Posted Monday, October 6/08 in Mods & Tests

One of the more popular pages on this site, according to the traffic logs, is the list of modifications I've done to my car to increase its efficiency.

Apparently people are hungry for quality information - real ways to save fuel that don't involve dubious gadgets pitched in infomercials, additives promoted with no scientific basis, or hare-brained schemes that occasionally gain traction on the Internet.

With that in mind, the members over at EcoModder have recently compiled a comprehensive list of 60+ gas saving modifications that are well understood & documented with examples.

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Posted Sunday, August 24/08 in Suzukiclone info

(...Updated Sept 26/08...) My very first car was a behemoth: a 1964 Pontiac Catalina with a massively thirsty 389 cubic inch engine. When I bought it to restore, there was a little notebook in the glove box the previous owner had used to track his fuel economy. I remember the row of exclamation marks beside his best ever fill of 19 mpg (US). Unfortunately, 14 or 15 mpg was the norm.

The big Cat is long gone, and I've come full circle back to Pontiac via the Firefly. But the badge on the hood is about the only thing the Flea has in common with the monster Catalina. Its little 3 cylinder engine doesn't have even 1/6th the displacement of the 389 V8!

Apparently I'm not the only one who has downsized into a thrifty car lately. With $4 gasoline in the US this summer, people were abandoning their guzzlers... and apparently their common sense by paying startlingly high prices for some 1 litre action.

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Posted Sunday, May 18/08 in Driving efficiently

There's no question that the biggest potential fuel saving modification is adjusting the nut behind the wheel.

At the end of 2006 I posted a retrospective that showed this. I compared the impact of all the mods I'd done to the car against changes in driving style. The mods were collectively worth about a 28% improvement in MPG. And the driving techniques? How about a whopping 38% boost.

The benefit of a modded vehicle is that it will get better efficiency regardless of the driver. The benefits of developing efficient driving techniques is they're free and portable - you can bring them to any vehicle you drive.

To help spread the knowledge, several EcoModder members (including your humble nenpi maniac) recently collaborated on a big list of 100+ hypermiling / ecodriving tips & techniques.

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Posted Thursday, April 17/08 in Mods & Tests

OK, so spring may not the best time to be talking about block heaters. Then again, the planet has two hemispheres, after all. So while it may be finally warming up here, somewhere somebody may be plugging in a block heater right now...

Plus, who says block heaters are only for sub-zero use? I use mine three seasons of the year. (And the only reason I don't use it regularly in the summer is because I'm lazy.) Toyota's hybrids (like the Prius) employ their thermos-like tanks to preserve coolant heat for efficiency gains whether January or July.

The question this post addresses is: how long should you plug in a block heater? In other words, what's the shortest time needed for the maximum temperature rise?

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Posted Wednesday, March 12/08 in General

34 years ago this month, the March 1974 issue of Car and Driver magazine ran an article about DIY modifications to improve fuel economy. The article was a direct response to the 1973/74 oil crisis - which was when people in North America first started seriously talking about improving fuel efficiency to address issues of energy security and high fuel prices.

But the magazine did a lot more than just talk about efficiency. They grabbed the bull by the horns (okay, a Ford Pinto by the bumper) and actually did something about it. Their story, Project Car: Crisis-Fighter Pinto, outlined six simple, mostly aerodynamic modifications which actually saved gas.

After the jump: the six modifications, in detail.

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Posted Thursday, January 3/08 in Suzukiclone info

Last time I wrote about Rick was to profile his modded-for-mileage 1993 Metro XFi hatchback. At the time, he had a lifetime average of 53 mpg (US) since buying the car, with a more or less "normal" driving style.

Almost a year later, a quick look at his gas log shows it's climbed to 60.5 mpg. Nice work! Unfortunately, the secret to his success may lie partly in Mother Nature's aggressive vehicle weight reduction program - the XFi has been rusting out from under him!

But there's a silver lining: Rick just picked up a lightly roasted 1991 Metro convertible for $150 and has launched the ambitious Convertible XFi Project. It's shaping up to be much more than just a powertrain swap.

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Posted Tuesday, December 11/07 in General

OK, you win!

When I originally set up this site, I made a decision not to include visitor comments with the articles, thinking it would create too much work. Instead, I invited e-mail and responses submitted through the feedback page.

Well, let me tell you something: MetroMPG.com visitors are a chatty bunch! Since day one, I've received & answered literally hundreds of messages ... and lately the rate has been increasing. (So much for saving work.)

So with that in mind, I recently conceded defeat. But in a good way - with the launch of Ecomodder.com, a brand spanking new discussion forum about efficiency modifications, eco-driving techniques and fuel economy in general.

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Posted Thursday, August 16/07 in General

By this time last summer I had already run a bunch of fuel economy tests and tinkered plenty with the Blackfly. This year, if it's not obvious already, I've done precious little.

To the fossil fuel-powered car, that is.

I've actually been working on a variety of other vehicles, and in the spirit of the Blackfly, the common theme running through the entire fleet is efficiency. (Most of them even save fuel by replacing some dino juice driving.)

So here's where my tinker time has been going this summer...

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Posted Wednesday, May 30/07 in Driving efficiently

Judging by the visitor log, there's a lot of interest in the pulse and glide driving technique. It's one of the most frequent search engine queries that brings visitors here.

In recent years, pulse and glide may have been popularized most by drivers of Toyota's Prius hybrid, partly because it's just so darned easy to do in that car. But contrary to a misconception held by some, this extreme fuel saving method wasn't developed by hybrid drivers, nor is it limited to hybrid cars. In fact, it has been used for decades by participants in extreme fuel economy competitions like the Shell Marathon for experimental vehicles.

A group of just such people - grad students and researchers at the University of California (Davis) - demonstrated the technique (calling it "burn-and-coast") to a writer from Road and Track in 1992. With some coaching, the writer pulled off 116 mpg (US) on a closed course in a bone stock Geo Metro XFi.

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Posted Tuesday, April 24/07 in Mods & Tests

Is the camshaft a car's heart? Maybe that's the wrong metaphor - it could be the fuel pump. Oil pump? Hmm... Maybe there's no perfect camshaft bio-medical analogy. I came up with the heart comparison because I've had valves on my mind lately.

Valves were also on the minds of the engineers who designed the uber-efficient US-only Metro XFi. Their "economy" camshaft was one of several mechanical improvements that increased the XFi's EPA ratings by 15% (city) and 18% (highway) above its thirstier siblings (the garden variety 3-cylinder Metros).

In pursuit of better fuel economy, a few American TeamSwift.net members have already transplanted XFi cams into their regular Metros. Recently, I followed in their pioneering footsteps, thanks to a friend who performed a cam-ectomy on a junkyard XFi in Utah and sent the prize north across the border on a medevac flight... I mean UPS.

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