Possible Corsa C mods

[CorsaModder]

I've got a 2001 Corsa C which I use mostly to go to and from work every weekday and a few other places too. I don't exactly cover a great distance approx 87 miles in a typical week but I've found that I go through about 1/4 tank of fuel a week. I worked out my MPG and it's shockingly low and I'd like to see how I could improve it (bearing in mind that it's a 8 year old car, although well cared for, and I'm not exactly a mechanic). Does anyone have any ideas of where I should start? It had a new set of tyres installed a few months ago at the cost of, I think, £230 (I don't know anything about them but apparently they're decent) so would rather not do anything there.

Looking at the list of possible mods I think the following might be realistic:

Solar assist - solar panel on roof that trickle charges battery. Unfortunately I don't think I'd ever get enough back to make the cost of the solar panel worth it however much I might like to do it. Also it'd probably get nicked or vandalised.
Weight reduction - I've been thinking of taking the back seats out as they're pretty easy to remove and when I do have passengers I never usually have more than one so they'll sit in the front driver's seat. I've also thought about replacing the 2 front ones with racing seats but I don't know if it'll be worth it from a weight point of view or if it'll require changes to the seat belts?
Aftermarket cruise control and setting the cruise control to control the throttle via engine load rather than speed. I don't know if I can get aftermarket cruise control for my car-couldn't find anything on Google-it's a pretty basic model but it's something that I might be interested in.

[SVOboy]

I don't know much specifics about the corsa, but I would check out some aeromods. They will give a new ecomodder the best bang for the buck, besides simple driving changes

[chuckm]

I think you'll find your best mods will be dependent on what kind of driving you do. If you are only doing 87 miles a week, you're not exactly racking up the miles. That is the very best thing you can do for saving gas. Beyond that, if you are driving in town (mostly under 35mph), weight reduction and fast warm up mods will help most. If you driving is highway (40mph and up), the aero mods will help most.

[robchalmers]

Corsa can be very frugal even , in town which engine are you running? Petrol/diesel? I think as above the best thing to do is check the driving techniques section – As there is always something to try or learn. A couple of things I’ve been trying recently which seem to help are

Traffic Light gauging – If you toddling up to a set of lights that have just changed and you now you’ll be stopped for more than 10-15second switch the engine off.

Stretch you’re legs – depress the brake and clutch as far as you can then shift your seat back until you are the furthest back and still able to apply that force to the pedals, Recently I’ve seen the results of a clutch that had been ridden (just the weight of your foot on the pedal constantly, although not consciously depressing it) and it only managed 8-9000 miles in my friend’s Clio. I’m also betting that the that foot weight on the throttle will also have an effect too (that’s why I’m trying it too)

If you are doing motorway driving – aero mods can be easily done to the C and be reversible – things like the plastic arch lips on the car can be found cheaply at scrap yards pattern Shops and then modded keeping you originals clean for when you sell the car. Things I’d suggest aero wise:

Grille block – dead easy to do on the C with a bit of corrugated plastic
Lower it – plenty of cheap spring kits out there thanks to the street racer market
Under tray - in 2003 there was a ‘ECO-life’ version of the C it had a specifically design under tray to reduce drag and if I remember it can be retro fitted to any C. it may be hard to find though

Other than that- just take out all unnecessary weight out of the car, rubbish, books, shoes, everything to If you want to take seats out -its up to you!

[Piwoslaw]

My Grandma has a 3d Corsa C ('00 or '01, iirc), I drove it for years when living with her. It had the 3-cylinder 1.0l engine. Enough for city driving, maybe underpowered if you like to pass Merdies of the Autobahn, but Grandma says she once tested it up to 150 km/h. Since the Corsa C has very wide side mirrors, we always folded them when driving into the garage, and never felt like unfolding the passenger side mirror when going somewhere. Believe me, that car needs a pass side mirror only when hauling big cargo inside. Folding one mirror will reduce frontal area.
I'm with Rob on the grille block and weight reduction. If you can't find an OEM undertray, make your own out of coroplast or aluminum. Rear wheel skirts!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because of the high mounted rear lights a Kammback may be out of the question, unless you use plexi or lexan or whatever.
But driving style makes the biggest difference.
And read lots of EcoModder.com

[MoDolph]

Hi all, I too have a 53 plate corsa c 1.2 16V petrol. I have been a long time lurker here at ecomodder and by following advice on driving style alone I have managed to get from an average of 35mpg (29 mpg us) to 55 mpg (46 mpg us) and can now get 450 miles from a tank before the warning light comes on

The things I have done:

1. Bought a scanguage (expensive at £120 but well worth it) got me 5mpg extra.
2. Drive at 55 instead of 70 on the motorway - good for 10-15 mpg
3. Pump up tires to 44 psi - car handles better and glides longer, 2-3 mpg
4. Anticipate the road ahead and coast to red lights, get mad at yourself whenever you have to use the brakes!

The above should be able to get you most of the way there. Things I am yet to try;

1. EOC - I do this sometimes but I'm too scared of damaging the catalytic converter.
2. Any mods.

I have been toying with the idea of aeromodding as most of my driving is on the motorway but the car really belongs to my other half and she's still paying for it so its gonna be hard to convince her that a full boatail is a good idea! I'm going to look into that underbody tray though and the mirrors are HUGE but I dont think removing them is an option in the uk.

I notice your location is Manchester, is that the UK one? If so then thats where I am, it would be nice to know I'm not alone in this city of crazy drivers.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by MoDolph

I have been toying with the idea of aeromodding as most of my driving is on the motorway but the car really belongs to my other half and she's still paying for it so its gonna be hard to convince her that a full boatail is a good idea!

You can start with smaller, fully removable mods like a grille block and rear wheel skirts, then go all out on the boattail when the car is paid for. What size tires do you have? My Grandma's Corsa came standard with something like 155/70R13 LowCO2 tires. Finding LowRR tires for that car shouldn't be hard.

I'm going to look into that underbody tray though and the mirrors are HUGE but I dont think removing them is an option in the uk.

You don't have to remove the passenger side mirror, just keep it folded shut. To be safe you may want to look into local motor laws, but I think they are more or less the same anywhere in the EU. Here a pass side mirror is required only when you can't use the internal mirror. Driver's side, of course, is mandatory, but after paying the car off you might want to think about replacing it with something smaller.

[MoDolph]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

What size tires do you have? My Grandma's Corsa came standard with something like 155/70R13 LowCO2 tires.

The tires are currently 185/55R15 but they have plenty of miles left in them yet. If I was to change the tires to low RR ones would I have to change all of them at the same time or in pairs? I was also thinking about increasing the size of the wheels to make for taller gear ratios, would this help? The engine is currently running at 3k rpm at 55mph

I will try folding in the passenger side mirror for my trip home tonight, I wonder how long it takes for another motorist to tell me I forgot to unfold it!

I think its about time I stopped thinking and started doing with regards to the grill block so I think I will take home some cardboard from work and begin on the prototype tonight.

[robchalmers]

I've been using a tank tape grille block - works fine and is 100% removeable and can be quickly changed to kepp temps ok.

Try ditching the spare tyre + tools and buy a RAC/AA membership!

another one I've done is remove the radio and instead I just listen to my ipod!