Nissan VS FIT
 

I have a plan to get 41 MPG. I'm going to go head to head againts my managers 2007 Honda Fit. My 1996 Nissan Sentra 1.6 Ltr. Disconnect the A/C and make all four tires doughnuts. Currently he is only beeting me by about 1 mile per gallon Hwy. He gets 37. What do you think? :thumbup: I'll stay @ 55 so not to blow the tires. :turtle:

My '93 Sentra Xe got a best of 49.97mpg with a slight bleed of propane into the engine via propane injector. Most of the time the 1.6 would hit 37-39 all day long. My recently acquired 02 Sentra XE hits 41 almost every trip I make to work and back (30 miles) If you are running 55mph, it should be doable. Had you played with any mixtures of acetone in your tank? I say this because my 200mile acetone (2oz per 10 gal) test today bumped my mpg average up to 38 for a 200 mile trip 75-80mph.

I don't think the donuts will help that much, but you can try.

Nice MPGs on the XE. Have to do some searching on Propaine. I'm getting ready to use acetone soon. 2 oz per 10 gallons sounds about right. Not sure if this additive needs any cleaning or dewatering. Sounds like you rigged up some type of real time MPG device. Older cars dont have that standard and my newer car is always 10% off. Combined with the way the most gas pump is rigged to give you 5% less gas than you pay for, most people are pritty happy with the MPGs they think they are getting. This is my wifes car and she only puts 90 miles a week on it compaired to my 550 w/rideshare. Greasin an old Diesel Mercedes was the only way to get uncomprehendable MPGs for me. Lot of work, so life seems to be on the back burner durring tis qwest.

SVO you dont sound like you know the answer to my question of four donut tires for a fact. People on this very forum are considering windage and here we are talking about friciton with less of a tire footprint so less drag to gain MPGs. You may not have considded that and on top of that, if these tires are smaller than a normal tire the distance on the odometer will increase. Right? I know when I get a flat on my 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT, if its on the front tire my MPGs go up from 19 to 23 HWY mpg. People have to speed up and notify me every time this happens-somehow the ride and steering-feel is unaffected by flats. Better than flipping it off the road and and having insurance detectives let you know what happend as your sitting in your body cast.:eek:

You'll win easy. I had a 91 SER that easily got 34-36mpg definitely not trying. I recommend a new O2 sensor if its over 100k. And clean the MAF. These are my nissan tricks. The donuts will help if you get the proper height, if there shorter it might not work. Remember that most donuts are rated for under 1000 miles some only 200. The tread compounds are very cheap and not all that safe to drive on.

Good luck.

Hi,

You both can do better -- either car should be able to get 40-45mpg without much effort.

Go for aero mods if you do some highway driving, and just pump up your current tires to somewhere near or at the sidewall pressure. Drive like you don't have brakes (but of course, please use them if you need to).

If you guys are calculating MPG off your odometers then just put the smallest diameter tires on that will keep you from scraping too much and you'll win hands down unless he figures out why.

Thanks for the tips guys,
new O2 sensor, clean the MAF, 2 oz Acetone.


Aero mods are not for me. I'm too cheap-cars too old. How about wax?
Do OEM hub caps help or not?

Here's a thread on the tires.

Hi,

Some aero mods involve a little duct tape; that's it.

yeah, I agree. grille block and scangauge should help you beat your boss. By the way, I wouldn't recommend using 4 donut tires. First, it is not safe. Second, the engine needs to reviv higher rpm, which hurts mpg. Buy 4 LRR tires and pump to 50psi. Learn EOC. That would give you 45mpg easily.

Here's my two cents: Changing your wheel diameter might make it look like you beat your boss on paper, but it's making your mileage readings inaccurate. So if you want to beat him by cheating, that may be one way.

If you really want to set about this the honest way, I would recommend studying and practicing some hypermiling techniques. That's the first thing I did to start getting better mileage in my Tundra. I would highly recommend getting good at pulse and glide. If you have a stick shift, there may be some places where you can do some engine off coasting. Obviously, study your local laws to see which techniques are legal (or at least, don't share your techniques with the local police). Also, I would recommend checking mapquest to try to find the most efficient route to work. The highway may be faster, but if there is a more direct rural route with few traffic lights and light traffic, it will give you better economy.

If you don't mind parting with a little money, buy a Scan Gauge. It will help you monitor what you are doing. Call them up and you can get the ecomodder discount, it's pretty sweet. If you set up your gauge properly and use it wisely, it will eventually pay for itself in fuel savings. If you are looking at wheel covers, try the salt-racing moons. I've seen them on ebay for not much. Or you can make your own out of pizza pans like AndrewJ did. Also, if you go to Walmart, you can find beaded seat covers for $8.88 or so. They help by making hot temps a little more bearable, and if you run windows up and AC off while it's sunny out, it will get pretty hot in your car. Remember that running with your windows open will cause aerodynamic drag.

I don't know if disconnecting the AC compressor will be more work than it's worth. I'd recommend keeping it, but just not running it. If you really want to disconnect things like that, the alternator would prolly make a bigger difference, but there's that whole thing about needing electricity to run the engine and recharge the battery. AndrewJ has some solutions to that on his build page.

There's a lot you can do, but hypermiling techniques are prolly the easiest and most effective way work yourself up there. Just by using some hypermiling techniques, and increasing my tire pressure to 40psi, I've been able to get slightly better mileage out of my Tundra than my mom gets out of her Legacy Outback. Granted, full time AWD doesn't help her, but still, her engine is at around a liter and a half smaller than mine and the car is a lot less massive than my truck.

Thus concludes my two cents...

Oh, the Honda Fit is a beast I must say.

Good Luck!

Looks like Peakster took off his video after MetroMPG showed his results.

I dont know about being a beaste. I find it hard to beleive that as time goes on cars MPGs only get a little better. Didnt the FORD Model T get 28 MPG.

Car Mileage - 1908 Ford Model T: 25 MPG, 2004 EPA Average All Cars: 20.8 Miles Per Gallon

1st Hybrid Electric car: 1901 Porsche. I guess we all got use to cheap gas and wanted a car with more balls.

And the winner is....
 

The Nissan takes 1st prize. Yes the Nissan got 41.889 MPG ,10.69 gallons/447.8 mi. trip.
The FIT put up a good fight with 39.9 MPG
I opted out of using donut tires and just over inflated them to 37 lbs not 32.
The bulk of the 30.9% gain came from "Coast Engine Off Thechniques" (CEO) that I learned from you guys. thanks all.

Next dual will have acetone in the equation.

The model T had a top speed of 45 mph, 20 hp under the bonnet. with those specs a 100 mpg would be a doddle for any manufacturer but most would not buy the resultant car.
Oh and there is some debate about the T's fuel consumption being markedly lower.

EDIT
From Fords own site:
"The Model T was equipped with a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a top speed of about 45 miles per hour, weighed 1,200 pounds, and achieved 13-21 miles per gallon."