1990 Plymouth Laser - increasing FE

[Project84]

I wanted to make one thread about increasing the Laser's FE. I can't say it'll be a very active thread, but I will update it when there's news or mods. I'll do all the mods myself, but I won't be the primary driver... Lets hope I can get the driver to give me accurate FE figures at each fill up!

Also, I want people to chime in with advice or opinions.
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I've never hypermiled. I've read all the tips and some are confusing to be quite honest. Do this in this situation only, if the situation changes to THIS, do that instead.

From a beginner's perspective (not just for me but for anyone else interested)with a 4 cyl. 5-speed equipped car, pre-OBDII (-'95) what are the basics to utilizing the transmission to your advantage?

I'm also interested in aerodynamics. I'm thinking grill block, underbelly with rear diffuser, rear wheel spats, side skirts and airtabs on the rear hatch edge.
Stole this pic from cardomain to show the body lines of the car... pretty slippery.


If things get outright silly I'll begin chopping the car up, removing weight. I don't plan to do that just because I like to keep all my cars in good enough shape to resell for profit. There are other cars out there that make better candidates for that too, like a civic or crx.

The air intake can easily be changed to HAI.


EPA figures: 21 city, 24 combined, 29 highway.

GOAL: 25 city, 30 combined, 40 highway.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Project84

I've never hypermiled. I've read all the tips and some are confusing to be quite honest. Do this in this situation only, if the situation changes to THIS, do that instead.

From a beginner's perspective (not just for me but for anyone else interested)with a 4 cyl. 5-speed equipped car, pre-OBDII (-'95) what are the basics to utilizing the transmission to your advantage?

I would recommend:

1. Experiment to see what works best with RPM and throttle for acceleration and gear choice. I suspect that keeping RPM low and using heavy throttle will deliver good results...it always does for me. You'll have to try to experiment consistently for a whole tank of gas at a time.

2. Try some basic engine-on Pulse & Glide. Cooperate with the grade, try to pulse uphill in a high gear and glide downhill in neutral. Again, that's very effective for me; but more importantly for a beginner, it's convenient and relatively little work.

[Jay2TheRescue]

First recommended mod... Cover up those spoked alloy wheels with some aluminum pizza pans from the dollar store.

[Project84]

THC - thanks, I'll give both of those a try when I start driving the car!

Jay - that was a cardomain picture from a random Laser. I just tried looking for an example of the wheels on the car but couldn't. I suspect they're off a '94+ DSM. They're heavy 16" alloy "twist" style wheels, but probably lighter than the factory steel 14's the base cars came with.

[DRW]

Keep reading my gaslog, I'm always tweaking my Laser in some way.

[DRW]

I don't know if I posted this for you guys yet, but here's the Tech manual online if you ever want to look up details of your cars.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15602877/dtm -Tech Manual
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15602872/9091ecb -Engine/Chassis/Body
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15602873/9091el -Electrical
Enjoy!

[DRW]

Oh yeah, I found a cheap source for datalogging cables here http://www.dsmcables.com/1g-nopalm.php

[Project84]

Replaced:

Plugs
Wires
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Distributor Cap
Rotor

Insuring the car this week and will begin driving it!

[Project84]

I'm checking with a few people I know about buying a used Palm and then I'd buy that cable you linked, DRW. Seems like a really cheap way to monitor engine parameters.

[pgfpro]

I ran one of these when I first got into DSM's. It worked great for logging data and clearing codes.