Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by groar

What I do prefer is the looks these young male can launch to me, noticeably when they have over tuned cars (usually an old BMW...). What make me laugh is when then have rear windows shadows with childish cartoon characters (Nemo, Dora...)

Having that in mind:

Just my over tuned car, with a childish cartoon character in the rear window

EDIT: I forgot to mention a temporary mod: Yesterday the Wife decided she's had enough of a year's worth of grime in the car and vacuumed it. I had nothing against because:

• She was going to do it, not me,
• She did a much better job than I would have,
• Our friends might be more reluctant to dirty it up again (though we both doubt it),
• Removing a few kilograms (well, almost) of sand and dirt from the interior might unnoticibly help FE.

[Piwoslaw]

With Arragonis trading Helga for a high-FE AyGo, and Euromodder's Hägar now prepped for FE, I've decided to get my act together: last tank was 1719km on 63 liters, more than 50km farther than my previous record. And this time the car was full of people and cargo, plus A/C and T-storms, instead of being empty in almost perfect weather.

OK, I was surprised by this tank, too. It's hard to tell what exactly gave me such good milage:

• Driving slightly slower than usual (70-80 instead of 80-85)?
• Perfecting my driving style better timed glides, and looking for the best way to pulse?
• 10-15km of engine off coasting, aout twice as much as in previous tanks?
• Just pure luck?

[euromodder]

Wow !

3.66 L/100km / above 64 mpg (US)

That's going to be a tough nut to crack in real world driving.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

...OK, I was surprised by this tank, too. It's hard to tell what exactly gave me such good milage:

• Driving slightly slower than usual (70-80 instead of 80-85)?
• Perfecting my driving style better timed glides, and looking for the best way to pulse?
• 10-15km of engine off coasting, aout twice as much as in previous tanks?
• Just pure luck?

Hmmm, "George" (aka "Wake me up before you Aygo go") will be chasing Svietlana for EPA+ mileage I hope quite soon. As for your latest tank I think a combination of warm(er) weather and weight - no really.

For you only using Svietlana on longer journeys I think the weight actually pays off in coasting. For me with my 80% urban driving weight is a penalty, hence George may be better for me but not for you - as long as his tyres are fully inflated.

I did a trip in Mrs A's Octavia the other week after I pumped the tyres to 45 and got a 73.7 (imp) average MPG which seemed damn good. Most of it was spent coasting though the weight carrying me further than ever. MO (Mrs A's Octavia) has climate control so the AC is on most of the time, as are bum warmers - don't ask...

I suspect a Kilo-kilo tank (620 miles) with George may be a worthwhile initial target though as the Aygo tank is smaller than Helga's. Looks like I may be taking a solo (as in only me, not the family) trip down south this weekend so I will get to find out I suppose.

But I think Svietlana has some more to give. Is there a 6sp box you can fit ?

I am planning a Video intro for George but with this weekend's unexpected trip coming up then it may be with a couple of fill-ups to record

I may also be doing the "racing engine breaking in" routine...

[Piwoslaw]

True about how the weight could help on backroads, I remember Brucey mentioning it too. My average would easily get screwed when I drove through a larger city with a few traffic lights.

Originally Posted by Arragonis

But I think Svietlana has some more to give. Is there a 6sp box you can fit ?

Yes, there is a 6-speed, but I dunno if it can be swapped. Now that I'm paying more attention to how I accelerate (I'm on the lookout for my engine's BSFC chart, just in case you were wondering what I want for Xmas) I've noticed that I'd benefit from having more gears and closer together.

I was monitoring my intake air temperature (pre-turbo) and it was around 10°C above ambient. Coolant temperatures were 84°-88°C in light traffic and 80°-82°C when PNGing on the backroads, with A/C the fan kicks in and I'd see 79°C.

[Piwoslaw]

Today I noticed that my onboard computer's units can be changed from liters per 100km to kilometers per liter, so I went for it. As has been mentioned by a few members, when your fuel consumption starts getting low and your OBC has only one decimal place, then km/l gives much better resolution. The break even point around 10l/100km=10km/l. For example, now I'll be seeing anything between 26.0 and 26.6 km/l, when normally it would have been rounded to just 3.8 l/100km. If I go lower, say to 3.3 l/100km, then the km/l range increases to 31.8-32.7, which would be equivalent to a second decimal place in l/100km (which is what I have been using in my own log).

[Arragonis]

FWIW I noticed that an Indian website I visited recently used km/l universally - it makes it dead easy to convert to US and Imp gallons and gives better resolution as you say...

[Piwoslaw]

I tested out the onboard comp's new units (km/l instead of l/100km) and I'm not impressed. It turns out that the km/l is given with one place after the decimal, but it does not show every possible value, it skips many of them. Here is what I saw on the display while driving today:
23.8 -> 24.4 -> 25.0 -> 25.6 -> 26.3 -> 27.0 -> 27.8 -> 28.6 -> 29.4 (km/l).
In l/100km this would be:
4.2 -> 4.1 -> 4.0 -> 3.9 -> 3.8 -> 3.7 -> 3.6 -> 3.5 -> 3.4.
So my OBC is still using l/100km and just converting it to km/l So I've switched back to l/100km, since the resolution is the same (in this case) and it is the unit which most people are used to. For example, it's easier to just show someone the 3.4 l/100km tank average on my display then to explain that "Actually, it's in km/l, but if you divide by this, then mutliply by that, then you'll get 3.4".

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I found out that the same window shades are available with different cartoon characters. Instead of a dragon I could have had a turtle!
That would suit me much better, but I dunno if I can spare another 3€ if I find it

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

So my OBC is still using l/100km and just converting it to km/l

That's just ridiculous.

Good chance my OBC would do the same

[Piwoslaw]

My last 3 tank average is 3.9 l/100km (60.7 mpg)!
No new mods, but I have been perfecting technique. First of all, I assumed that the engine is most efficient at 1700-2000 rpm (max torque is at 1750), so I've been keeping one eye on the rpm-odometer and the other on the ScanGauge, trying to keep LOD high (70-99). (Here is a short discussion on the 1.6HDi's BSFC.) I've noticed two things:

• My passengers aren't too happy about getting pushed into their seats 2-3 times per minute. Funny how they complain both about how slow I drive AND how fast I accelerate. Yeah, too much torque
• The gearing in my transmission has a 'hole' between 3rd and 4th. At certain speeds the rpms are either too high or too low, I need something in between. There is also a smaller 'hole' between 2nd and 3rd, so the best remedy would be to move 3rd closer to 2nd and add a gear between it and 4th. Hmm, if I get carried away I'll just start wanting a CVT...

I've also been driving oh so slightly slower, but better use of coasting and engine braking hasn't lowered the tank's average speed. Since it's warm (and the A/C is broken again) I've been killing the engine at red lights more often, but this battery won't see next spring unless I'm very lucky. Maybe I should charge it more often? But it shows 12.4-12.5V in the morning, before the solar trickle charger gets to work, so it seems healthy.
EO(ff)C is usually no more than 10-15km out of each 1500-1700km tank, so less than 1%.

The tanks will worsen in the near future - since the Wife is pregnant the car will see more short trips, especially during the winter. She can't ride to work on her bike anymore, so our bicycle milage will shortly plummet too, which she's VERY unhappy about

We thought about getting a cheap small car for city driving, and even found a nice Peugeot 106 1.1i that we fell in love with, but decided we really can get by without it. On one hand, Svietlana is so big and powerful that the Wife don't want to drive her even when I'm sitting next to her, so a small gasser would be ideal for errands and city driving. On the other hand, we don't want to turn our yard into a parking lot. We won't be going on longer trips too often for the next 1-2 years, so Svietlana would only be used 3-4 times a year. This doesn't justify all the extra expenses. And we don't want to get rid of Svieta, since we plan to use her full potential when we start hiking again. Plus she's the largest cargo-mover of our nearest family and friends.