Cole

Now this is turning silly.

I was looking for a serious discussion on ways to make a 951 burn less fuel when commuting. THE CAR, not the actions of the driver. This is a tech forum dedicated to the CAR. (of course solar panels and plugging in the battery every night so as not to run an alternator would reduce drag on the motor)

CyCloNe!

^ what medication are you on?! .... can I have some

Jfrahm

Hydrogen generators *waste* energy so just forget about them. People who see gains from them are either confused, or selling them (i.e. lying) or are driving differently and more conscious of MPG and are getting the perceived benefits from that.

You cannot burn gas in an engine to turn an alternator to make hydrogen to burn in the engine and realize a benefit, no matter how small. You just can't.

-Joel.

Scott H

Be happy that you're getting 20+ mpg out of a 20+ year old performance car, not many can say that. Feed it gas and have fun, any money spent trying to get better mileage will compromise safety and performance while netting you little in return for the money spent.

fortysixandtwo

Possibly remove the hatch wing, or install one from a 924.

Cole

Rephrased for you:


Hmm....You do realize you are on a forum where people modify cars right?

CyCloNe!

^

racerxrick

man...some of you guys must build brains for a hobby!

Scott H

Yup, I realize that.

How much money are you willing to spend to save how much?

Tuning, reducing weight of engine and drivetrain components, reducing the cars weight, aerodynamics, tires, climate, oil choice, engine wear, etc. Everything has an impact, however slight, on fuel comsumption. How much do you want to change? At what point do you stop?

And then even at that, the biggest factor in fuel consumption, is still the driver.

JohnKoaWood

Glad you got my point.

Yes you can maximize the fuel efficiency, BUT you will do this at the cost of something else...

Power
Comfort
Driveability

MANY of the suggestions in this thread are just as silly to me, as my suggestions are to you.. which was my true point!

And yes I can propose absurd ideas all day long, many of them I have read on RL in this and other threads... and it is what I do for a living. I am the guy, sitting in the back of a meeting, keeping notes, and proposing absurd ideas just to make people realize how absurd the discussion has gotten (actually had one absurdity make it through to a final design consideration... pumping an armored vehicle full of helium to reduce its ground pressure profile... it was actually considered, but ruled out due to concern for the human occupants oxygen being replaced with helium..)

odb812

I think this is the case almost every time I hear someone claim to pick up mileage from any of the ridiculous gimmicks you see these days.

JohnKoaWood

But the turbonator really does work...

odb812

I'm sorry, are you inferring that it doesn't?

Todd951968

I got 32mpg on a 500+ mile trip a few years back. It startled me how good it was. I kept thinking my fuel gauge must be off but it wasn't. This trip was mainly highway but did also include some city driving in the New York metro area. I didn't really do anything to conserve but found myself out of the boost most of the time. My car is lightly modified and running 16 psi. of boost.

Not sure adding 968 mirrors, skinny tires, etc. will be cost effective. How much woudl these "improvements" help? A 2 mpg increase (7% if you raise mpg from 30 to 32) over 10,000 miles saves you about $80 in gas over that distance. Or, maybe $800 over 100,000 miles. How much would a new set of skinny tires, wheels, side mirrors, door handles, etc. cost? Much more than that.

I'd just make sure the car was tuned properly, tires inflated correctly, proper alignment, and keep out of the boost. ANything in the 28-32 mpg range is great!

Cole

Kinda the whole point of any mods really! For some owners the stock car is more than enough, others it will never be enough. There are drivers that run faster laps in a stock car than guys in their highly modified ones.

What is the point in arguing the logic in any of it? Just wasted energy you will never get back really.

Not always.

For example.

Changing to 968 mirrors, door handles and maybe wing could all reduce drag and have an effect on mileage while highway cruising but not effect power comfort or drivability.

Swap in a NA 5th gear and you gain drivability for this function. While you could lose power at the top end, many of us are not flat out in 5th anywhere but long tracks.

All of this little things could be nice little mods that not only add to the look and function of the car but also retain it's original purpose.

Replacing tires has to be done at soe point anyway, so why not consider what effect it will have on the way the car is street driven?

Adding carbon fiber light weight goodies not only makes the car faster, handle better, but would keep weight down to improve in town mileage.

All of this could be a fun way to make the car look better, handle better and actually improve the commute usage at the same time. So not strictly a math problem of money spent vs fuel savings.

"Reasonable" is all up to the end user.