New Guy with Pontiac Fiero GT

[fierofury]

Hey guys, first of all I would like to say that I found this forum randomly and I really think that it is a cool forum. Anyways my ride is a Pontiac Fiero GT, and I believe I am the first fiero on the forum! I bought my car 3 years ago and have been restoring it and using it as my daily driver. I realize that driving style is the main way to increase mpg and i'm working on that but I want to hear your ideas on how to mod my ride for economy instead of the 1/4 mile.

Economods so far: ceramic coated short headers (most noticeable increase in mpg), removed a slight intake restriction, high flow cat, cat back exhaust, much shorter antenna, and some minor weight reduction.

I haven't got around to finding out my current gas mileage but I do know that it has increases some after the mods, maybe 2-4 mpg. Where can I get a mileage monitor from to mount in place of my cd player?

My car is very easy to find aftermarket fiberglass or plastic noses and body panels so I would be open to that but I don't want to alter the look of my car too much. I know that the worst aerodynamic spot on the car is behind the rear window which is known to have a low pressure spot. Anyways, I think this car has some potential and I'm glad to be a part of the forum.

[SVOboy]

Welcome to ecomodder! Definitely sounds like you're off to a good start,

Got any pictures for us?

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by fierofury

I believe I am the first fiero on the forum!

But it's just a matter of time before Peakster chimes in to tell you he had one once, and loved it.

I haven't got around to finding out my current gas mileage

That's the key. You definitely need a baseline to start tracking your progress. Not hard to do now that you have a garage entry and can start a fuel log.

Where can I get a mileage monitor from to mount in place of my cd player?

Unfortunately your car's too old to use a ScanGauge, which is the easiest plug 'n' play fuel economy instrument.

So how are you with DIY electronics? Check the Instrumentation forum and you'll find a subforum about the "MPGuino" project - a DIY MPG display for any vehicle with fuel injection and a VSS. It's in the prototype/testing stages right now.

And... welcome to EcoModder.

[Daox]

Welcome to EM!

You definitly need to start tracking your mileage on every tank if you want to see good gains. You should be able to pull some pretty good FE from the car though.

[DifferentPointofView]

Nice car Go pull some good mileage.

Just one question, Fury, I'm not trying to bag on ya but this question just came up in my mind reading your post.

I haven't got around to finding out my current gas mileage but I do know that it has increases some after the mods, maybe 2-4 mpg.

How do you know it increased your mileage if you never tracked it? Did you just take what the exhaust companies claimed and added it together? Just to say, but a free-er flowing exhaust doesn't necessarily mean more mpg's. It really depends on what rpm range you spend at most.

Anyways, good to hear your ready to get some good MPG's!!!

[fierofury]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

How do you know it increased your mileage if you never tracked it? Did you just take what the exhaust companies claimed and added it together? Just to say, but a free-er flowing exhaust doesn't necessarily mean more mpg's. It really depends on what rpm range you spend at most.

Well I know that my mileage increased for a fact because my old catalytic converter was almost completely clogged up and I could not rev the engine about 2.5 - 3 grand haha. I was having to get gas almost every two days. That said I replaced the exhaust and cat at the same time and attribute all gains to the cat not the exhaust. As for the headers, the stock ones are really inefficient and have a protruding piece of metal inside of them. I am also on a fiero forum and I based my claim of an estimated "2-4mpg" off of what one fellow fiero owner measured after installing the same headers. My mpg increase was probably more than that because the stock headers were cracked causing the O2 sensor to think the car was running lean and compensated by dumping more fuel into the engine. It was apparent that I gained some mpg just by fixing those problems so I can guess that I have 2-3mpg better than stock, assuming that my engine is in good repair. Your right, I will know for sure when I start a log.

here are some pics of my car

[cfg83]

fierofury -

Welcome to EM! The Fiero was a classic. I've always an MPG-nerd, so I watched the Fiero closely when it first came out.

If I had a Fiero I would consider a Kamm-Back for it like so :



But, I would make it reversible so I could keep the Fiero classic.

Hmmmm, would the Kamm-Back effect the engine's cooling? Maybe a bad idea, .

CarloSW2

[Peakster]

Very nice GT Fiero! It will be interesting to see what kind of fuel economy you can wring out of that 2.8L V6. I wonder if you could make a plexiglass, detachable fastback for the rear of the car? That should cut down on drag immensely (and I don't think engine cooling will be affected at all from my experience).

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

But it's just a matter of time before Peakster chimes in to tell you he had one once, and loved it.

Ahh! Don't even remind me. It's going to cause me to relapse! I'll just have to live vicariously through fierofury now.

[fierofury]

Hey thanks guys! I was lucky to pick my GT up a couple years ago for 1 grand...Yeah my first goal is 30mpg without making the car look too crazy. My next mod will probably be a high quality ignition set-up or lowering springs, as I need to redo the suspension anyways (rebuilding the car one step at a time).

Peakster, I take it you had a fiero? The rear window is indeed a aerodynamic problem. I was looking at some of these rear window louvers (pic attached). It seems as if it would help reduce drag some and allow the engine to exhaust heat. I don't know if it would help that much but that is what this forum is about. What do you guys think?

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by fierofury

Peakster, I take it you had a fiero?

Yup. I had an '85 2M4:

Originally Posted by fierofury

I was looking at some of these rear window louvers (pic attached). I don't know if it would help that much but that is what this forum is about. What do you guys think?

I'm not too sure if it would work or not. You could try making a cardboard version to test out first before investing in the whole thing.