Need Help! Losing my mind!!!

[FrugalFloyd]

I think if you drove a tank at 60 mph, you'd be awfully close to 40 mpg. So 34 mpg in mixed driving isn't bad at all with an AT.

[shonus]

I could remove the rear seats again, but It would be more annoying than anything else taking it out one day and putting it back in the next and constantly repeating the process. My seats are pretty light to begin with though they are not power seats. I just recently extended my air dam to an inch ground clearance and bent it with heat gun so its no flat. It is currently right below the fan because it was too noticeable where it was before. When you say undertray did you mean front or rear? Still need to get my pcm reflashed so cruise control works. I appreciate the advice about driving 60mph but that is way too slow on I-95 people are already flying by me when I'm doing 65pmh.

[shonus]

When I said about being annoying I meant about removing the passenger seat.

[theholycow]

Glad to see you're back! I thought you decided this wasn't for you and you weren't coming back.

The undertray/belly pan can be partial (front or rear) or it can be for the entire length of the car.

I think most people attribute far too much importance to weight removal, and I'm pretty sure most seats really don't weigh much at all...I know the ones I've picked up don't, even the big bench seats from minivans.

[shonus]

I have been a bit busy arguing with my father and wishing I had power windows so he would stop killing my aerodynamics by having the window all the way down and falling asleep. haha Still waiting to get my latest mileage and I'm sure I'm going to get 400 miles on this tank unless I run out of gas because my gauge is incorrect I'm going to fill up tomorrow after college and cross my fingers.
About the bellypan I would only do a rear one I'm constantly working in the front of the car and could not seal all that up.
Honestly for every 100 pounds does it not only make %'s of a difference?

[shonus]

Just filled up today and got ~38 mpg on this tank which is great since most of my driving was with my father and he really doesn't understand about aerodynamics and thinks I'm full of it and complains too much and wants either the windows all the way down or the ac on haha. But I just got my laptop back yesterday so I will update my pictures of what it currently looks like after I wash it. Tomorrow I plan on blocking off unnecessary openings in the grill since I installed mesh on my bumper so it would be easier to block off. New short term goal is 40 mpg and long term 45. Thank you again to everyone!!!

[shonus]

[theholycow]

Ah yes, arguing with dad about this kind of stuff is frustrating, time-consuming, tiring, and often fruitless. Been there done that, glad it's a long-gone issue for me now.

I wish I had a power passenger-side window too, not because anyone leaves it open but because it's annoying reaching over my wide car to roll it down/up while I drive.

In my observation and experience, most cars do not gain anything at all by simple weight loss, despite common knowledge to the contrary. Where weight loss matters is when you can design the whole car around the lower weight, with a different engine and/or gear ratios and/or tire size, etc. Some cars (specific lightweight, underpowered, tall-geared Hondas) DO gain a little bit with weight loss but not if we're only talking about 100 pounds. I suppose it's possible that yours could too, but it'd have to be a decent chunk of weight.

The nice thing about weight loss by removing things is that, being free, it's guaranteed to pay for itself.

[shonus]

All I can do is let the numbers speak for themselves to show him I DO know what I'm talking about.
Ah yes I do agree about reaching across the car to adjust the window, while my car may not be as wide it does not take away from the fact that you have to reach across the car to adjust the window.

About the weight reduction I had noticed a difference when a long time ago I was painting all my interior panels so I was only driving around with my driver seat and the door panels and had gotten 33 mpg highway and that was +70 mph a lot of the time. But I need to keep my passenger seat as stated and I don't really see a point in only removing my rear seats since they might only weigh a total of 70lbs.

Aside from blocking off my grill my next project when I have the money for all the wiring and everything is to move my battery to the wheel well where the spare tire was in the trunk.

[theholycow]

Could be that your car is indeed sensitive to weight reduction. Some of those pre-corporate Saturns are lightweight, low-powered, and tall-geared.

I also forgot to qualify my previous statement with the point that it only applies when the driver is driving for economy. Stoplight racers will much more likely gain fuel economy from weight loss as the amount of energy wasted through their brakes will be more.

Moving your battery will probably help with handling (and provide some underhood space ) but how much will all that cable weigh?