The new guy says "Great Site!"
 

Great site based on the few hundred posts I've read. Will likely get better with more reading. :)

Until a few years ago watching my mileage was a non-issue and my round-trip commute was 4 miles. But now my commute is 150/day. Fortunately it's near all highway/freeway and mostly flat (two hills <400' each).

I really like my current car, a Mercedes E550, which is paid for and fits our other family needs well. My overall MPG for the past 23,000 miles has been 28.0 based on the car's computer which I have found to be very accurate as I fill up every 3.5 days or so between 500-550 miles and take on 18-20 gallons. I routinely crack off 30-32 MPG on my way to work. Not bad for a 4,000# vehicle with 380hp.

It's took me the last 3,000 miles to get that last tenth MPG bump so I don't think there is much left to get out of the car if left to my own devices. That's why I'm here!

John

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...4&d=1438261988

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...5&d=1438262005

Welcome to the site John.

What did you have in mind for the car? Or, are you looking for suggestions?

Welcome to the site, though I must suggest that no matter how well that car fits your needs, you consider getting something (An additional cheap commuter car) that'll get you better MPG. My Yaris easily breaks 50MPG on all-highway trips with careful driving, and driving to Seattle from Portland at 65-70 I still broke 43... Plenty of other small cars will break into the 40s or even 50s, and the gas savings will likely make your car payments.

That was the reason I sold my paid-off pickup truck for my Yaris in the first place, and I made my car payments PLUS SAVED $150 just in the first 4 months of ownership.

Food for thought. Anyway welcome!

The name of the site is ecomodder, not ecoshopper. The point is to get the best possible mileage from the ride you already have. Pushing a big Benz past 30mpg is damned good and very respectable, but I have to wonder: to make it do better will probably require adding some aerodynamic upgrades to the beast. A Benz is a pretty reserved, refined ride and not the kind of thing you want to go making outre alterations to it.

Subdued wheel skirts may not look bad - look at some older SL models for examples, just a bit of a lip that covers some of the uppermost opening. It may not contribute enough to be noticeable.

There is probably quite a bit of aero you can do underneath, or look at an additional air dam.

If you want to do significantly better than you have already done, you will have to change to a different car if massive vehicle alterations are off your Benz's menu. Finally, the savings you realize from switching to a different car will be compounded by not requiring premium fuel - a "free" 15% improvement above and beyond however much you save with a thriftier ride.

Welcome! A G1 Insight will easily double your mileage while keeping the miles odd your family truckster! :)

If a no go (always nice to have a back up car, personally), then start going through here: 65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com

First I found one or two...the more I looked, the more I found. I imagine your technique is decent now, but you can learn more here: 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

Again, at first many seem crazy- next you know, 5% seems crazy...then...you may end up thinking about a home built electric vehicle to charge at work! Either way, keep us posted, and welcome aboard :)

With such a long commute and the Merc paid off and all, I can see why you would keep using it. Drive in comfort and safety, arrive fit. Don't compromise on that...!

Air up the tires, install an OBDII gauge, block a grill or two (while monitoring air intake and engine temp on your new OBDII gauge), swap city and license plate lights for LEDs if they aren't already, remove whatever heavy stuff you don't need. Easy stuff that will help some.

Welcome to the site!

If you're like me, you won't want to do any mods to the car that take away from the appeal of the Mercedes. If that's the case, then I would keep all the mods under the hood and under the chassis.

You should start with some gauges. I have an UltraGauge because it has more gauges on the screen and is cheaper, but you can get a ScanGauge, bluetooth adapter, or anything else you find.

In terms of aerodynamic mods, start with an air dam, maybe a few inches back so it's not noticeable if you prefer. A lot of OEMs are doing this too, so it has to work just as if it were all the way up front. If you do a grill block, you can block it from behind the grill. Not as effective, but you get to keep that iconic Mercedes grill. You can also do a full belly pan to clean up (aerodynamically) the bottom. After that, you can install a rear diffuser so the air exits better. All of this will provide great aero benefit, with little to no changes to the "look" of the car.

You can also make some engine and drivetrain mods too. Try making a warm air intake. You can put a taller final gear in. Lot's of different things to do.

What part of the Bay are you in?

Breaking the 30MPG barrier in a V8-powered landyacht like that is already good, but sure there is some room for improvement.

Thanks for all the great replies!

As several guessed, I not looking to do any drastic mods that would alter the cars lines. The air dam and restricted radiator opening ideas are intriguing. Mechanical mods, like lower gearing, are out due to cost ... except for maybe one of those magnet on the fuel line :-)

Another car is out as I have six (4 1960s classics, a truck, and the Benz) plus the wife's SUV. I just want to squeeze out what I can without going extreme.

Thanks again.

John

We're here to support whatever your goal is! I won't badger you on it, but that's no excuse for a beater Insight :)

Tell us about the classics and the sport ute. Now that you've made big strides with your big Benz, what can we do to raise your fleet average even higher? For instance the first-generation Ford Falcon could, in 1960, deliver up to 30mpg with the right equipment. Granted you were in a bit of a penalty box compared to what was available, but imagine what could be achieved with a restomod, like a modern 2.3 that is both more powerful and lighter than the original six cylinder, and couldn't help but deliver better fuel economy.

That is a blue sky kind of project that I like to think about, and I have no money and little actual experience with that kind of thing. It's easy to build castles in the air, providing foundations for them is however a lot trickier.

North Bay and I commute to Sac.

The wife's "ute" is an RX300 which is a less aerodynamic than a brick. She rarely gets over 20 on the highway but I can squeeze out 24 on the highway when driven under 60. MPG drops like a rok over 60, unlike the benz which has a sweet spot for MPG aroung 65-70. I'd like to replace the RX with a Highlander (hybrid, maybe) or an Explorer with ecoboost although the comments here about the ecoboost are less than I had hoped (but I appreciate the honesty!).

I probably should not get into much detail on the classics as I would be as welcome here as a Perrier salesman at a Texas BBQ if I did. Suffice to say all are Fords, none has less than 350hp (my rough guess), and none has less than a single 4 bbl carb. I do know that I'm not the only one here who appreciates '60s excess as one poster's user image is of a Mopar with 3x2s (can't remember their user name at the moment). :)

You have nothing to defend from me. Keeping old iron running is a different, but just as relevant, kind of economizing. I mean, look at me: I have an old tractor because it's fun. I could have bought a boat, but you can't plow snow off the driveway with a boat.

If they're as old as all that, you probably don't want to make many mods to those either, though you could consider removing the original induction systems completely and replacing with appropriate Megasquirt or applicable TBI systems. You should be able to squeeze a few extra MPG out of them while retaining the capacity to return them to stock configuration in an afternoon.

The returning to stock would take an afternoon. Sorting out an all-new EFI for the initial mod would take considerably longer.

Gotta have to second on that. You might also want to take into account that some old iron actually offer a lot of room for improvements regarding mileage and emissions than a modern vehicle with a comparable role, and some resto-mod/retrofit would still be less energy-intensive and consume less raw materials than all the processes involved in the manufacturing of a brand-new car.

Just dropping by to say hi. welcome aboard!

I get what you and elhigh are saying. There is a lot of current eco technology that can be applied to old iron. That just isn't the focus of my classics.