Noob Intro

[YeahPete]

Sup all new guy here. I have come across this site a few times searching so I decided to finally join. I now have a long commute: 55 miles 1 way so I am ready to try to get some nice mileage to try and save a bit of $$. Just bought a house 1/2 way between where the wife will go to school and I work. She drives 5 miles and I drive 55 miles :/ .

TheCav:
2004 Chevy Cavalier LS Manual.
Mods: Short Ram Intake, Racing Springs.

I'm wanting to hit 40mpg... 50mpg... 60 possible??? with some aero mods/weight reduction if possible. I'm usually doing 65mph with bursts of 80 when passing / clear zones. I'm usually pretty good about timing red lights/ coasting.
I've been getting 37 mpg average, last tank I had 38.35mpg

Which mods do you all believe have the biggest gains? (That would be a good starting point). I'm about to get an alignment/ put on my mags so it will be interesting to see what those results show.

I am also interested in anyone selling a reliable CRX..

[Daox]

Long Commutes Are Sucking the Life Out of You - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

[kah]

Hi.. Have you thought of slowing down? Going from 65 to 55 mph adds less than 10 minutes to a 55 mile commute, but cuts the aerodynamic drag drastically since drag increases exponentially with speed.

[YeahPete]

Daox: yeah long commutes suck, but it makes it so the wife dosen't have to commute. I can't exactly go out and find a new job.

Kah: I did some testing today. Huge difference in Drag at those speeds. I'll be going to the Library this weekend and get some Audiobooks. Hopefully that will help me slow down a bit. Yeah coasting from 80 to 70 only took about 2 secs, 70 - 60 about 3 secs, and from 60-50 about 5 secs.

65mpg seems to be a pretty sweet spot for my engine at 2500 rpm. Don't have the pedal down much at all.

I'm still looking for a starting point on the mods with the biggest gains. I hear the boattails seem to be working very well, but I kind of wanted to start from the front of the car and work my way back.

I guess while I aquire tools to mod the car, I'll experiment with different driving techniques each fill up. I've been trying pulse and glide and it just seems to not be working well for me.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by YeahPete

Daox: yeah long commutes suck, but it makes it so the wife dosen't have to commute. I can't exactly go out and find a new job.

Why not? People do it all the time.

Speed will greatly effect mileage. 2500 rpm is still pretty high for cruising rpm. If you can go slower you'll see the benefits.

For mods, start with a scangauge to help see what your changes are doing. Then, I'd slap a grill block on the car.

[Soichiro]

I know that simply slowing down from 70 to 65 can give about 3 MPG improvement on my car, so yes, slowing down is probably the easiest and cheapest mod you can perform. Of course, if you have to drive through traffic, it's recommended to stay in the right lane and not go more than 5 below the speed limit, just for safety reasons. But if you're driving at a time without much traffic, 50-55 seems to be a sweet spot for most cars on highway driving.

[YeahPete]

Thanks for all the good info.
Haven't slowed down yet... Trying to get some clean 65mpg ABA runs on my cars current config so I can collect some reliable data as to the mods I'll been doing. Seems like every tank I have to do a random route and mess with my mileage.

Got my alignment finally. Just hit 41.1 mpg last tank despite the fact that I had to do some high speed highway driving plus alot of stop and go downtown indianapolis.

Yes I'll need a grill block. Good idea I'll keep my eye opened for a rivot gun and some 10 mil plastic or some sheet metal. Wife finally approved a scanguage so I'll be ordering that soon too.

[vrmilionzx]

I was shocked at the increase in mileage from slowing down about 5mph in my car. I like the audio books idea. Also, make sure your tire pressure is nice and high. Some great ideas for deflectors on here too, not just the grill block off

Also - welcome!

[Gealii]

If your good with your hands a belly pan would be a nice mod, if you don't mind losing your ac i would just delete that altogether i find that just using my vents is enough to cool me down after working out in the sun all day

[YeahPete]

Just got 41.0 Mpg. That was my last test at 65 mph. I started going 55mph since that fill-up, so I'm interested to see what kinds of gains that will net. I have been hitting alot of "Suprise" red lights though but I guess thats expected.

Question: Whats everyones strategy when your coming to a place where you know the stop-light is there, but it does not become visible until your right up on it? I also do not want to cause a traffic jam.

I set a Short term goal of 50mpg by Summers end. People at work don't believe I will get it so i'm mostly out to prove them wrong. Long term goal of 60mpg.

Next thing will be a scanguage.
Lots of mods planned. Just need to find the time to do them!