Slacker buys a Tercel
 

Hello ecomodders,

I returned to the USA from disaster relief work in Sudan about a year ago in pursuit of my wife.

I finally found a job in my field (engineering), but it involved a 40 mile commute suitable to neither my preference of cycling, nor my trusty Nissan pickup.

In response I recently purchased a 1996 Toyota Tercel DX. It's a sweet ride with 94 hp, 85k miles, a couple dents, and wicked pink "graphix" reading "sport." With mild hypermiling, I ran 38 mpg over my first tank in this car. Basically, I love it.

Since my commute is 95% highway, I'm really interested in aero mods. I'm also very interested in taller gearing for this car. If anyone has gone down that road, I'd love to hear about it.

I have decent mechanical skills. I'm a fair welder and machinist with access to a good shop at work. I love problem solving. The downside is that I can be a real slacker about personal projects.

I have enjoyed many of the ideas and projects I've read about here. Great work, people. :turtle:

Welcome to EM Toby.

You and I share very similar cars. My Paseo is built on the same chassis as the Tercel and they also share the same engine. Unfortunately for me, the Paseo has shorter gearing than the Tercel. As it is, if you have the 5 speed transmission, you have the tallest stock transmission possible. The only option for going taller is to check if the 4 speed differential fits in the 5 speed bellhousing. But, even then, it will only drop your rpms roughly 100 @ 55 mph, so not much of a gain there. The other option would be a custom 5th gear. A few guys have tried this on various other cars and have had good success with it. Since you have access to a machine shop, you might have good luck doing a reversed 2nd gear (you'd need a donor transmission) as a new 5th gear. I know I'd love to do that myself.

Other than that, I'd definitely pump the tires up to maximum sidewall and focus on aero mods. An upper grill block would be an excellent start.

Thanks for the amazingly quick response. In fact, I have the four speed manual transmission. Oddly, the EPA rating for the model with the 5 speed is slightly worse. I will definitely be looking into the possibility of the 5 speed in my car, though.

I've read several of your posts about your Paseo. I hope I can make half your progress.

Welcome to EM, Toby. Thanks for your humanitarian assistance in Sudan!

How fast do you drive on the highway? You don't need aero mods if you keep your speeds <=55 mph. The 1NZ-FE engine in the Tercel/Echo/Yaris is capable of ~50 mpg at slow cruising speeds.

After only a week in this car, I've settled to cruising around 57 mph. This seems to be a sweet spot that keeps me just above the speed at which you get run over by pickups and H2's on the highway I frequent.

My car has the 5E-FE engine. I know I should be getting better milage than I have, but my numbers are also suspect so far.

I'm running on Missouri winter gas in pretty harsh winter weather. And I'm calculating my fuel consumption by pump top off, which is subjective at best.

This car, by the way, is the second worst winter driving vehicle I have ever experienced. It has the 155 tires, and the handling and breaking are just poor in the extreme on anything but bone dry conditions.

Sorry, but this is completely untrue. At just over 35 mph, half of the power to move the car is going towards overcoming aerodynamic drag. At 55 mph, 70% of the power required to maintain speed is going to overcome aero drag. Aerodynamics are a huge factor at all but very slow speeds.

Here is the break down using the numbers for a Tercel.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1266323008


I also calculated the regearing effect of swapping to a 5 speed (from a 95+ Tercel, the earlier ones had shorter gearing). At 55 mph, the 4 speed puts you at roughly 2550 rpm. The 5 speed will drop that down to 2200. Not a huge drop, but its something. If you put your 4 speed differential in your 5 speed, you'd be down to 2080 rpm. FYI, I'm not 100% sure that the differential does actually fit in the 5 speed bellhousing.

Welcome to the forum, Toby.

The numbers don't lie: if highway driving is your thing, aero modding is your friend.

Looking forward to your projects.

Darin

I apologize for the misstatements in my previous post. I engaged my typing fingers before turning on my brain.

No biggie: it's a common misconception that aero doesn't matter except at high speeds. If fuel economy has the equivalent of urban myths, that would be one of them.

I'm glad to hear there is consensus on the impact of aerodynamics.

Doax,

Where did you get that chart? Please provide reference so I can get more details.

Thanks,

Click on "Tools" at the top of the page, then click on "Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & fuel consumption calculator". Here is a direct link:

Aerodynamic & rolling resistance, power & MPG calculator - EcoModder.com

For the Tercel, I used 2200 lbs (2000 lb curb weight + person and stuff) and .010 Crr since thats probably closer to reality. Cd is .32 for the car and I got the frontal area from the wiki page on CdA (also a link on the top of the page). Everything else I left as is.

They're usually great in snow. You might need an alignment and some good 155/80 snow tires.

Skinny tires can be excellent in snow because they cut through it to get traction on the ground.

All my skinny-tired FWD cars have been very good.... unless the tires themselves had bad treads (either depth or design).

I agree, I've never had problems. It is a light car, so ruts do throw it around, and lane changes can be interesting on slushy roads (build up between lanes). But other than that, I've found the car to be great in snow.

Ditto on the snow tires too, love em on the wife's car.

Welcome to EM Toby! You chose a great base for hypermiling/ecomodding. There are a few really knowledgeable tercel/paseo people that can provide a huge wealth of knowledge and ideas to you, and as I can see you've already met one of the most prominent ;)
I recently bought a Tercel with a blown engine for an electric conversion with some pretty wicked graphix. I don't know if you can beat mine in the wicked department:
http://i50.tinypic.com/333bcw5.jpg

Look at that detailing! :P

Anyway, sorry to hear about the winter handling - Tercels come with some pretty teeny tires, and after you tough out the winter, they will reward you generously in the warmer months.

You certainly have me beat in the fly graphixxx department. But I guess I'll take my running engine as compensation.

I've lived in East Africa most of the past few years, and I've driven my Nissan 4wd pickup most of this winter. I've probably just forgotten what driving a small sedan in snow is like.

My tires were maxed for this last tank. I also started doing some EOC. That made for a nice little boost.

heat in the forecast
 

I've been hemming and hawing about removing my power steering as it shares a belt with the AC compressor. I just wasn't convinced I was going to go without it.

I know I could get a shorter belt and/or make an idler pulley, but that would require effort.

Today something snapped. I finally decided to unbelt the entirety. I drove a few blocks and I could barely notice the difference in the steering. There better be a boost on the next tank.

I recently did that too with little difference in steering ability (except stuff like parallel parking - things with big, slow turns). I'm almost done with the tank of gas the change will be reflected in. I hope you notice some gains in mpg!

As for winter driving in a tercel.... I can say they can be some of the BEST cars out there.

However you need to go get a good set of ice/snow tires in the winter, studded are better too. I have a 91 tercel (same thing but pre-face lift) Has the 5 speed. I used it for pizza delivery for two years or so, and now only use it for rallycross... it can keep up with the fancy AWD subaru turbos on the deep mud and snow/ice. Little bit of practice and some PROPER winter tires, not all seasons, you can go anywhere. Funilly, 155 wide tires are better in deep snow and mud, as they dig down to the actual traction surface easier than a wider tire will, like hydroplaning on jello.

I got good economy out of the car when I drove it day to day, but didnt track the economy back then too closely.