Official Thread for posting daily FE updates

[SVOboy]

Yay. I was tied with Larry for 10th place in FE and 2nd in % over, but now I have the spot all to myself.

MWAHAHAHA.

[brelandt]

I had started my own thread on what I have done thus far but found it to be slighty redundant since there was already a thread to post my MPG (here).

This is what I did so far.

Replace cap, rotor, plugs ,wires all vacuum lines, rad hoses rebalanced tires. Pior to any of this being done (2 months ago) I was getting about 21 MPG.

After I I tuned up the motor I noticed the timing was off. I have no tach or a timing light. Was winging it for 2 weeks until I bought a light. My timing was at 3-4 degrees. Advanced it but was only able to get about 5-6 degrees tops. Bumbed up the idle and was able to adjust to the stock 8 degrees. Still have no idea what my idle is set at without first buying a tach.

Then I just readjusted my driving habits. Start off slow and stay at the speed limit.

that netted me 30 MPG. Taped off my grill and all of the seems around the grill and that has gotten me to the 33!

Next step is weatherstripping around the hood seams and a skirt from the bottom of the front bumper to the crossbeam.

[MetroMPG]

DRW: you're doing amazingly well with your car. Nice work.

CO ZX2: are you genuinely snowed in? I thought I drove very little (last fill-up = end of Nov.); but your gas log shows you haven't had to go to the pumps since mid-Nov!

brelant: I love seeing people's gas logs trending up after they arrive at this site. Way to go.

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

DRW: you're doing amazingly well with your car. Nice work.

CO ZX2: are you genuinely snowed in? I thought I drove very little (last fill-up = end of Nov.); but your gas log shows you haven't had to go to the pumps since mid-Nov!

brelant: I love seeing people's gas logs trending up after they arrive at this site. Way to go.

We have had continual snow and bad roads almost since my last listed fillup.(11/21) I reported on this thread just before Christmas that I had driven 300 miles or so at 55+MPG on the tank. Car has not moved much since then. We have driven the Dakota 4WD lately more than in years. Virginia drove it to Denver first part of December, filled it and had gotten 20.8 MPG. Not too bad.

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

I am getting a new windshield in the mazda today. So, it will be inspected soon.

I have been itching to find out the mpg of it.

kickflipjr, have you got your new car on the road yet? Haven't heard much from you lately. I know you're not snowed in.

[The Toecutter]

My parents have a larger Sidekick than yours(~2,600 pounds), and I have managed to push it to 35 mpg at a steady 40-45 mph in 5th gear over the course of last month. Over 60 mph, it turns into a serious gas hog. Before it got a tuneup, it only got like 16 mpg at normal highway speeds. After the tuneup, it's around 20-22 mpg at 60 mph. The tuneup also made it a little more responsive: 0-60 mph is now about 15 seconds instead of > 20 seconds and it will now hit about 90 mph whereas it used to do about 71 on flat ground...

On Christmas, I did do a lot of driving at 85-90 mph. I used about 7 gallons on a 90 mile trip, for a nice 13 mpg. Its aero drag sucks something horrible.

Still slow and ugly, and not very efficient, but better than it was. The Sidekick has about a .5 drag coefficient(I recall it being .48 or something in that area). If that Cd were to be lowered to about .30 and its frontal area to about 20 square feet, and about 700 pounds were shaved off, it would get roughly the same fuel economy as a Geo Metro.

[brelandt]

Then my CD must be worse cause I have the 2 door convertible!

The EPA site lists my sidekick as a "special purpose vehicle" and they are not kidding!

I'm saving up some money. I am either going to buy a metro or if I get my 91 Tegra back I'll start FE that. Oterwise I'm wasting my time on the Sidekick and instead just use it as a guinea pig to learn from.

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

basjoos - .
Did you get yourself a SuperMID for Christmas?

I didn't get a SuperMId, but SVOboy is going to loan me his until May while he is at college, so I can see if it will work in my car and if it allows me to improve my FE over "seat of the pants" driving. If it proves itself to be an indispensable part of the driving experience, then I will be in the market for one. Yoshi said he is going to be releasing a MPG version of the SuperMID in about 6 months time, so that may be what I will wait for.

[DRW]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

DRW: you're doing amazingly well with your car. Nice work.

Thanks! I can't wait to see the improvement with more aero mods. I'm still picking up new driving techniques, too. I keep thinking my last tank was a fluke and FE will drop off with the next tank, but it never happens. It keeps getting better. (now watch what happens, I've just jinxed myself)

I just noticed I'm #4 in % over! I wonder if my car's combined mpg was underrated by the EPA since it has a turbo? In reality it's a light, aero, 2 liter 4 banger. I just happen to have the restraint to keep the power in check (sometimes )

[zpiloto]

Got in another good fillup 33.2 Happy with this as I had a couple of days commute in the rain, a week of cold temps and more short runs than usual. I had the timing advanced on this tank which I think helped.