Making a high mileage commuter?
03-30-2011, 07:56 PM
#46
Nordschleife Master
Attractive is also up to the end user...
To each his own..
I will never own a car with 968 mirrors or handles, unless it is a 968...
How handy are you at molding composites?
To each his own..
I will never own a car with 968 mirrors or handles, unless it is a 968...
How handy are you at molding composites?
03-30-2011, 08:19 PM
#47
Burning Brakes
Just put new Toyo's on a 02 Audi A8, same size, brand and pressures as before, instant 20% mpg gain.
03-30-2011, 10:29 PM
#48
Rennlist Member
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.
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.
03-30-2011, 10:51 PM
#49
Burning Brakes
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I wonder if Prius forums have people trying to make more power...
My philosophy is to have purpose driven vehicles. Want MPG? 1990 Honda CRX HF (broke 52mpg on an all highway trip, finally. Average 44 on my daily commute). 89 Turbo S? I'm happy with ~22mpg for my daily commute... pushing ~15psi w/ exhaust, chips, cam, etc. =)
I put my wife in a C230 Sport Coupe. 200hp (supercharged), 30mpg+ highway, and rear wheel drive, and every safety feature I've ever heard of up until 2010.
My philosophy is to have purpose driven vehicles. Want MPG? 1990 Honda CRX HF (broke 52mpg on an all highway trip, finally. Average 44 on my daily commute). 89 Turbo S? I'm happy with ~22mpg for my daily commute... pushing ~15psi w/ exhaust, chips, cam, etc. =)
I put my wife in a C230 Sport Coupe. 200hp (supercharged), 30mpg+ highway, and rear wheel drive, and every safety feature I've ever heard of up until 2010.
03-30-2011, 11:49 PM
#50
Rennlist Member
I wonder if Prius forums have people trying to make more power...
My philosophy is to have purpose driven vehicles. Want MPG? 1990 Honda CRX HF (broke 52mpg on an all highway trip, finally. Average 44 on my daily commute). 89 Turbo S? I'm happy with ~22mpg for my daily commute... pushing ~15psi w/ exhaust, chips, cam, etc. =)
I put my wife in a C230 Sport Coupe. 200hp (supercharged), 30mpg+ highway, and rear wheel drive, and every safety feature I've ever heard of up until 2010.
My philosophy is to have purpose driven vehicles. Want MPG? 1990 Honda CRX HF (broke 52mpg on an all highway trip, finally. Average 44 on my daily commute). 89 Turbo S? I'm happy with ~22mpg for my daily commute... pushing ~15psi w/ exhaust, chips, cam, etc. =)
I put my wife in a C230 Sport Coupe. 200hp (supercharged), 30mpg+ highway, and rear wheel drive, and every safety feature I've ever heard of up until 2010.
They are nice cars though. Also at around 1800-1900 pounds and an efficent engine I can see why it gets 40+ mpg.
03-31-2011, 12:42 AM
#51
Bannana Shine
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Just saying that NEW tire compounds are availible. Other than aero drag and mechanical friction, rolling resistance is where to look for improved mpg. I no doubt can find a 'study' that shows results + and -, but the odometer doesnt lie. Tires are a huge friction loss.
03-31-2011, 08:49 AM
#52
Rennlist Member
I'm sticking with cutting weight and make sure your tires are properly filled with air. You can easily get 200lbs cut, remove the rear and/or front metal bumper, if you have AAA get rid of spare/jack stuff, top half of backseat, maybe washer fluid, and possibly remove undercoating. Theres what 150-250 depending on removing the undercoating that's around 2mpg!
Atleast that what I'd do/done but I did it for the quickness lol
that's around 2mpg!Atleast that what I'd do/done but I did it for the quickness lol
03-31-2011, 02:18 PM
#53
Bannana Shine
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Replace front, rear, and quarter glass with Lexan (keep door glass because all the Lexan appears to require fixed door windows), replace seats with lightweight fixed-back seats, remove sound insulation, maybe carpeting, delete rear wiper, switch to lighter wheels, maybe even go so far as replacing fenders with fiberglass.
Something else, if you have the money for it...one of the possible benefits of upgrading to a standalone engine management system with MAF and closed-loop wideband O2 monitoring is that you can fuel the car much more accurately and safely run leaner AFRs, especially under light loads. Doesn't make any sense to do it just to save money on fuel, but if you were already thinking of doing it for performance...
Something else, if you have the money for it...one of the possible benefits of upgrading to a standalone engine management system with MAF and closed-loop wideband O2 monitoring is that you can fuel the car much more accurately and safely run leaner AFRs, especially under light loads. Doesn't make any sense to do it just to save money on fuel, but if you were already thinking of doing it for performance...
03-31-2011, 04:01 PM
#54
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03-31-2011, 04:31 PM
#58
Burning Brakes
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Have any of you read posts on Prius forums? I was googling the internets the other day and a search led me to prius forums. This is the general message I got: If you buy a car/advertise a car/sell a car based on it's performance, you are a renegade loose cannon who is a danger to society while behind the wheel and may God have mercy on your soul.
03-31-2011, 04:42 PM
#59
03-31-2011, 04:43 PM
#60
Have any of you read posts on Prius forums? I was googling the internets the other day and a search led me to prius forums. This is the general message I got: If you buy a car/advertise a car/sell a car based on it's performance, you are a renegade loose cannon who is a danger to society while behind the wheel and may God have mercy on your soul.
