wanna bECO new here
 

Hi gang.
First off I am in awe of so many of you here. I always believed that the manufacturers mpg was slightly inflated and the world lived with knowing that. If honda says you'll get 30 mpg.... you get about 26 and say....."oh well, it's close enough to 30, and I like AC, so i'll live with it." I never dreamed that it was possible to get Better than that. Some of you go far beyond that. I love the fact that you take those numbers and challenge yourself to beat (improve) them.

I am an average joe. I was raised by my mom, so my mechanical ability is limited to changing the toilet paper roll myself and going for the far more beneficial overhand wrap of said TP. I once changed by own oil, and ended up with most of the old oil on my shirt. Luckily the scarring from the hot oil that day didn't last too long.

I once had an 83 honda accord that treated gas like an icky poison and all on it's own it got about 34 mpg.I didn't care though cuz gas was about a buck a gallon, so.....NOONE cared! My current chick magnet mobile is a feisty ford escort..... though she's more of a street walker than an escort. I've always thought that was a poor choice of names for a car, but it made me fall in love with her. I used to get the 30 mpg outta her and now she's older and not giving papa what he needs. She's down to right around 27.5 (i know that many of you are laughing at the number right now) I just had a tune up and it didn't help a bit, but it did fly through emissions without any problems.

I live in AZ and currently we are trying to break a record for the most consecutive days over 110 degrees. I'm not sure how much areo blocking I can do but I am going to go for it. i also see a place where caulking around my headlight and other areas will seal up gaps. I don't know if my mileage will increase but she should be able to float better. :)I am ready to trade her high dollar rims for flat stockers with those nifty plain hub caps. I don't want to over heat and I can't live without AC...(did that for too many years in the honda)

It's not all bad... I have a harley too and it's a blue one. so with that color you get about 42 mpg, with a large fat man on board. But again, I live in phoenix so riding this summer is limited to joy romps after midnight.

I realize that my eco impact IS important. Mainly because july 19th of 2008 I am expecting the arrival of my first child.. a boy that will use the handle Lucas. Now before him I was ready to pillage mother earth for all she was worth leaving a trail of plastic bottles up to her heart as I stab her with excessive shower usage and fuel consumption greater than that of a 3rd world nation. I can survive these high gas prices..after all I'm in the 3rd year of my 40's and I don't have much time left..... but Lucas... I don't want him to have to choose between going to college and buying his first tank of gas.

So, here I am, honored and excited to meet you all and turn it all around for him. I am going to try to squeeze every foot of mileage out of my escort that I can. My wife wants to buy me and Lucas a scion xb, but I'm not sure that's the best ecological choice and now, I want that to be the basis of my choices. I wanna one day be the crazy guy down the street that made an EV out of a forklift and an escort..... a forkscort??? just the name brings smiles to my ears. I'm not quite there yet, i must fist learn to change my wiper blades...... baby steps.

Where can I find a list of areo mods and the benefit of them on this site. like will blocking my grille bring me 10 mpg or .000375. is there any data like that. How about the wheels. And what's with increasing the tire pressure. doesn't that wear out tires faster and eat up any fuel savings. Just point me in the right direction.. oh and anyhelp naming my for escort would be welcomed. you guys all have such great names for your cars... and I don't wanna look like a newbie. :thumbup:

I'm not sure we have any grand list of data floating around, though that would be nice, :)

Welcome to the site! I would hunt for a civic over the xB, but that''s just me. Plus I think the xb looks awful, the new one, at least, :p. But that's just personal taste.

Welcome to ecomodder!! The xB isn't bad I've heard some people getting good mileage out of it, one thing you can do is go to the garage and sort by % increase over EPA this might give you an idea of what vehicles can be driven to get the best mileage.

If you are looking for something a little bigger I have heard the Pontiac Vibe isn't bad. When you are meandering through the threads you will see peoples vehicles and get ideas on what works for you. If you have the ability to drive a manual I would go for that as it will help you squeeze a little more mileage out of it.

Welcome again and good luck on your quest! There is a list of aero mods (I think it's in the Aero section there is a sticky)

Welcome to the site. I'm sure we can squeeze some pretty good mileage out of the escort despite your blistering weather.

My first recommendation is to look at the 100+ hypermiling tips. Thats where you'll see your biggest and most immediate gains, the rest is more work and/or money. Second on the list is to pump up your tires (max sidewall is recommended). This actually gives you better tire life, still even wear (they don't wear in the middle), and better handling. The only downside is a bit harsher ride. If max sidewall is too much for you just lower the pressure until its tollerable. Most of us use max sidewall without any problems though. After that you can start getting into actual mods. However, if the previous steps were done properly you'll already be seeing 20% over EPA.

Oh yeah, one last thing. Start a garage entry for your vehicle to track your progress.

Great intro! Welcome.

wow, you guys are friendly, that's a good sign. And a howdy from Johnny mullet!!! I'm so lucky. Johnny, you're the kind of friend I need. I saw the way you explain stuff, I think IIIIIII can even understand your instructions. Can't wait to get more mileage.

Welcome Fellow Zonie!

I live in Phoenix too. One of the first things to do is adjust your driving techniques, and you will improve your numbers. My Tacoma has a combined MPG rating of 17MPG, but my best tank was 26.66MPG and that is local driving with some AC use. The biggest thing I have found out is most people drive really fast around here, and if you try to keep up with them you too will get worse gas mileage, but if you slow down your numbers will improve. Also avoid idling, drive throughs, long lights etc.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

Alan, if you know of any groups that meet and show off their mods here in phoenix.... send me a PM.