2006 Or Thereabout Matrix Owners?

[MiddleMike]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Are you filling at the same pump, stopping at the first click, and doing it at the same time of day at the same temperature? That's about as accurate as is reasonable, and I believe it's the way most people here measure (myself included).

You know, mostly yeah. Though I'm not sure what "first click" means.

The oil is probably a good idea, just don't be disappointed when the improvement is tiny. It's generally agreed that changing plugs and wires early will never pay off, though switching brands when doing a scheduled change might net a miniscule improvement.

The reason I'm considering the oil is that it needs an oil change as in right now today, so if I don't do it now, it will be another x number of miles before I'd think about it again, heh.

Take a look at mods others are doing. Most have to be free or nearly free to pay for themselves. Grill blocking and warm air intake are two popular mods.

From a suggestion on a rather nice looking grill block made out of plexiglass on this thread I think that grill block is in the works for this weekend. What precisely is a warm air intake mod, is there a link explaining them?

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by MiddleMike

You know, mostly yeah. Though I'm not sure what "first click" means.

It means not topping off. When the pump clicks and stops pumping, that's when you stop.

What precisely is a warm air intake mod, is there a link explaining them?

Search the forum for "wai" and "warm air intake". Lots of folks here have done it and I'm probably going to do it on my truck this weekend. It's exactly what it sounds like; it's like a cold air intake (common mod done for power), except you find a way to heat the air on the way in. I think most people use heat from the exhaust manifold.

[bodhi_tree777]

Hi, I have an 03 Pontiac Vibe GT. It's a 6 speed, but otherwise it's nearly identical to your car (same drivetrain, etc) and I've been asking myself the same questions. Here's a few tidbits specific to your car that I've discovered:

- This is the same drivetrain as a Corolla, but the Vibe is a heavier vehicle than the Corolla is. You can't really expect the same FE due to the weight difference. (unfortunate side note, this weight difference also causes the clutches in our cars to quit prematurely although I'm at 57k miles now and still going strong).

- The MPGs that you are getting are easily above EPA ratings, so you're not doing bad at all. Are you the sole driver? I've been doing some basic hypermiling for the last several weeks, but my efforts are diminished a bit because it's a shared care and my wife mocks my old-man style driving . She drives a bit harder than I do and she will not kill the engine at stop lights.

- I have not yet modified anything, although the grill block has been calling my name because our grill opening is huge. I might try this in the upcoming weeks. The WAI intrigues me as well, I'll be looking into that.

- Other than extreme body mods (wheel skirts, etc), you can at least remove the cross bars on the luggage rack to cut down on your drag.

- Same tires as well, mine are just over 40 psi right now and I'm considering going up to 50.

- not sure if the lighter weight oil will help significantly (it may, I've just not tried it), but make sure your basic maintenence is up to snuff. Replace your air filter if you haven't in awhile.

Let us know your progress, I for one would be interested in hearing what you're efforts yield.

[R.I.D.E.]

Hook up behind a big rig with about 3 stripes between you. Thats about 125 feet, close to your stopping distance. In your Matrix that will make the greatest difference. Try 55 MPH or just find a truck that is going that speed.
Slower is better.

Drafting and 55 MPh should get you to 40.

regards
gary

[BumblingB]

Originally Posted by bodhi_tree777

Hi, I have an 03 Pontiac Vibe GT. .....

Don't the Vibe GT's have the same motor as the Matrix XR-S, not the XR? Required premium and not as great mileage as the regular XR?

On my old '03 XR I usually did 36mpg running about 68mph with 50psi in the tires. I also had an automatic though. My best tank was 42mpg doing some serious drafting (read: DANGEROUSLY CLOSE-AKA-STUPID )

Do you have the steel wheels/hubcaps 16inchers? Alloy 17's? Alloy 16's?

Everything said so far on the thread "should" net you at least 38mpg minimum but I'm a huge believer in big wheels killing mpg's. Ask me how I know..

[GasSavers_theCase]

Not sure how close they are engine-wise, but I got an '06 Corolla with an AT and easily average over 40 mpg in the summer. My commute is 80 miles round trip with 90% at 65 mph.

Only mods are a Coroplast grill block behind the regular grill, and tires at 42 psi. I drive speed limit and use the cruise as much as I can. Some drafting, but stay 150 ft back.

Good Luck!

[GasSavers_ColonelPanic]

I used to have an '03 Vibe (base model, 1.8 1ZZ engine and automatic, same as the Corolla) and was lucky to get over 30 MPG most of the time. There were some things seriously wrong with that car under the hood that I never got figured out. That was back before I really knew anything about this hypermiling stuff also, so I really wasn't trying to drive for mileage - but I wasn't being rough on the car either.

My wife also has an '03 Vibe with the 1ZZ/auto but has had much better luck, usually getting more than the old EPA ratings. She's managed to get around 40 on the highway, not even doing anything crazy - just driving it slow and easy on the throttle. She's driving very little now - 6 mi/day city commute 3 days a week, so I don't know how well it's doing these days other than she has to fill up once every 3-4 weeks.

[MiddleMike]

Originally Posted by bodhi_tree777

- The MPGs that you are getting are easily above EPA ratings, so you're not doing bad at all. Are you the sole driver? I've been doing some basic hypermiling for the last several weeks, but my efforts are diminished a bit because it's a shared care and my wife mocks my old-man style driving . She drives a bit harder than I do and she will not kill the engine at stop lights.

I'm the sole driver (99.99% of the time, there's always the odd day in the year when my wife will drive it). The few times she's driven the car she treats it like it was an indy car vying for pole position, shifting at 3500 to 4000 and generally abuses the crap out of it. Not because she's uber cool and has a Need For Speed, but because, well...I have no idea why, and neither does she. Women.

- I have not yet modified anything, although the grill block has been calling my name because our grill opening is huge. I might try this in the upcoming weeks. The WAI intrigues me as well, I'll be looking into that.

I can feel the siren call of clear Plexiglas even as I type this, lol.

- Other than extreme body mods (wheel skirts, etc), you can at least remove the cross bars on the luggage rack to cut down on your drag.

No luggage rack and no cross bars, thankfully.

- Same tires as well, mine are just over 40 psi right now and I'm considering going up to 50.

Putting mine at tire manufacturer's max seems to make it noticeably roll a longer distance on glides, fwiw. Pumping it from 44 to 50 this afternoon at lunch.

- not sure if the lighter weight oil will help significantly (it may, I've just not tried it), but make sure your basic maintenence is up to snuff. Replace your air filter if you haven't in awhile.

Let us know your progress, I for one would be interested in hearing what you're efforts yield.

Will do!

[MiddleMike]

Originally Posted by ColonelPanic

I used to have an '03 Vibe (base model, 1.8 1ZZ engine and automatic, same as the Corolla) and was lucky to get over 30 MPG most of the time. There were some things seriously wrong with that car under the hood that I never got figured out. That was back before I really knew anything about this hypermiling stuff also, so I really wasn't trying to drive for mileage - but I wasn't being rough on the car either.

My wife also has an '03 Vibe with the 1ZZ/auto but has had much better luck, usually getting more than the old EPA ratings. She's managed to get around 40 on the highway, not even doing anything crazy - just driving it slow and easy on the throttle. She's driving very little now - 6 mi/day city commute 3 days a week, so I don't know how well it's doing these days other than she has to fill up once every 3-4 weeks.

I found a back road way to work that shaves 6 miles off of the drive and that has max road speeds of 55 mph and very few stop lights. Needless to say, that's my new route. Since my last tank I've been trying a lot of hypermiling things I've found on this forum and the miles on the trip ODO are much higher compared to the needle position on the fuel gauge than it normally is. That's A Good Thing (tm). Will be interesting to see how that pans out in real mpg once I fill it up, in case I'm experiencing a placebo effect hallucination.