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Originally Posted by LxMike
seeing what you have been doing with the 5 speed make me think i should have waited and found one instead of the auto i got. oh well guess i'll just have to do what i can with it.
most of my driving is short trips to work and to town and take almost halfway which is about 2 miles for engine to be fully warmedup (180+ coolant temps) i have found torque converter lockup at 42 mph and once locked i can go down below 40 mph but soon as i back off gas fully it unlocks on me.
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LXMike, good to hear from you. Are we the only two ZX2s on the site? We all have to just make do with what we have till we decide to do something different. If I had asked any FE freak if my ZX2 could ever be a good FE car, what do you think I would have gotten for an answer?
Do you coast in neutral? Your car start OK in neutral? You could probably make a heck of a difference in your MPG by considering these items. I would like to see you wire an ignition kill switch and/or an injector shut-off switch. Either of these will kill the engine without touching the key but I now prefer the injector shut-off. It has less delay when shutting down and you're sure no fuel is going into the engine. I have my switch taped to my gearshift handle till I decide where I really want it. Having this switch and the willingness to do Engine Off Coasting can improve your mileage drastically, both city and highway to coast hills, slowdowns, offramps, stoplights, parking lots, any place you can. A start pushbutton could be wired so you're not fumbling with the key and also keep the normal operation of your ignition key switch.
I do not mind that the power steering and brakes require more effort. Your brakes will have vacuum enough to make 3-4 stops before the pedal gets harder. I am going to rig an auxiliary vacuum tank that will make my brakes good for 3-4 added stops.
I think you asked me about my grille block in another reply. Look at the picture in My Garage. I just cut an oblong piece that covers the whole air inlet below the license plate. Then I used duct tape to fasten it. Then I masked up close around the outside edge of the tape and spray painted the panel and tape at once. Looks pretty good, and easy. I did the fender skirts the same way. If you decide to do skirts I could send you a pattern from mine. If you use squared off pieces for your panels, makes duct taping a whole lot easier. You don't have to deal with taping curves. If you need to change a tire you can just peel loose enough of the tape to do the job. I carry tape and scissors with me. Tape don't stick twice very well. You could
also use these tools for an opening in your grill block if needed.
I do not warm up my car before driving. Just drive sensibly for a minute. If you look at your SG2 GPH gauge you will see that idling cold uses as much fuel as going down the highway at 60 MPH.
It would be worth the effort for you to consider these mods. I can answer any questions you have and help you if you wish.
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Hybrid Mode
