Sonic power modder
 

Introducing myself; I'm Swordsmith, I make swords for a living, I have several forges and heat treating ovens, hammers, an anvil, a power hammer, mill, lathe, CADCAM plasma arc cutter and various assorted metal working tools at my disposal.

I own a 2012 Sonic with a 1.4Turbo engine which I have converted to run Flexfuel. I got the car because I like the idea of the combination of a tiny engine which gets good gas mileage coupled with a turbo which allows it to boost up to sufficient power to be functional and even fun.

Sadly, I then got so into the power part of the ride that I've gone to the dark side, power mod after power mod (intake, exhaust, injectors, alcohol conversion) and in fact added so much power that a stronger clutch was needed.

As originally equipped and driven carefully I was getting as high as 44mpg on a tank. Runnin E85 and driving like I enjoy doing, I get 22 mpg. Same fuel, on a recent experimental run, I got 31mpg, so it's not all the car, mods, or fuel, much of the issue is me.

That admitted, I am still very interested in working on the eco part of the equation; the idea here for me is to have an eco-car to drive around in most of the time, and still have a little sleeper pocket rocket when I want to lay down some rubber.

"Howdy and Welcome Aboard!"

1) What size injectors did you move "up" to for E85?

2) Which transmission, 6A or 6M?

3) Have you considered adding a "tune" for the ECM and TCM (if 6A)?

4) What size wheels & tires (OEM)?

5) What is actual car weight?

6) Considered grill block and under chassis shields?

42# injectors. The stock injectors can't deliver sufficient volume of E85 to go past about half throttle

6M, currently the MZ4 (stock transmission for the 1.4T) but I have an MZ0(from a Cruze Eco which uses the same engine) on my porch which I plan to install this summer

I am running a Trifecta tune, switchable from a standard E85 with limited boost to an experimental one designed to allow full boost at power levels too high for the stock clutch, and able to run any amount of ethanol from 0 to 85%.

I have the OEM 15" rims and Hankook tires sitting on my porch, I am currently running V Sin 16" rims and Sumitomo touring plus LST tires. Handling is significantly better than on stocks but the mpg may be worse.

Have not weighed the car since mods began, stock weight I think is 2712 lbs. I replaced the spare with a 4 lb inflation device/batter yjump starter, and the new clutch is about 17 lbs lighter if I recall correctly, a few other parts also removed, so a guess would be 2650.

I discovered this site while researching the grill block system being touted on the Cruze Eco. I have added the belly plate that was OEM on the Sonic when first made, but cancelled on cars made after around Feb 2012, including mine. Considering a more complete underbody plate since I have sheet metal fabrication capabilities

Also under consideration is a switchable intake system which would draw cold air from the fender/fake fog light bezel for power OR warm air from a tube added running across the engine from the opposite side fog bezel. This, I theorize, would allow me to switch from power to efficient as desired, which is my dream for the car overall.