Moro from Finland

[tollo]

This site has been interesting. Lots of ideas and nice practical cases.

I drive with Opel Astra Caravan 1.6 16v 2001 and at the moment my last year fuel consumption is 5.94 l / 100km. (39.6 MPG)

At the moment the temperature is about -30 C (-22F) and the best way to keep fuel consumption low is to drive with bicycle.

These are my modifications at the moment:

- motor block heater (must be here)
- Dual xenon headlights
- LED daytime running lights
- some other LED bulbs
- higher tyre pressures
- internat grill block
- 0W-40 motor oils
- Scangauge II
- thin line windshield wipers
- often bicyle in the trunk

Next likely mods:

- 0W-30 "fuel economy" motoroil
- low viscosity full synthetic ATF fluid (manual gearbox)

I have though about these (some more and some less):

- temperature compensated plug in battery charger
- bigger alternator pulley
- ride height mod ? lower ? adjustable ? (need higher in the winters... "hillamaasturi")
- aerodynamically cleaner underside of the car
- rear wheel skirts
- smoother wheel covers
- outer grill block (active or passive)
- all bulbs to ledbulbs (not xenon headlights)
- roof rack removal (longitudinal)
- small (boat tail style) wing back of the car
- alternator removal (just quick belt removal)
- bigger battery capacity (needed if alternator is off)
- electromagnetic alternator clutch
- better battery technic (AGM ?)
- internal radio antenna
- smaller side mirrors
- some small aerodynamical mods
- powersteering delete (not legal ... but could burn the fuse )
- removeable boat tale bicycle rack to hook
- in case of total motor downfall --> 1.2 liter motor
- in case of total gearbox downfall --> longer geared gearbox

i think that was most of the ideas ...

[Piwoslaw]

Hello Tollo and welcome to EcoModder

It looks like you have already brought your fuel consumption down, which is a very good start. Keep up the good work, you'll find lots of help in this forum.
Have you seen how Vekke has modded his Seat Cordoba Vario?

[tollo]

I noticed Vekke but haven't seen those pictures before.

" " need to say more ?

Does anyone else have problems to get approvement from wife/girlfriend to your mods ?

We both drive with the same car, so I need the "approvement" and I can't do mods that change the look of the car or need extra attention when driving.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by tollo

Does anyone else have problems to get approvement from wife/girlfriend to your mods ?

We both drive with the same car, so I need the "approvement" and I can't do mods that change the look of the car or need extra attention when driving.

You're not the only one with that problem here I got lucky, as my wife is also eco, plus my Kammback and rear skirts look almost OEM, so I got away with them. No boattail, though. There are things you can do which are (almost) invisible, and since it's not a good idea to keep everything a secret (you don't want her to find out by herself), then stress that your mods will be fully reversible. Here's a short list of things you can try to get past her:

• Automatic grille block,
• Full bellypan,
• Smooth hub caps,
• Low RR tires,
• Roof rack delete,
• Warm air intake (for gas, not diesel),
• Engine kill button.

Good luck!!

[Bicycle Bob]

It is hard to know if your wife dislikes attention, and/or association with Green causes, or if she has been looking at the enthusiast magazines, in which the cars are liberally draped with fine-looking women on their way to a swim. You may even be facing both problems. Maybe you can make eco-modding a trade for something she does.
I got my girlfriend pissed off when I wouldn't burn much carbon to see her, but she now combines trips to visit me.

[luvit]

does you contry drive'd on the lefts side of the rode or on the rite side?

[tollo]

We have right side traffic. Our neighbour Sweden changed their left side traffic on 1967 to right side.

----

There is lot's of discussion of the warm air intake but this is my conclusion:

You can get some benefits when:
-Engine is oversized to eco driving (like mine 1.6l)
-Low compression ratio (mine 10.5 ... not so low but low enough ?)
-You do not drive in hot conditions (intake air is already warm enough)

I'm still "processing..." to next mod...

[tollo]

Here is my update if someone is interested.

Last year average is now 5.8 l / 100km. (slowly going down) (40.5 US MPG)

last mods done:

- ScanGauge installed
- Mobil ATF SHC transmission fluid to manual gearbox works fine in astra G manual gearbox (not yet problems)
- Roofrack removal done (OEM caravan racks)
- Mobil 0W-30 fueleconomy oil in motor (not yet problems)
- Higher frontgrill blocked and motor air intake under hood. (intake air 8 Kelvin higher helps in cold conditions)
- Cleaning at least 20kg of extra stuff.

Next mods ??

- something with alternator (double size pulley ? )
- aerodynamical mods mostly under the car
- led bulbs to registerplate
- finishing the roofrack removal (covers)
- finishing the higher frontgrill (something else than PVC tape )
- lower suspension ?

- no need for new tyres. Economic driving makes tyres last almost forever.