Whats your best ecomod?

[Xist]

Eddie, your garage says that your car has a manual transmission. Is that correct?

I just wanted to make sure. If you have an automatic, you never want to turn off the engine while the car is in motion.

Bob, go ahead and do that modification, A-B-A test, and write a good thread for us.

[user removed]

Best ecomod, me. Might get a vacuum gauge.

regards
mech

[Eddie25]

Originally Posted by bobdbilder

I could reduce average Fuel Consumption approximately 30% by fitting a secondary intake tract before the filter. As mentioned in Autospeed.com
It reduces spiky vacuum occurrences during movement of the throttle butterfly valve, as the total intake diameter is approx 20% larger than that of the Throttle Body. I drive mostly urban which means lot of movements of the throttle. I used the flexible washing machine drain hose that costs approx USD 4.00 . I have changed that now to some plastic drain pipe and air conditioning insulation for a total of USD 3.00 and gets a smoother flow compare to the ribs on the hose.

please post pics!

[bobdbilder]

Well the car was originally came with an intake that was different. I changed the snorkel to an older version which has a higher noise level but less flow restriction.

I have also done it for my Hyundai Trajet MPV/Minivan. It now gets me about 9-10l/100km urban. Used to give me 12-15.

Here's the pics for the one on the Trajet




I've got a video on Youtube but nevermind the local language. http://youtu.be/jIbLjQqEvks I have calculated there is a 20% error on the installed FC readout which came from the Continental/Siemens ECU. Can't do anymore test as the car is sitting waiting for some cash to come in so I could do a bit more aero mod work.

[bobdbilder]

That roof air deflector is part of my other mod. Its more for FE on the open road. Its inclined to be the same angle as the rear window (-23deg) so as to reduce wake size. Its a wood-glass fibre composite with lots of Bondo right now and its not pretty. So don't ask me for more pics. The combination gives me better FE in urban and hiway conditions.

For the rolling eyes; the car was never built for economy. Its a limited edition unit meant for cheap fun on the twisties and track. And it still is.

[Eddie25]

ive started a thread discussing air filters and the verdict with that is that air filters and smoother air intakes don't really help.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ota-31397.html

but now you say it does help to get more cooler air in? my airbox sits on top of the motor and I wonder how it baking in that heat effects it? I like what you did with that pipe insulation I am going to try the same with foil tape.

[PaleMelanesian]

I'll revise my earlier statement. My onboard battery charger is a huge benefit. I plug in at night to keep the battery topped up.

This allows me to use extensive EOC even at night with headlights on. It costs pennies a day in electricity, but saves dollars of gas. If I didn't have the charger I'd have to idle in neutral for coasting instead of EOC.

[bobdbilder]

Its not about so much the temperature but more on the flow and vacuum reduction. Reducing vacuum in the intake means there is close to sufficient flow of air to meet the required air:fuel ratio. We know that the throttle is actually choking the engine if its not fully open. Every move of the flap of the throttle body causes eddies downstream which leads to flow losses. This flap moves constantly when you are driving/riding (because terrain is never flat) and is never steady even when you think your foot (or hand) is rock hard.

The secondary intake actually increases the size of the intake to reduce and cope with fluctuations in vacuum. If the TB's throat is 72mm dia, an intake port the size of 100mm dia will only help. This is especially true when you drive above 50km/h where there is sufficient pressure from outside air to reduce vacuum. You could say a flow of air that is always more than the engine needs. The location of the intake scoop is then important. Autospeed has that covered very well by mapping the aerodynamic pressure points throughout the front of the car.

I have changed the pipe from convoluted flexible accordian style washing machine hose to a smooth inner surface pipe is to increase the effective flow area. I also think that there is a venturi effect where the smaller pipe meets the main intake. The bigger flow from the main intake 'sucks' the air from the smaller diameter pipe.

Coming back to air temperature, higher values actually helps the atomization of fuel through the injectors. Its good for FE but not so much in getting high peak power; hotter air having less mass. So those billet aluminium fuel rail sold off as bling actually does help.

[GhostWolfGT]

Yay! My 1st post and I've been here over 2 years.

Anyhoo, so far I've been my biggest mod.

Max tire pressure got me an extra 4mpg in my Jetta but only 2mpg in my golf.

An accidental side affect of a blown transmission got me 6mpg in the Jetta. I swapped mine out for 1 in the junkyard and it was geared completely different. 70mph was at 2800rpms instead of 3900rpms. I believe the old transmission was geared for autoX. The Jetta started out around 26mpg which I felt was ridiculously low. I managed to get it up to 37mpg before it died. It had almost 400k miles on it and just couldn't go any longer.

For gauges I bought a $10 obd2 Bluetooth scantool from amazon and the Torque App for android. Best purchase ever. It actually helped me get the golf on the road from having so many error codes. I'll put pics of my gauges in my garage soon.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Best ecomod, me.

Count me in: adjusting the nut behind the wheel

As for actual, physical mods: Kammback (good for ~5-6% @ 100 km/h)
Best bang for the buck: pumping up tires & grille block

And how do I know? ScanGauge