New car, new goals. 91 Ford festiva

[Christ]

I'm using an IDI.. and I have 5 of them laying around. My lifetime fue cost for the car after swap will be incalculable due to my propensity for using waste materials as fuel.

[Christ]

I sorta also wanna do a VR6 Festy... Cuz I can.

[paintme205]

Well the saga continues. I put some cheapo front wheel covers on and took a 600 mile trip. My gas mileage hovered around 42 at 80-85 MPH (yes I know)

On the way back I took a little more time and did 60 or so. Mileage was around 45 MPG. Sensing something wrong, I started checking and the head gasket is blown. Guessing it has been blown since the beginning since it always leaked oil and the only spot dripping is the back of the head.

My goal is to fix and hopefully get back to my goal of 60 MPG at 60 MPH. The head gasket at least makes me feel better about my crappy gas mileage.

[cowmeat]

Oh, Hell no! You did not just say it . . . . .here I was feeling good about my 45 mpg!Guess I'll have to buckle down and start modding again. I have a scrap wing off my kid's Subara wagon I'm going to stick off the back, and I'm gonna put a front air dam on mine, too (probably a mimic of yours).
Problem is, mine is running a little funky since I replaced the water pump last month, so I might have skipped a tooth on the overhead cam, since I pulled the belt off and re-installed it with a screw driver. I didn't even remove the lower timing cover, I just cut a hole in the upper cover where the 4th bolt was on the water pump to remove it, and put some metal tape over the hole. It really hasn't dropped my mileage a lot, but I'm hearing a little pinging right before I shift now

[mikeyjd]

The biggest issue I found with getting top mileage from a Festiva was aerodynamics. I was able to get allot of amazing tanks out of mine once I did some aero work and kept my speeds way down. I experimented quite a bit and found max mpg at 30-45mph png. The short gearing with small tires and bad aero all lend themselves to best fe at low speeds.

[cowmeat]

Do you have any pics of the work on yours? I'm looking to do some aero on mine, but I have almost no time or money to put into it, so I want to do whatever has been proven to get the best returns, and do it cheaply.
What tires were you running at 60 psi? I'm running mine at 5 over max, but you must have been way up there!
I drive at a max of 55 mph, usually more around 50, and I've barely broken 46 mpg with my current set-up, so any ideas would be appreciated!

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Do you have any pics of the work on yours? I'm looking to do some aero on mine, but I have almost no time or money to put into it, so I want to do whatever has been proven to get the best returns, and do it cheaply.
What tires were you running at 60 psi? I'm running mine at 5 over max, but you must have been way up there!
I drive at a max of 55 mph, usually more around 50, and I've barely broken 46 mpg with my current set-up, so any ideas would be appreciated!

Its all about engine off pulse & glide. The slower your speed the better the results ( as long as your in 5th gear) try to accelerate around 80% engine load. Weight reduction makes a pretty big difference on these smaller cars as well.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...iva-26230.html

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...iva-25694.html

[cowmeat]

Engine-off P & G really isn't really an option in the central Florida traffic I face every day. There are only a couple of stretches in my daily drive that aren't in town stop-and-go, so I may never get the kind of results you guys are seeing.
Nice belly pan, btw! How is it holding up?
I'm picking up some plastic here soon, so all things considered, do you think it makes more sense to throw a belly pan on, or a front dam and side skirts/wheel well covers? I want to do one or the other, whatever would net the best results.
Also, I'm gonna install the flat wing about 4 inches off the back (free part from my kid's Subaru Legacy wagon) this weekend to cut some rear drag, do you guys think it makes sense to also add one on the bottom to push the air bubble off the back of the car?

[mikeyjd]

I think that an under belly panel will cut more drag without adding to the frontal area, but it is also much simpler to make/maintain a front dam. Mine held up alright, but in the future I'd probably go with aluminum for better durability. I ended up selling my Festiva back to my dad and he took the panel off, but it was still fully intact and working as intended after about 8 months. I figure I broke even or came out a little ahead with fuel savings, but I had fun doing it, so there's that. I'd do aero wheel cover and rear wheel skirts either way

[paintme205]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

I think that an under belly panel will cut more drag without adding to the frontal area, but it is also much simpler to make/maintain a front dam. Mine held up alright, but in the future I'd probably go with aluminum for better durability. I ended up selling my Festiva back to my dad and he took the panel off, but it was still fully intact and working as intended after about 8 months. I figure I broke even or came out a little ahead with fuel savings, but I had fun doing it, so there's that. I'd do aero wheel cover and rear wheel skirts either way

An underbelly is my next mod once fixed. I have been using some cheap fiberboard for function testing of most of my mods and then changing to sheet metal if it works. Not the cheapest but it won't ever break.

I'm thinking coroplast for the underbelly is the way to go. Hopefully that will propel me over 60 MPG.