tips for cavaliers

[Hateful]

update on the intake temp: I went to get 2 tires driving 18miles each way.On the way back the FIA got up to 162 degrees while the FWT got up to about 220.
My mileage was 33mpg going and 37mpg coming back. Just did average 35mpg for the day which is just about the tank average so far. A little under half tank left.
I bought 2 new steel rims and went down to 185/75 R14 from the 195's.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

there is a guy on here that drives a saturn that says to run it between 160 and 180.

I am just having a hard time with the air being that hot coming into the engine and it not being bad for it. when I run a few more tanks I am going to start playing with it myself.

[Hateful]

After today I'm just going to let it stay that way; the airtake has been under the hood for several months so I assume it's been getting that hot all along. Being where it is,the fan cools the filter and the radiator when it comes on,but the air temp doesn't drop as quickly.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I think you are right about the temp reaching those hights before. it is just now you have a way to monitor it better. if you aren't getting any negative affects from it, I would leave it in. I wouldn't try to go any higher on the temp side.

one thing to think about (and this is just a random thought) if your aftermarket air filter is like mine (on my truck) it is an exposed filter, if you get it too close to the exhauste manifold you may have some issues with scorching or burning. the IAT sensor is a good distance down the pipe from your filter so the air is hotter at the filter. just something to think about.

[Hateful]

I was more worried that it would melt. I just changed it after 6 months. It wasn't scorched nor melted. Didn't get as dirt as the factory filter did.The end of the road I live on is dirt,so getting the intake higher off the road probably helped with that. I read the Saturn post also, so I feel safe at these temps now.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I am a huge fan of the baby-step so I will be progressing with caution. I plan to fill up tomorrow and I will probably run one more tank through my car and then play with the intake after that.

I'll keep you posted. thanks for all the info.

[Hateful]

Warm air intake; North Carolina safety and emissions ( OBDII) test was overdue as usual,so I went today.They made me reattach my intake to the old filter box for the OBDII emissions test.I never thought it would matter since it's before any of my sensors. It was no problem as I just tore off some tape and pulled the hose back over the opening to the old filter.

I was thinking about removing that rather bulky intake filter box but it's good I didn't as I'll need it for a few minutes each year.

I left it like that when I left. The car was warmed up as I had to go downtown( crowded parking deck included) to pay county tax and to get my plate sticker earlier (killing me at 28mpg). My intake air temp barely got to 85 degrees.I pulled over into a parking lot, got out the tape and screwdriver and reattached my warm air intake. Immediately back up to between 130 and 160 degrees.Mileage recovered to get tank back up to 32mpg at 55miles.I'm confident that I can get the tank average back up before the next fill-up.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I was thinking of putting a new hole in mine and plugging the other with metal tape (the good duct tape) and just running flexible exhauste pipe to the manifold.

I don't think they would say anything to that because I am still using the existing box and haven't put anything past the filter or altered the filter location. they haven't said anything about my truck which has an aftermarket cold air intake for power.

maybe you just got a hold of a jackhole that just wanted to get you for something since your car looked funny. either that or they just got busted for letting someone slide on something and the shop is on edge about it or something.

I just got inspected in april so I feel like if I did it now, then I would have almost a year to make it right before my next inspection. also I may just trade up to a yaris or something before the next year.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

also, did your side skirts in the back help any? I am playing with the idea but I am not sure if it is worth it since my usual drive doesn't get much over 50mph. I was thinking of using high impact acrylic sheeting (really thin plexi-glass) I used the regular (not high impact) for my grill block. the high impact is expensive. I covered most of the bottom grill and decided to do something with the gap inbetween so I took a heat gun and bent a piece to have a seam running down it so that it had the same curvature as the car (ponited on the front). I think I can take and put tabs on the half circle and bend them in for mounting brackets and use fender washers to spread the force on a larger area so it doesn't crack.

I am just worried that I am going to put a lot of time and effort into it and get little to no return on my mpg. what did you see when you did your skirts?

[Hateful]

The back wheel skirts did help. I'm not sure about how much mileage I got from it,but I picked up 3 to 5 mph coasting in neutral. It was getting to about 47mph without the skirts and would roll up to 52mph with the skirts. Both starting at 40mph at the top of the steep part.

The rear wheel wells were way to big for my 195/70/R14's. I'm going to change them to 185/75/R14 soon. The tires are still good but I have extra rims now that I bought 2 steel rims($52each) with my new front 185/75/R14's ($35each)

You may be right about the intake; I had gone to the same place when they didn't even open the hood ( just plugged in the OBDII).