Nearly 100MPG from mildly modded Metro

maroon92 wrote:

speedblind said: I drove a Ford Aspire in high school. 8 bucks for 300 miles was a deal even back then.

Its about 16 bucks for that now. I get about 35 driving like a douche, but close to 42 on the highway....I love that car...thanks John and Joey...runnin' like a top.

Ahhhh. You know how much I had into that stupid car when I told john to just give it away?about 2 grand! 2000 bucks! 2000 bucks and about 4 months of driving. Glad your getting some good use out of it!

Also, according to me gps the odo is a few percent optimistic.

Joey

Rusty_Rabbit84 wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: my answer? switch to two wheels for better fuel economy

you will love this then... 50cc 6 speed 2 stroke 100mph Derbi

OMG want!!!

Seriously I'm going to look into getting one of those! How much are they? I can't find a damn price dammit!

GameboyRMH wrote:

Rusty_Rabbit84 wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: my answer? switch to two wheels for better fuel economy

you will love this then... 50cc 6 speed 2 stroke 100mph Derbi

OMG want!!! Seriously I'm going to look into getting one of those! How much are they? I can't find a damn price dammit!

Damn. This one's 20 minutes down the road from me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110384752682&ih=001&category=6719

Whats the deal on that bke? Is it considered a scooter due to engine size? I recall reading somehwere about a 50cc limit for a scooter tag. (no motorbike license)

Price? details?

joey48442 wrote:

Also, according to me gps the odo is a few percent optimistic. Joey

Almost all of them are, I don't think it's accidental either. A 5% difference would mean your 36K mile warranty runs out after 34.2k actual miles.

He went through the trouble of skirting the wheels and removing the antenna but didn't take those windshield wipers off? A small air compressor and some well placed nozzles could have taken care of keeping the water off in the event of some rain.

neon4891 wrote: Of course I would be a trickster and just see how fast i can do it in, milage be damned

One of the sporty car magazines did that years ago on some economy-run style contest. IIRC, their entry involved an old, loaded Cadillac with every option present and operating, widows down and AC on, a carload of buddies ... you get the idea.

If you can't win, lose with style.

My 1997 328i gets me 33-34MPG (according to the on-board computer) on the freeway and I'm usually doing about 78MPH with the cruise set pretty much the whole 42 miles on the fwy. It drops down to about 29-30MPG avg when I get off the fwy for about 10 miles of surface streets (hilly). So my daily and weekly avg is about 29-30MPG. No hypermiling really, just not stabbing the gas.

I do wish the engine management would kill 2 cylinderes while coasting and the cruise wasn't so eager to maintain the set speed when encountering the small hills/bridges on the fwy.

psychic_mechanic wrote: joey48442 wrote:

Also, according to me gps the odo is a few percent optimistic. Joey

Almost all of them are, I don't think it's accidental either. A 5% difference would mean your 36K mile warranty runs out after 34.2k actual miles.

What I've heard it's due to product liability issues. Since it normally reads faster than you're going you can't blame your ticket on the car maker. The odometer is supposed to read correctly for warrantee issues. Same reasoning in that you can't go back to the car maker just after the warrantee expires and expect coverage...

RussellH wrote: My 1997 328i gets me 33-34MPG (according to the on-board computer) on the freeway and I'm usually doing about 78MPH with the cruise set pretty much the whole 42 miles on the fwy. It drops down to about 29-30MPG avg when I get off the fwy for about 10 miles of surface streets (hilly). So my daily and weekly avg is about 29-30MPG. No hypermiling really, just not stabbing the gas. I do wish the engine management would kill 2 cylinderes while coasting and the cruise wasn't so eager to maintain the set speed when encountering the small hills/bridges on the fwy.

Don't trust your on-board computer, they're really not very accurate. Compare your actual MPG (reset the trip meter and top off your tank at every fill, measure miles/gallons at each fill) to your on-board computer for about ten tanks of fuel or so and you're very likely to find discrepancy. Of course, every car is different, but I've never found one of those to be consistently within much more than 20% of reality.

Bryce

yeah my brother goes by his ram's computer and it says he is getting 28 mpg. on a diesel extended cab 2500 with a 6" lift and a huge metal bumper.... I'm skeptical.

daytonaer wrote:

andrave wrote:

Rusty_Rabbit84 wrote: i put mine in neutral and coast down hills... does that count?

According to hypermiling articles I have read, many modern cars (especially those with e throttle) shut off injectors when coasting downhill, essentially shooting mpg through the roof... while in neutral, the ECU switches to its idle program, which obviously cycles the injectors. So in vehicles like this, coasting in neutral actually hurts mileage compared to leaving it in gear. Something to think about (and one of the reasons some all too hyper hypermilers just shut off their cars entirely).

From what I have seen while modifying code for pre-obdII computers (that's new right??) the "fuel cut on decel" doesn't happen below 3000 rpm. If I'm spinning higher than 3000 rpm, the engine friction/compression is going to slow me down. I have actually noticed real time mpg improvements idling (Neutral) down hills that would normally see less than 2k rpm if left in gear. My theory is fuel is injected at decel at "lower" rpm's to keep stuff from getting too hot and spewing NOX's. Less pollution at idle than decel also gives me worse mpg at decel than neutral. My PR MPG is 48mpg. I thought I had a blown head gasket. The car would over heat instantly on any incline or any hint of acceleration. Being 400+ miles beyond AAA's first free 100, I babied it home. I could not believe it when I calculated the mileage next fill up. My friend put it best when he summed up my "cheapness" (not really enviro green motivated). Driving home 55mph with the cruise on he told me he would be willing to pay me an extra $5 for gas to get there 5 minutes quicker. I would GLADLY pay $20 extra for gas to avoid that terrible trip blasting the heater on a 90^ day, feathering the throttle and riding the shoulder even though it netted my best recorded mileage.

So holy crap. Again, I've been using the "coast in neutral every chance you get" method and getting 32-33 MPG.

On the last tank, I didn't use this technique at all, but did sort of do the "pulse & glide" thing downhill. i.e., cruising at 70mph, when I crest a hill, gently bump it up to 75, let it drop to 65, repeat as neccesary downhill, but never putting the car in neutral, or shutting it off.

I got a record tank of 33.7 mpg when I filled up this morning (woohoo!) This was without paying as much attention to creeping up on/avoiding red lights, etc.

As an added bonus, the car has mysteriously begun stalling once it's warmed up if the revs dip down around 1,000 rpm. I was planning on chasing this problem down this weekend, but I'm thinkng I might just let it fly for a tank, and let the car shut down while approaching lights, then bump start to get'er rolling again. I'd really like to hit 35 mpg.