The White Gnat (1999 Suzuki Swift 1.3L manual)

[MetroMPG]

You now have someone new to compare notes with:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ide-24970.html

[wmjinman]

That's the 3 tank average, and that first tank was horrible, so it will go up.

Filled up today, first full tank with the "new" engine. 37.4 MPG in mixed driving and numerous cold starts. (wow, this thing sure cools down fast!)

As suspected, the ScanGauge had to be re-adjusted again, but not as much as last time. After the fill-up, it was showing 50 MPG average for a few miles.

No aero mods yet either. I think I'll try a quickie grille block with duct tape this tank, maybe. - for A-B-A testing, at least.

[wmjinman]

Went to do some A-B-A testing today with & without the grille blocked, so started out with 3 "baseline" runs at 55 mph for the initial "A" test.

First dissappointment - averaged only 46.95 mpg. Although it was climbing about 0.3 mpg each time, so maybe the "system" was still warming up - would a 4th run have been even higher? Dunno, because....

Second dissappointment - Just as I was finishing up the last "baseline" run, I got a call from my elderly parents that they were in town and just heading over to eat. Well, 1st, I cannot pass up a meal, and 2nd, I shouldn't "blow off" my elderly parents.

So, it looks like there's "plenty of room for improvement" if I want to be able to do "55 at 55", my initial goal (55 mpg at 55 mph). ... and of course, I still don't know what effect the grille block will have.....

[MetroMPG]

The '98 and up Metro/Swift/Firefly has a massive amount of open area in its bumper.



I'm sure I've blocked well over 80% of mine (with a home-made "bra"):


From: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...k-bra-285.html

This is one mod I would just go ahead and do. It's guaranteed to help. (Unless of course, you're a nerd for the data and just want to run the test. Then, by all means have fun!)

[wmjinman]

Thanx, Darin,

I took your advice & did it without doing another set of "A" tests beforehand (or after, because I was so pleased, I didn't wanna remove it!!!) The weather was similar to the way it was when I did the initial "A" tests the other day, and as you suggested, don't think I need to "prove" it in rigorous testing - - - - I know it works!!! (see thumbnail below)

Revisiting my initial "to do list", starting to have some progress.

Originally Posted by wmjinman

I'm trying to gather my thoughts and figure out where to start in modding.

1) Air up the tires to? 155-80/13 Can they handle 60, I wonder?

>>> Put them at about 45 (sidewall sez 44 max), and they look & feel pretty "pumped" at 45 <<<

2) Front grille block with black duct tape - nicer one later

>>> VERY pleased with this. Gained 2.467 MPG; from 46.95 to 49.41 at 55 MPH <<<

3) Fuel injector kill switch for better EOC-ing
4) Hand throttle control, so I can drive long distances easier
5) Rear wheel/4-wheel alignment. Outsides of rear tires are wearing badly
6) Engine/oil pan heater. Not super-cheap, but it's winter & I want MPGs!
7) Rear fender skirts - cardboard first for A-B-A testing, then nicer - maybe
8) Full belly pan
9) Front & maybe rear wheel covers and/or fairings/spats
10) Kamm-back/partial boattail
11) At some point by about now, I'll need new tires - will try to find LRR
12) When the next oil change is due, go to Mobil-1, 0w20

Oh, I was so pleased with the grille block results I decided to do a pair of runs (northbound & southbound) at lower speeds. I did it between 35 and 40 MPH and averaged 61.95 MPG according to the ScanGauge. I almost did another one at between 40 and 45 mph to see if I could hit 60 mpg at that speed, but didn't due to the time.

But this time, I'm much more confident than I was with my original 60+ mpg result, because the ScanGauge has been re-calibrated a couple times, and I think I'm finally getting it "zeroed-in" (adjustments are getting much smaller)

[MetroMPG]

If you look at my pic, on the right side of the opening in the bra there's a square of material that is velcroed in place. I made it "just in case" I needed more cooling - makes me feel like a highway trucker with all the fabric variable grille blocks I see running down the road on those rigs.

But I've never opened it. In fact, I've since blocked the small upper opening between the hood and bumper as well.

Of course, YMMV, since your engine is a bit bigger and may need more cooling than the 1.0L.

[Pierrel]

This thread is definitely interesting since I too own a swift with the 1.3/5spd engine.
I see you are Getting closer to 50mpg? I myself are averaging 40 now in winter temperatures (below freezing) with winter tyres (lots of friction) and bad cold starts.

Hoping to increase this as summer comes around, but im looking into putting a grill block on the car since I recently hit a deer shredding my grille into a million pieces. Except that I only got minor cracks in the fiberglass front.

I'll subscribe to this thread, eager to see what you come up with

[wmjinman]

Great to hear from you, Pierrel. It's an honor that you're reading. - and, Welcome! If I'm counting correctly, that makes three 1.3 liter, four cylinder Swifts with 5-speeds on here now!

MetroMPG, I did look at your picture with great interest, and think my coverage is similar, except not the sexy one-piece deal like yours. I've been carefully watching my temperature, and it's not even pretending to get hot, therefore, I went ahead and covered the rest of the grille with more strips of tape (easy to remove if I ever need to). There is also a big open gap below the bumper/air dam thingy that's also open to the radiator, so there is access to air should the fan come on.

My latest little test has been to see what the characteristics of the cold start operation are. So what I'm doing is starting my stopwatch when I start my engine & also write down the "intake air temperature" and the "water temperature". Then I immediately start driving on a predetermined course, writing down both temperatures every two minutes. I do this for 10 minutes, which also puts me in an area where I can do a little mileage test at 40 MPH. So I turn around and immediately do a 40 mph run over a pre-determined course & log the mileage, then turn around again and do it the opposite direction. After that, I find a place to park, log the total time since starting the engine (about 18 minutes yesterday, 17 today), and the "trip" mileage for "today".

What I'm hoping to eventually accomplish is to establish some sort of baseline after a few days (these are my first trips of the day) that I can compare future thinner oil, Warm Air Intake, and/or engine block/transmission heater(s) against in the future.

[Pierrel]

Originally Posted by wmjinman

Great to hear from you, Pierrel. It's an honor that you're reading. - and, Welcome! If I'm counting correctly, that makes three 1.3 liter, four cylinder Swifts with 5-speeds on here now!

...........

What I'm hoping to eventually accomplish is to establish some sort of baseline after a few days (these are my first trips of the day) that I can compare future thinner oil, Warm Air Intake, and/or engine block/transmission heater(s) against in the future.

Thank you!
Yes, soon we may even be a greater number of owners than people owning geo metros on here... Or not

Sounds like you have a plan! I hope you don't mind me cheating and using some of your information, as I don't have the time or money to put up "testing routes" for future mods. I envy your ambition though!

Keep up the good work!

[wmjinman]

Originally Posted by Pierrel

I hope you don't mind me cheating and using some of your information, as I don't have the time or money to put up "testing routes" for future mods. I envy your ambition though!

Keep up the good work!

Thank YOU! And I don't think it's "cheating" at all - I think the whole idea for this site is to share what we've learned. I could probably just skip all the testing and do what they say on here will work. But I'm curious and want to find out how these mods effect MY car. Also, I'm a bit of a "geek" and love experimenting. - and I'm retired, so that helps!! Maybe it's my "hobby".

But also, when I started, all the information seemed to be for the earlier model THREE cylinder Metros. After reading the 4 cylinder gets worse mileage, AND the later model gets worse mileage, I was worried - and curious, because I have hit 50 MPG on the highway in this car before. So I guess my "thing" is to see how good a later model, 4 cylinder Swift can do.

As soon as I start getting some more solid results, I plan to start a thread in the "Success Stories" area that concentrate on the results/improvements I get. I'm in the process of building my "hand throttle" now, since I don't have a cruise control.

One thing for sure, though - block off that grille and you'll see a couple more MPG right there!!!

Bill