Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread

[euromodder]

Wow.Has it been that hot in Poland ?

Here it was 0° C this morning !
We didn't get a heatwave, it's far too cold for the time of the year.

[Piwoslaw]

Yeah, the end of April was slightly warmer than average, but that's history. Today we saw temps just above freezing, while it was snowing in Sarajevo

[jtbo]

We are still at negative temperatures at night/morning, +10C tops at day here today and yesterday, it has been so windy that sails might be worth to consider mod above everything else

Spring, it is always so unpredictable, from warm to cold and every year it is so different from before that there is no telling what is normal, or maybe different is normal at spring. Don't know if that is any better elsewhere, but because of these winds here it is not very good mpg time and such it is not my favorite time of year, oh yes, eyes itching hard to breathe, so I become grumpy at this time of year, sorry.

[seifrob]

Piwoslaw, I have basically two questions but I don't know where to post them. I could send a PM, but i think that Your answer would interest also other fellow readers:

Can you estimate, how much is you fuel consumption affected by your driving style and how much by the mods you have made? What consumption Svietlana has when your wife drives it? (I assume she doesn't do much coasting, pulse and glide etc.)

Can you summarize for us your driving habits? AFAIK, You live in similar conditions as I do. From my experience, driving in the U.S. really differs from driving in central Europe.
I have similar-sized car, but your mileage is really impressive. I tried few "hypermiling tricks", but, err..., other drivers here think it's quite unpolite, and they let you know what they think. So now I unwillingly try to "behave myself" and drive 70 in the town, speed to next light and so on..

How is it to hypermile in Central Europe?

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by seifrob

Can you estimate, how much is you fuel consumption affected by your driving style and how much by the mods you have made? What consumption Svietlana has when your wife drives it? (I assume she doesn't do much coasting, pulse and glide etc.)

It hardly uses any fuel then! Mostly because Mrs P doesn't drive She drove a few times, but gave up claiming that a) the car is too powerful for her and she's afraid of it, b) she's even more afraid of other drivers, since driving in Warsaw is almost like fighting for your life, c) the car attracts too much attention, making driving even harder. Though the few times she did drive her consumption wasn't much worse than mine, but she's gotten used to my driving style and drives similarly, especially since I'm sitting next to her telling what to do and not do

As for the hypermiling-to-ecomods ratio, it's the driving style that wins. It's hard to quantify (I've been coasting and engine braking since before I got this car), but I'd guess 60-70%, though the ecomods help to use hypermiling techniques more productively. For example, tire pressure (51psi / 3.5bar) plus Kammback allow me to coast in traffic where I'd normally have to stay in gear to keep up.

Originally Posted by seifrob

Can you summarize for us your driving habits? AFAIK, You live in similar conditions as I do. From my experience, driving in the U.S. really differs from driving in central Europe.
I have similar-sized car, but your mileage is really impressive. I tried few "hypermiling tricks", but, err..., other drivers here think it's quite unpolite, and they let you know what they think. So now I unwillingly try to "behave myself" and drive 70 in the town, speed to next light and so on..

Polish drivers aren't tolerant of anyone trying to save fuel, or to drive safely

• I drive slow by Polish standards, no more than 10-15 km/h over the speed limit, and that means I get cut off and flashed at often. I get passed more often than I pass others.
• If no-one is behind me, or can easily pass me, I try to stay below or around the speed limit. In the cities I go 40-60, on the express- and highways (speed limits 120 and 140 km/h, resp.) I hardly ever go faster than 100, closer to 90 or even 80 if I can get away with it (Mrs P).
• I pulse and glide (with engine on) up to 80-90, I kill the engine if the glide will be at least 500 meters, though I don't get too many occasions for that.
• When accelerating I try to keep engine load around 70-80% on the ScanGauge, and rpms just under 2000.
• I definately don't race anyone to a red light (though I sometimes show someone that I'm not a slow starter when the light turns green, but only if that someone is obnoxious and my emotions get the better of me - I'm working on it), I might glide 500m @ 30km/h to a red light and hold everyone up, but I'm assuming that they know that the light is red.
• I turn my engine off at a light when I know it will be red for a while, but I don't do it every time since my battery needs replacing. Sometimes I'll kill the engine while still gliding to the red.
• I don't use the A/C since it has a leak. When it did work I would pulse it at max, then turn it off, with the ventilation in closed loop.

Originally Posted by seifrob

How is it to hypermile in Central Europe?

A nightmare with all of the crazy drivers, trucks and rubberneckers, not to mention potholes plus traffic signs and restrictions in dumb places. When returning home from Slovenia last year my trip average suddenly got worse when I crossed the Polish border: In Austria road construction and lane changes were done in such a way that the speed limit was reduced to 80km/h, while here they put sharp turns and a sudden speed reduction to 30, behind a corner so that you notice it at the last moment. Or red lights at the bottom of an otherwise great downhill coast. Etc., etc., and so on.

[GRU]

Wow, Poland sounds alot like Serbia. People in the slowes/oldest cars would be driving like Formula 1

[seifrob]

thanks, one feels better knowing that it is the same across the borderline .

[stargazerf3a]

Hello!
Your thread is very helpfull i also own a french car and grills look the same only different colour .
We now have 35-40celsius here and i am thinking of a grill block , how did yours performed at high temperatures?

[Piwoslaw]

Sorry for the delay, I just got back from vacation.

Originally Posted by stargazerf3a

We now have 35-40celsius here and i am thinking of a grill block , how did yours performed at high temperatures?

My lower grille block is openable, the upper grille block is installed only during the colder months. I open the lower block when the engine coolant temperature gets hotter than 92-94°C (radiator fan turns on at 97°C and cools to 89°C), usually in traffic. When driving at a steady 90-95 km/h in hot weather (30°C) I see ~82-84°C with the lower block open, and ~90-92°C closed.

[Piwoslaw]

Out with the old

In with the new


Yet again I've increased the amount of air that can pass through the lower grille block. The radiator side's slit length has been increased, and new slits added, increasing the area by ~20-30%. The intercooler side has been redone to allow almost twice as much air in. I'm not sure how much better this will work (not that I've had any problems), but it looks better and people have finally stopped telling me that my engine will overheat.

Of course, even when closed some air still enters through the upper grille, but that will get blocked for the colder months.