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.
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. But that's just personal taste.
