Oops, I did it again! Bought another cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage. Mods in progress...

[samwichse]

Yes, that's what I meant... just wondering if you currently has the re92 165/65r14's on there.

[MetroMPG]

I do have some worn out RE92's ... but they're not on rims yet. I would love to see a coastdown comparison against the Mirage's stock Dunlop Enasaves. I know of one Insight owner who installed Enasaves and said he couldn't see a MPG difference, but it wasn't very controlled.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

It's kinda strange to see how some tyre sizes once widespread on econoboxes are now becoming either unavailable or actually more expensive than larger ones.

[MetroMPG]

^ With the disappearance of econoboxes from the U.S. & Canada, it's only going to get worse here.

[Ecky]

I expect the Mirage is single-handedly keeping the Insight's tire size in existence in the US.

[MetroMPG]

The Canadian market is one of the few places the BASE trim Mirage came without air conditioning. However my current Mirage is the higher trim with AC.

Simple AC delete mod:

Reduce belt friction & a bit of rotating mass by swapping the serpentine belt from the AC model (top engine) with the shorter one from the base model (bottom - green) thus bypassing the AC pulley:






Unfortunately, the part number for the non-AC serpentine belt is ridiculously difficult to find (a lot of Canadian parts stores use US databases, it seems, where the non-AC car does not exist).

Annnnnd worse than that... the part number a helpful soul gave me was slightly wrong, so the belt I got was slightly too short.

All of which I discovered AFTER struggling valiantly to install the most difficult belt I've ever swapped in my life!

Oh well, I eventually got it on.


Prognostication...

To scientifically estimate the potential gains, I spun the AC pulley by hand with the belt off.

Turns out it freewheels on the smoothest bearings in the known universe. You could go get a coffee and it'll still be spinning when you get back.

So I figure this mod is good for 1.3 TBSP per year in fuel savings and +0.000092 HP.

110% worth it!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Ecky

I expect the Mirage is single-handedly keeping the Insight's tire size in existence in the US.

That may be! I actually know of a few Mirage owners who have even bought Insight-sized Bridgestone RE92's.


But a lot more owners are just swapping on different tire sizes - cheaper & more plentiful.

[Ecky]

All of the Mirages I've seen here come from the dealer lot with 165/65r14 RE92s, so it isn't a swap. Is the tire used in Canada different?

[MetroMPG]

Really! What years are you talking about?


My understanding is all the US/Canada cars came new with Dunlop Enasaves (in the same size 165/65r14).


I haven't seen any reference to RE92's on Mirages other than as replacements. I do know that some dealerships have been replacing worn Dunlops with RE92's.

[Ecky]

Maybe I have that wrong. Every Mirage I've seen parked around town (and there are a ton of them here) have had RE92s on them, so I possibly just made that assumption.