New Michigander

[bbanzai]

Greetings:

I have been following this site for a couple weeks now, trying to learn
new techniques to improve mileage. I originally had the notion to
restrict like Nascar racers do on certain tracks to decrease horsepower
and remap pcm to lean out for economy. Then, I saw the thread on
"hotboxing", I call it. Where you increase IAT and let the computer
do the rest. I had already developed some hypermiling techniques with
my 'vette (87 L98 TPI) since it has a computer and gives feedback for
driving techniques, although never turning the motor off. I had bought
a 2000 Saturn LS2 real cheap and in excellent condition last fall. It was advertised as a SL2. I didn't realize this until I got home, knowing virtually
nothing about Saturns. I did like all the bells and whistles, and this had
all but one(the CD changer.) Mileage was disappointing, though.

Anyway, I taped off all openings in the front of the car with automotive duct tape (radiator block?). Removed the rear spoiler. Then cut a hole in the back side of the air filter box. Next I taped over the hole in the front after removing the duct work ( a short rubber/plastic section about 8" long.) Put the short piece in the hole I had cut in the back( squished a little since it was oval.) I then took a piece of flex exhaust I had laying around (2 1/4"), cut it to reach the exhaust manifold and secured that in place with wire. The only reason I am posting this now is that the preliminary results are amazing. This Saturn's sticker ( which I have) gives 20 city and 26 highway.
I have been getting between 24 - 27 mpg depending on driving techniques
and type of driving (long or short drives.) I just got back to from Kalamazoo
on a short trip. I filled it up a few days ago and the next day actually
finished extending the duct to the manifold(no shroud yet!) And it looks like
I will still get mid thirties mpg on mixed driving! I have never gotten 200
miles on half a tank (13.1 gal), I now have over 200. Yes, I now about
fillup variation, since I have been keeping mileage on cars since i was a kid
and I don't consider this hard data yet. Still, this is such a dramatic change
from all previous experience with this car that I am almost shocked.

John

[theholycow]

Welcome! It sounds like you've got some success going on already. I'd guess that those Saturns are the second most popular car here after the Civic.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I have recently done a WAI myself. I used a similar setup as you described. I also used flashing to create a shroud. I am seeing a little over 10% gains on mine. I have a '97 cavalier and I am getting around 35mpg. my gas log shows more than that but I have only done it on one tank so far. I have pics in my garage of everything but my shroud. I started a thread about my WAI and my pic of the shroud is in that.

you might want to get a scangauge as well. they are expensive but they show you all kinds of good info. also you can watch your temps.

also there is a guy on here "lovemysan" that has a saturn and he is getting awesome numbers. you might want to look him up.

welcome to the site

[bbanzai]

Thanx

Just filled up the tank. 306 mi and 9.8 gal. which is roughly 31 mpg.
That's with 115 mi longer distance and the rest around town and
various drivers. This is definitely worth pursuing. I don't have the
money to get a scanguage right now but I will try and do the thermometer
through the firewall thing. I am wondering if I can get some other
kind of code scanner that would do the same thing and have diagnostics
and/or other functions also? Like Red Green says, "I'm pulling for ya,
we're all in this together."

bbanzai

[theholycow]

There's a thread about FE DIY gauges. It's not what you're looking for, but there's a couple decent ideas for budgets lower than $160.
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=7345

If you come up with a code scanner that provides MPG data and is cheaper than a ScanGauge, I'd love to hear about it.