"CO ZX2" what have you done to your car ???

[diamondlarry]

Last summer, I was coming home from a friends house in PA and I had a hill that was about 3 miles long and was around an 8 degree descent. I did as was mentioned above: I turned the injectors off and left it in gear. In this mode, I had all of the engine driven accesories; ps, pb, alternator, engine oil pump, and even A/C. The hill was still steep enough that I got up to 80 acouple of times even after slowing back down to 45. Near the bottom, there was a 10 mph hair-pin turn that made things interesting.

[Gary Palmer]

Originally Posted by theclencher

If I coast down a hill with the engine off can I claim infinity MPG?

My question is if I coast down a hill with the injectors off and I claim infinte mileage, does that mean it I coast 10 miles and you coast only 5, that my mileage is twice as inifinite as yours.

Reporting limited, one way trip mileages doesn't seem to accomplish anything except present information which is only applicable in a narrow scope, but is presented as if it's in the general scope.

It's the mileage for a whole tank type of trip, driven at reasonable highway speeds which are of any value in comparison. Specialized, unique reports are just points of interest, and should be reported as such, instead of being reported as new unreachable benchmarks.

[landspeed]

There shouldn't be so much skepticism, really . CO ZX2 is getting good mileage, but in a car which is already smooth, and has then had extensive aero mods, including wheel covers and tyre air reflectors, and also has a Scangauge II, and finally, lives in a hilly/mountainous area, meaning he can use the engine at almost twice the efficiency as a normal cruise, then coast down the other side of the hill!. I believe the numbers completely, and that he will probably soon hit 80-90mpg when summer comes!.

I recently got 40.6MPG over an 800 miles round trip, for 62% over the EPA - and my car has no 'real' mods yet, not even a SuperMID..

elg : one mod you could do to your car, apart from Aero mods (I know how bad the Aero is on 80s Nissans!) is to get a cheap lambda sensor (narrowband), and make sure that you are always driving at the proper near-stoich ratio. When you put too much load on the car, the MPG will drop as the carb enriches the mixture. This gauge will also let you ensure the carb is properly tuned when driving around. It is a shame your car isn't fuel injection or you could get an MPG meter

[cfg83]

theclencher -

Originally Posted by theclencher

If Compaq888 would have claimed over 100 mpg here he would have been eaten alive. WTH?

Here's a dumb question. Could elevation also be factor? Thin air and all that? A Colorado Rockies baseball goes 10% farther in Coors Field.

Also, I think Compaq888 lives in LA like me. Urban environment vs rural environment. The fairest comparison is basjoos.

CarloSW2

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by Gary Palmer

My question is if I coast down a hill with the injectors off and I claim infinte mileage, does that mean it I coast 10 miles and you coast only 5, that my mileage is twice as inifinite as yours.

Reporting limited, one way trip mileages doesn't seem to accomplish anything except present information which is only applicable in a narrow scope, but is presented as if it's in the general scope.

It's the mileage for a whole tank type of trip, driven at reasonable highway speeds which are of any value in comparison. Specialized, unique reports are just points of interest, and should be reported as such, instead of being reported as new unreachable benchmarks.

What are we here for??

Both you guys appear to possess adequate car knowledge to honestly be able to help others and yourselves. To me, it's a shame to see it wasted.

Where did this silliness on infinite mileage come from? Besides it wouldn't work for either of you. There are no mountains you don't have to climb. You would have to carry your cars to the top of a mountain and I don't think you're up to that. You could tow them up but I don't think that would suit you either.

If you drove 25 miles at 25 MPG (1 gal. fuel) from home to the top, (and I think that is a generous estimate), coasted neutral engine off 10 miles for a total of 35 miles, you would net 35 MPG, about your averages. You would have to be sure you chose the downhill toward home or you would really be in bad shape. Plan ahead!!

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by landspeed

There shouldn't be so much skepticism, really . CO ZX2 is getting good mileage, but in a car which is already smooth, and has then had extensive aero mods, including wheel covers and tyre air reflectors, and also has a Scangauge II, and finally, lives in a hilly/mountainous area, meaning he can use the engine at almost twice the efficiency as a normal cruise, then coast down the other side of the hill!. I believe the numbers completely, and that he will probably soon hit 80-90mpg when summer comes!.

I recently got 40.6MPG over an 800 miles round trip, for 62% over the EPA - and my car has no 'real' mods yet, not even a SuperMID..

elg : one mod you could do to your car, apart from Aero mods (I know how bad the Aero is on 80s Nissans!) is to get a cheap lambda sensor (narrowband), and make sure that you are always driving at the proper near-stoich ratio. When you put too much load on the car, the MPG will drop as the carb enriches the mixture. This gauge will also let you ensure the carb is properly tuned when driving around. It is a shame your car isn't fuel injection or you could get an MPG meter

landspeed, thank you for your vote of confidence. We've been rode pretty hard the last couple days. Your estimates of my and Old Reliable's capabilities probably are overly optimistic but we will damn sure be trying. Just hope we can find a few to share what we have learned. CO ZX2.

[GasSavers_elg]

Come on you guys, when I read some of the comments here, it seems that a few thinks that hilly gets more MPG than flat, You can´t mean it.
If so, then doing more work needs less energy ??? That ain´t possible in Sweden. I still hope my bad english is the couse to this.

And for those who still wonder:
Yes, I have been doing aero-mods before since 10 years ago, started with a Ford Escort.
Yes, just to day I ended up a test with MegaSquirt in the Micra.
Yes, I have been modifying cars both weight and aero.
Yes, I have been racing 10:s at the 1/4 mile.
But no, I have not been under 3L/100km for as long as it has been worth writing here. That is why it is so hard for me to belive.

I´m not jeluos just that right should be right, don´t fool around.

That´s why I´m asking:
"CO ZX2 what have you done to your car ???"

By the way the micra in a long downhill coasting has remarkble "infinity" mpg, that should again put me in the top ten, I hope...

Once again credits to MetroMPG that is working hard for very fine MPG:s.

[Gary Palmer]

My position is that CO ZX2 can claim whatever he wishes. I agree that the aero mods he's made can make a difference. My perception is that under the right conditions, if you drive hills carefully, it appears to me that you can get better mileage. I believe this occurs, because or if you are able to drive up the hills in a high gear, at a low rpm and still pull the hill, at a throttle opening that allows the engine to operate at or near it's peak efficiency. I believe their are a number of considerations, including the engine, camshaft, cam timing and a number of others. In the correct mode, I think it is possible to get combined mileage, a bit greater than I would have expected, using the fuel cutoff switch, or simply coasting in neutral.

I don't believe that the mileages which are being reported are really valid, in the sense of being something that anyone would realistically be willing to drive, if they had any choice. I don't really belive that even given the all of the uncharacteristic, special conditions you are driving in are really capable of giving you the mileage claims you have made or are making. I also don't believe that even given the unique conditions and circumstances you sight, that the numbers you are posting are really realistic, valid or of any use in any way, to anyone else.

I believed and still agree with The Clencher and Elg, I believe. I hear BS and I call it how I hear it. BS, Gary Palmer

[landspeed]

What does BS stand for? Is it something that can be used as fuel? (i.e Bul Shi)?

My car actually gets negative MPGs when I go downhill (infinite MPG is if you go downhill and maintain a speed, so negative would be when you actually speed up, and 'make petrol'.

Many people on Gassavers seem to report their peak tanks - my peak tank is 42MPG just now, but my average is a lot less than that. CO ZX2 only gets 60.5MPG - a lot of people get better than that, and Prii can completely beat that all the time with only a little effort. There is also a guy who gets 60+MPG out of a Honda Accord - there was a link to a web article about him but I can't find it now. He is one of the original hypermilers, and, his car is *worse* than CO ZX2s car, meaning he should get lower MPG!.

I suppose it all depends on on whether the MPGs are valid, as to whether or not people would be willing to drive like that. In one way, *all* of our MPGs are invalid, because, most people want to speed down the motorway and brake and accelerate hard in town. Some of these people would never slow down by 5mph or coast up to a stoplight!. I suppose, the MPGs are only valid if someone is willing to drive like that to get them, but, if only 1 person is willing to drive in a certain way to get the MPG, then it is valid. After all, hypermiling was originally all about changing driving habits to a new style that most people wouldn't do, in order to improve MPG.

On performance car forums, people often get attacked / torn to pieces for talking about MPG, with sarcastic comments etc, this is the one 'safe haven' to not do this, so let's try to be friendly?

[CoyoteX]

I don't have much concern over anyone else's numbers since driving styles vary wildly between the members here. I drive fast and still try to get decent mileage and some people like metrompg drive very slow and use every trick in the book to get 70mpg.

With regards to reports of such good mileage I would be curious to see what the MPG vs MPH chart would be like on that car since it does so well getting very good mileage it should be an interesting chart. There are no reasonable mods left I can do to my car to get better mileage so when someone does half the mods I have done and more than doubles EPA numbers I figure a lot of that is that they are not reporting the same type of driving I am. A chart of MPG vs MPH can at least give everyone a common frame of reference.

Also keep in mind this is an internet message board so how do you all know I am not making up the fact that I even own a Metro and I am not some 12 year old kid who is just trolling the net? If something seems unreasonable to you then just ignore it and go on there is nothing to be gained by participating in a flame war.