Vibe mods: One man's quest to better 40mpg.

[Daox]

Haha, wow. Yeah, time for new tires.

[Tango Charlie]

Oh, hey, that's better!

[Tango Charlie]

I've only put on a little over 150 miles on the new eNTYREs, but I'm really, really liking 'em! They're much quieter than the old worn out Arizonians. I've commuted twice and matched what I've been getting. But that's at 32 psi or whatever they put them at when they were installed. I can't wait to pump them up and see what they can do. I think I read somewhere that you should run them lower to break them in before upping the pressure. I'll have to search for that to refresh my memory on how long the break in period should be.

[TheMarkofPolo]

First of all, thanks for sharing your quest for the Holy Gr--I mean, 40 mpg in a Vibe with us. I enjoy the craftiness.

So, do you operate your lower grill block year-round, now? I've just installed a partial lower grill block for the winter, but I'm concerned how it will fare during the inevitable unseasonably warm days...especially since I don't yet have the tools to cut an oval opening in the center.

(The upper grill has been blocked since I discovered this site. It would be nice if I could put Ecomodder stickers on the mods to direct the otherwise confused passersby to this awesome site)

[Weather Spotter]

I run my lower grill block year around, but mine is openable by a switch. Look at my other posts to se the build thread.

[Tango Charlie]

TheMarkofPolo; no, I don't run the lower block when it's warmer than 40F. In my neck of the woods, it's getting cooler than that, so last week I put the "teeth" back on, because I like the look. I gave it another coat of paint so you can't see the red lettering showing through. As it gets colder outside, I may block off the tooth-shaped openings from behind.

Good News!!!
I just started a new job!
Yay!
It's going to be a 35 mile (one way) commute, so I'm getting re-motivated to add some mods to Olivia.

[Daox]

Congrats on the new job!

I'd also like to see more mods for the vibe.

[TheMarkofPolo]

Tango Charlie; Congrats on the job! I look forward to seeing more updates on your Vibe. Anyway, yeah, St. Louis is starting to see sub-40F temps, so I guess I'll be OK. Fan has only turned on once so far, after a lot of stop/go traffic. The key is to try to drive through the city at off-peak hours...

Once tools/funds become available, I'll try to fabricate an improved block. Duct tape just doesn't cut it in the long run...Red Green would be proud, though.

[Tango Charlie]

LOVE Red Green. My favorite quote of his is "If your wife's having fun and you're not, you're still having way more fun than when you're having fun and she's not."

At the last minute we've decided to take a family vacation again this year. Northern IN to southern FL is a long way, and in years past I piled the luggage on the roof rack and suffered reduced MPG's. It hurt my soul so much that this year I decided to be more proactive and mounted a hitch receiver and fabbed up a luggage carrier.



I still need to drill some holes around its perimeter for attaching bungee straps, but I'm pretty happy how it's turning out. Makes one think about hitch-mounted boat tails, doesn't it? Hmmm.

A head light burned out, so I went to my local Meijers to get a new lamp. I was surprised to find "Eco lamps". The package claims they consume 23% less power. The most apparent difference is that the eco lamp has a smaller diameter glass bulb.



I put it in and it seems every bit as bright as the other one. I'm wondering how these compare to a homemade LED conversion, power consumption-wise.
Oh yeah, one more thing- I got Olivia a Christmas present.

[Daox]

Haha, nice mod and sticker. I'm sure that'll help out with the mileage. Don't forget to report back on how it does!