My Pontiac Firefly / Chevrolet Metro / Geo Metro / Suzuki Swift
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Latest fuel economy stats
for my '98 Firefly 1.0L 5-speed
  best: 2.3 125.1 104.2
 worst: 6.4  44.1  36.8
prev.3: 3.3  82.3  68.6
   all: 3.8  73.4  61.1
L/100km | mpg IMP | mpg US
Jul 28/07: more, graph, calc.
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Latest 10 posts:
1. Recipe for getting 99.7 mpg from a Geo Metro
2. Aerocivic.com - famous aerodynamic Honda Civic gets a web site
3. Snapshot: effect of tire pressure on rolling resistance
4. 65+ vehicle modifications for better MPG
5. Metro mania: forget stocks, put your money in old Geos!
6. 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips for better gas mileage
7. Experiment: how long should a block heater be plugged in?
8. Everything old is new again: Car and Driver magazine modifies an econobox to improve MPG
9. Project Convertible XFi: alfresco efficiency
10. The floor is yours: MetroMPG opens a fuel efficiency forum
11 ... 64. Show all posts





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Links: (added Mar. 14/06)

Discuss amongst yourselves

Good MPG forums: I spend a lot of time at Ecomodder.com and have also been known to lurk around cleanmpg.com.

> Lots more Metro links...
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Send me a note:
darin AT metrompg D-O-T com,
or here


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MetroMPG has opened a fuel economy forum
Read about the project here, or go straight to EcoModder.com.		 EcoModder fuel economy forum

Firefly efficiency mods

Posted Friday, September 16/05 in Mods & Tests

wrench

Last updated December 2009

Note: see also 50+ vehicle modifications for better MPG.

Modifications done to the car, plus tools & resources used in the quest for greater efficiency:


Aerodynamics

Transmission & engine

Intake

Other

  • tire pressure 38 psi (front) 36 (rear); boosted to 48/46 Feb/06; again to 52/48 fall/06 - tested

  • aftermarket cruise control (only used for testing, or on flat roads)

  • new brake calipers (on Firefly #1 - the old ones were dragging slightly & replacement noticeably improved rolling resistance)

  • daytime running lights switch - so I can turn them off on a divided freeway, where DRL's safety contribution is lowest. (It's highest on undivided highways where there's an oncoming overtaking hazard, and where other cars are approaching your path at right angles - e.g. urban driving).

  • engine kill switch (to keep the ScanGauge alive if the engine is stopped while at rest or coasting)

Tools

  • a good tire pressure gauge

  • a ScanGauge

  • Accessing the brain trust at EcoModder.com

  • Books: Road Vehicle Aerodynamic Design by RH Barnard; Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles edited by Wolf-Heinrich Hucho

Future mods ...

  • lowered ride height

  • custom, taller 5th gear

  • shaped tire deflectors/fairings

  • front wheel skirts

  • photovoltaic solar 12 volt assist

  • electric drive hybridization

  • experiment with increased EGR

Note: see also 50+ vehicle modifications for better MPG.



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EcoModder fuel economy forum Note: MetroMPG has opened a fuel economy forum
Read about the project here, or go straight to EcoModder.com.


darin AT metrompg D-O-T com, or here



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