tank.

Thanks!

Gack! I looked up the EPA combined for my Versa and it is only 27MPG!

Well still puttering happily along on the calibration tank of gas...right now the numbers are pointing to an almost 400 mile tank! :thumbup:

This thread has been really useful and answered quite a few of the Versa - specific questions I had. Thanks guys! I hope to get a SG soon!