New member, short-term lurker - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

E_Swift · 06-09-2008, 06:45 PM

Well,

I have been driving for about a decade now and have owned seven cars. As far as I can tell, I have hypermiled essentially all of them in terms of lifetime MPG.

Now, looking for a good, cheap commuter car to aeromod and really push to the limit.

MetroMPG · 06-09-2008, 07:05 PM

Welcome to the forum. That's the kind of intro I like to read!

What are you currently driving, and how much?

E_Swift · 06-09-2008, 07:18 PM

Right now I am daily driving a Subaru WRX STi...in which I average about 26MPG in combined diving with passengers.

Clearly not the epitome of economy - I lost my daily driver Passat wagon this past winter. At least I have managed to cobble together a carpool which fluxuates between two and three riders.

Finding a rust-free Metro is proving troublesome here in the rust belt.

SVOboy · 06-09-2008, 07:32 PM

Carpool is definitely cool beans...Why not look for a civic? Much cooler...

E_Swift · 06-09-2008, 07:40 PM

My wife actually sold her Civic EX this past January, luckily it stayed in the family.

I would love to find a VX (I am even willing to do rear quarter rust repair if it is a VX), but I can hardly find any available for sale on the whole continent, and most have had the original drivetrain swapped out for some reason...

elhigh · 06-09-2008, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E_Swift

... I can hardly find any available for sale on the whole continent, and most have had the original drivetrain swapped out for some reason...

Man, do I hear that. I'd be tickled to find a solid VX, but it seems all the kids snap them up and immediately start hotrodding them, utterly destroying their hypermiler value (unless you'd like to incur the ginormous expense of time and money to mod it back to original specs).

What about finding a good, solid glider - a chassis that has had its more-powerful motor swapped out and then been abandoned? You could fit that with something totally off-the-wall, like a Caterpillar diesel. They make little ones. That'd be something to hear tooling down the pike.

Johnny Mullet · 06-09-2008, 08:40 PM

Welcome to Ecomodder! Seems like you will fit right in

digitaldissent · 06-09-2008, 08:58 PM

^^ ditto

E_Swift · 06-10-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elhigh

... You could fit that with something totally off-the-wall, like a Caterpillar diesel.

Funny, as this is a concept I have been playing with for a few years now. Main problem is the disproportionate cost of diesel, which we won't see change until refineries balance output to demand.

One thing is for sure, it would be a Cummins engine, probably a 4BT.