New Guy with a Honda Element

[Bill in Houston]

Hi, as you may have guessed, my name is Bill and I live in Houston, TX.

I have a 2004 Honda Element and a 1999 Honda Odyssey. The Ody gets better mileage than the E on the highway, which has always made me wish for some way to improve the mileage of the E. The Element has at least two obvious things going against it, the Toaster-like shape and the high revs at cruising speed. It gets about 26 mpg around town, and around 26 mpg on the highway at 65-70 mph.

A couple of months ago I thought I was going to have a change in jobs that would have resulted in a ~80 mile round trip to work every day, so I started looking into ways to improve the highway mileage of my car. That is how I found you guys.

Reading the posts here and in some other places gave me the FE bug. You guys seem to have the best handle on aerodynamics and driving technique. Other places have some people who have spent a lot more time messing with the ECU programming. And I think one of my biggest inspirations and consternations was a guy with an Explorer who gets over 30 mpg at normal speeds on the highway. If he can do that, I want to find a way to do much better than I have been.

I ended up changing jobs and avoiding the long commute, so I am a little less motivated than I once was, but FE is still an interesting topic to me, and I figure that one day one of my kids and I can use the improvements as a science project or something.

My only modification to date is an air dam and front undertray that I have just completed. I have only had it on for a few miles, so I can't say anything too definitive. I will eventually post something about how I built it, and will also post some results when I get them. Oh, and I blocked the top grille.

Besides being a tinkerer and a geek, I am a father of two boys, a husband, a Christian, and a backpacker. We love Survivor, Lost, baseball, singing, and shooting hoops in the driveway. I am also a chemical engineer and have had a lot of different jobs and interests that have led to an eclectic collection of knowledge and skills.

Please be sure to tell me if I break any of the rules here. Thanks for letting me hang out.

Bill in Houston

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

Hi, as you may have guessed, my name is Bill and I live in Houston, TX.

I have a 2004 Honda Element and a 1999 Honda Odyssey. The Ody gets better mileage than the E on the highway, which has always made me wish for some way to improve the mileage of the E. The Element has at least two obvious things going against it, the Toaster-like shape and the high revs at cruising speed. It gets about 26 mpg around town, and around 26 mpg on the highway at 65-70 mph.

A couple of months ago I thought I was going to have a change in jobs that would have resulted in a ~80 mile round trip to work every day, so I started looking into ways to improve the highway mileage of my car. That is how I found you guys.

Reading the posts here and in some other places gave me the FE bug. You guys seem to have the best handle on aerodynamics and driving technique. Other places have some people who have spent a lot more time messing with the ECU programming. And I think one of my biggest inspirations and consternations was a guy with an Explorer who gets over 30 mpg at normal speeds on the highway. If he can do that, I want to find a way to do much better than I have been.

I ended up changing jobs and avoiding the long commute, so I am a little less motivated than I once was, but FE is still an interesting topic to me, and I figure that one day one of my kids and I can use the improvements as a science project or something.

My only modification to date is an air dam and front undertray that I have just completed. I have only had it on for a few miles, so I can't say anything too definitive. I will eventually post something about how I built it, and will also post some results when I get them. Oh, and I blocked the top grille.

Besides being a tinkerer and a geek, I am a father of two boys, a husband, a Christian, and a backpacker. We love Survivor, Lost, baseball, singing, and shooting hoops in the driveway. I am also a chemical engineer and have had a lot of different jobs and interests that have led to an eclectic collection of knowledge and skills.

Please be sure to tell me if I break any of the rules here. Thanks for letting me hang out.

Bill in Houston

Hi Bill from Pflugerville(Austin). I had a 98 Odyssey, great van. As far as the E goes if your doing a lot of highway then aero is the only way to go and slow down to 60 or less if traffic will let you. There's a sticky on busted and confirmed mods in the General fuel forum that might help out.

Welcome

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

Other places have some people who have spent a lot more time messing with the ECU programming. And I think one of my biggest inspirations and consternations was a guy with an Explorer who gets over 30 mpg at normal speeds on the highway. If he can do that, I want to find a way to do much better than I have been.

Welcome to the board!
Is that Explorer stock?

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Is that Explorer stock?

I feel like a doofus because I can't remember where I saw the Explorer. I wish I had a link to give you. Pretty much all the guy had done was put on a lower air dam and mess with the ECU. It was a 6-cylinder, not a V8. Still, he had gooooood numbers, at least for an Exploder.

As far as the E goes if your doing a lot of highway then aero is the only way to go and slow down to 60 or less if traffic will let you. There's a sticky on busted and confirmed mods in the General fuel forum that might help out.

Someone in the Element Owners Club figured out that they can add a 6th gear to the transmission (same as Civic SI and TSX), but the payout on that is questionable. So, yeah, it seems that aero is the way to go. I definitely get better mileage on little back roads with lower speed limits.

All of the stickies have been very helpful. I need to go look through them again.

Thanks for the guidance and the welcome!
Bill

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

I wish I had a link to give you.

Sorry for posting too many times. I managed to dig up that thread again.

Here is the guy's "Quest for 30" thread.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...ad.php?t=44372
And here is a link to his truck and the mods:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=137531
The mods are more extensive than I had recalled, but some are actually counterproductive for FE.

[MetroMPG]

Hi Bill - welcome.

Got a ScanGauge yet?

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Awesome. I'm pretty sure the majority of that mileage comes from the 3.73 rear end swap, which goes to show how important gearing can be imo. Thanks for the links! The bad news imo is, given my guestimation of the BSFC map, the truck really can't do much better than it already is with stock'ish gearing. Dropping down to 55mph may yield a few mpg, but the BSFC drop is so severe it probably wouldn't be worth it for most people. Gearing tall enough to maximize BSFC and get into the 40s at 55mph wouldn't allow the driver to break 65mph... That Ford's as efficient as it's gonna get.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Hi Bill - welcome.

Got a ScanGauge yet?

Ha, not yet. If I had ended up with the longer commute I would have definitely bought a SGII. Those things are WAY too cool for me not to have one. :-)

[MetroMPG]

Highly recommended!

A fuel economy enthusiast without FE instrumentation is like a wine taster without taste buds. Or a drag racer without a timer.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

I'm pretty sure the majority of that mileage comes from the 3.73 rear end swap, which goes to show how important gearing can be imo. <snip>That Ford's as efficient as it's gonna get.

I get that feeling too. He sees it in his testing, lately, it seems. Whatever he does, he can't get his mpg any higher. Makes me wish I could change the ratios on the Element more easily. I could tolerate shifting back and forth from 4th to 5th if I could make an easy swap that would get me to about 2000-2300 rpm at 70 mph. I know I could add the 6th gear, and I think that I could go one higher on final drives, but that would cost a small fortune and only get me to ~2600 rpm at 70 mph.

Highly recommended!

A fuel economy enthusiast without FE instrumentation is like a wine taster without taste buds. Or a drag racer without a timer.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. But a lot of people have a glass of wine at dinner and enjoy it, or like going to the drag races even though they have no idea what their Volare will turn in the 1/4 mile. That said, I still would love to have one. I am fascinated just by the mpg readouts in some of the rental cars I get. Having that data and more in my own car would be the bomb.