New car, new goals. 91 Ford festiva

[cowmeat]

Holy crap, I'd be scared to take mine for a 200 mile trip! That's insane mileage though. I might buy some of that plastic this weekend and try a belly pan.

BTW, I can't do an alternator delete. About a year ago, the temp sensor on the thermostat housing shorted out on mine, which kept the electric fan from turning on. I'm not an electrician, so I fixed it by just unhooking it, and now the fan runs 100% of the time. I think I'd kill the battery pretty quick with an alternator delete!

SORRY PEOPLE! I know a bunch of you cringed from hearing that politically incorrect statement (considering how many of you do alternator deletes), but hey, the car's still on the road! Told you I was cheap!
BTW, if anybody knows how to fix something like that, it probably wouldn't hurt for me to try to go ahead and do it legit

[whatmaycome14]

Looking forward to seeing your results!

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Holy crap, I'd be scared to take mine for a 200 mile trip! That's insane mileage though. I might buy some of that plastic this weekend and try a belly pan.

BTW, I can't do an alternator delete. About a year ago, the temp sensor on the thermostat housing shorted out on mine, which kept the electric fan from turning on. I'm not an electrician, so I fixed it by just unhooking it, and now the fan runs 100% of the time. I think I'd kill the battery pretty quick with an alternator delete!

SORRY PEOPLE! I know a bunch of you cringed from hearing that politically incorrect statement (considering how many of you do alternator deletes), but hey, the car's still on the road! Told you I was cheap!
BTW, if anybody knows how to fix something like that, it probably wouldn't hurt for me to try to go ahead and do it legit

Hehe. Fan delete was one of my first mods The cooling system of the Festiva is actually way over engineered and will basically never need a fan as long as you don't overdo the grill block. You probably pick up 2-3mpg going from full on fan to no fan As long as you leave the space in front of the lower grill opening on the radiator side, I'd bet you never have any issues. And then you could also do the alternator delete!

[paintme205]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

Depends on traffic. Ideally 60-45 without a draft, or 65-55 with (yoyoing 2-5 seconds following distance). I prefer driving without a draft but utilize it on longer trips or when I'm wanting to travel faster.

edit: This obviously fluctuates based on traffic conditions, so please don't do anything unsafe for a few extra mpg.

I only do P&G with no traffic. Not worth the risk otherwise. Thankfully I rarely travel during peak times and their is little traffic in Oklahoma anyways on the big roads.

Are you doing like 3/4 throttle to 65?

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by paintme205

I only do P&G with no traffic. Not worth the risk otherwise. Thankfully I rarely travel during peak times and their is little traffic in Oklahoma anyways on the big roads.

Are you doing like 3/4 throttle to 65?

Yeah

[paintme205]

Okay random thought of the night. Anyone think doing a sheet metal panel like in the black outline of the pic, angled inward, will increase mileage? Basically the start of a mini boattail.

[cowmeat]

I'd try a fan/alternator delete if I didn't live in Florida. Too scared!

I P&G pretty much the whole way down the road now. On 4 lane roads people see me a long way off and switch lanes, so I'm not in anybody's way. And on 2 lane roads I just pull over and let people go by until it's clear, kinda like if I was driving a tractor

I thought about a kammback, but my wife's ready to shoot me already!

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by paintme205

Okay random thought of the night. Anyone thing doing a sheet metal panel like in the black outline of the pic, angled inward, will increase mileage? Basically the start of a mini boattail.

,.

Yes, of course, but why stop there?

[mikeyjd]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

I'd try a fan/alternator delete if I didn't live in Florida. Too scared!

I P&G pretty much the whole way down the road now. On 4 lane roads people see me a long way off and switch lanes, so I'm not in anybody's way. And on 2 lane roads I just pull over and let people go by until it's clear, kinda like if I was driving a tractor

I thought about a kammback, but my wife's ready to shoot me already!

I've driven over 100miles at 100+F without any issues, although I was quite uncomfortable

[cowmeat]

Yeah, but that's a dry heat, lol!

Try it in sunny Florida