Glide test

[1993CivicVX]

Normally I'll just pulse from 5th gear, but sometimes if I drop below 30mph I will go into 4th gear. But it takes a long time to pulse back up to speed like that! Prolly around 10 or 12 seconds, not sure, didn't time it. Without a supermid I cannot know what is the optimum pulse speed. I agree, tho, would be great if everyone would post their glide times.

[skewbe]

Ok, I can remember 40 and 30, that will increase the chances of it happening

Fyi where I shift, not that it's so great or anything, but I top 70mpg frequently:

9mph
15mph
25mph
35mph

Usually holding ~6/10 throttle working up to about ~7/8 before the next shift, maybe. I do worse when I think about it too much

You have a plan for getting an mpg gauge? Or at least a fuel consumption gauge? They help an awful lot.

Hmm... Hmm... I'm wondering if that $22 kill a watt can be taught to keep track of injector pulse time and run on 12 volts, hmm...

[MetroMPG]

skewbe - I've been seeing a fair number of Arduino based projects. Have you seen that yet? Sort of like a Basic stamp. http://www.arduino.cc/ It's around $30 pre-assembled.

I suspect it would make an ideal platform for a FE computer. It's got something like 6 analog and 8(?) digital inputs, and can be run at 12v.

[skewbe]

Interesting, I have to keep that in mind. To add a 2 line LCD display would be another $30-$40 though.

The kill a watt might be real easy if it uses a shunt, but it would need a tuneable shunt and a calibration procedure, or a correction factor to convert injector watt hours to gallons

Course an old palm pilot can be a real handy starting point for an appliance too (oooh... touch screen...)

(sorry if we are hijacking, 93)

[MetroMPG]

True, but you could also just laptop the Arduino... Anyway, I don't know too much about these things. But I may get one to play with just to learn something new this winter. I'd like to make one into a battery monitor for the FS.

No more thread jacking!

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by skewbe

(sorry if we are hijacking, 93)

I'm not actually sure Flight 93 was hijacked...

That's okay - jack away. I would like to get an inexpensive fuel consumer readout for my car so maybe I can learn something from you guys.

[garyhgaryh]

1993CivicVX --
I tried the last two nights to do the 40-30mph glide test, but never got a chance. I'm on the freeway 2hrs a day so I don't have a chance during my commute to do this. But tonight, I decided to try a 60-50 glide test and got anywhere from 9.3-9.9 secs. I'm not surprised it slowed down faster than the figures you guys are getting during the 40-30 glide test due to air resistance.

Today, I found an old sienna doing 45mph on the freeway and I followed it for about 30 minutes! I think I'm in for another 50+ mpg fillup tommorrow.

I tried p&g today, but it's very impractical on the highway for me.

Gary

[1993CivicVX]

Yeah, don't cause an accident! There are no rural roads where you can try it? Your 60-50 test is a real testament to how much more gas you are using at 60mph than at 40mph. Your glide was twice as long, but your speed was only a little more than 50% faster. Plus, I have a knobby tires. I'm pretty sure a VX with proper tires would glide better than my 20 seconds.

I'm on my way to very good FE this tank as well. So watch out!

[garyhgaryh]

Originally Posted by 1993CivicVX

Yeah, don't cause an accident! There are no rural roads where you can try it? Your 60-50 test is a real testament to how much more gas you are using at 60mph than at 40mph. Your glide was twice as long, but your speed was only a little more than 50% faster. Plus, I have a knobby tires. I'm pretty sure a VX with proper tires would glide better than my 20 seconds.

I'm on my way to very good FE this tank as well. So watch out!

I live right next to the freeway and I work right next to the freeway so I don't get a chance to safely do the 40-30 glide test. Once I'm off the freeway, I'm two lights from home and two lights from work.

Yes, there is so much wind resistance at that speed. I've been drafting every day since last week. It takes about 10 more minutes to get home (20 minutes day). That's an 1.5 hrs a week longer commuting when I draft since drafting slows me down considerably since I follow slow trucks, but the increase in mileage is significant.
Gary

[1993CivicVX]

Yeah, definitely. Gas savings from just driving slower and further savings by getting sucked in behind the truck. How close do you draft? You know, I've never seen a truck stop short. How unsafe is it really to draft close behind trucks? I mean, what are the odds? Prolly worth the risk. Worst that happens is you total your car. Not likely you'd be seriously injured. With saying that, I don't feel comfortable enough to tailgate close to trucks.