$4 a gallon raises MPG question

[Goose]

I'm still driving a 3cyl 5spd Geo Metro with over 200k on the engine as a DD and I get 47-48 normal and 50+ on a trip. That's better than most of the hybrids. If they could do it back in the late 80s and early 90s on gas, they can do it now!

[allmotor]

a-men. i was doing some research on electric cars. there was a car build from 2000-2002 - when gas was cheap. they went bankrupt. at that time the price for the car was $13,900. a different company bought the rights and now the price for the same car is 36k that sucks. Corbin electric cars

if i had the $ i'd buy a tesla that car kicks butt

[EvilcowRoland]

Goose! Hey man, glad to see you're still around.

I just got the '89 Daytona back on the road. It had been sitting for a while in desperate need of some repair items including a badly worn ball joint. But even with the 5-speed it's only getting about 25 mpg. I still have my work cut out for me in the tuning department.

An interesting note, today I got a stack of coupons and things in the mail. I don't normally go through them, but today I did. Second page in was a page of gas coupons. Yes, coupons for discounts on fuel. It wasn't much, $1 off $25 purchase at Shell. But that's the first time I've ever seen that here. Anyone else ever see anything like that?

[amcpacer]

I drive a 3 cylinder suzuki swift that gets absolutely awesome milage. It easily gets 50 mpg in the summer on the highway driving 75mph. It has got as low as 42 in the winter in stop and go traffic.

It has a freshly rebuilt engine with a coolant temp sensor mod to run more lean during warmup. I have the cam timing advanced 10 degrees and installed a high flow catalytic converter.

Hopefully my Chrysler Laser 5 speed can get some good milage after I rebuild the engine. I plan on a custom logic module cal, wideband O2 with simulated narrowband signal, 3 inch exhaust, water injection, and perhaps an underdrive pulley if I can afford it. I also might grind off some fins from the water pump impeller to reduce parasitic loss. I thought about draining the transmission and filling it with 0W20 synthetic as an experiment to see if the synchronizers are happy enough to shift. Who knows 40mpg may be possible with a G-body? If these mods work I will be sure to share all of my info.

[EliminatorTurbo]

The price of everything is going up because developing countries (China and India) are sucking up more resources as they grow and develop. So it increases demand, lowers supply and escalates prices. Look at a site that Im looking at to increase my mileage which also has a nifty dial controller for the map and O2 sensor. Waterpoweredcar. com Look under hydrogen boosters. Im trying to build one to see if it really works

[22dodge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliminatorTurbo Waterpoweredcar. com Look under hydrogen boosters. Im trying to build one to see if it really works

You can't be that gullible? Or can you?

Might as well get a Tornado, gas line magnets, split-fire spark plugs, slick 50 or duralube, 300mpg carb and what ever other infomercial is on at 3am. The only infomercial I believe in is the GGW. that really strokes my crank.

[turbokid]

^ I like my split fire plugs in my car

[woodrow Z]

I still like this one...

[UnaClocker]

I've always said.. Someone needs to come up with a way to convert our motors to diesel.. Custom pistons, rig up a mechanical injection pump from a Benz or something.. Adapt the injectors into our spark plug holes.. Hell, chevy did it with the 350 in the 70's.. Can't be that hard to do.. Once we're running on diesel, it's pretty easy to brew your own fuel out of waste vegie oil from restaurants that you can get for free.

[GLHNSLHT2]

f that, diesel sucks. Go to Europe and try to breathe.

[UnaClocker]

They don't have ULSD in Europe. They aren't running Biodiesel in Europe. Most of the vehicles there are diesel. I'm only proposing to convert our unique vehicles to diesel, not everything on the road. I loved the smell of my old diesel Rabbit I used to have, but with modern diesel, it wouldn't smell nearly the same anymore. And it sure wouldn't smell anything like that when running Biodiesel.

[thedon809]

Diesel owns. Mitsu made a concept car with a 2.0 turbo diesel that could get like 45 mpg and had like 210 hp and 350ftlbs of torque and is awd. Imaging launching that thing.

[moparfwdsleeper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbokid ^ I like my split fire plugs in my car

NGKs or Champion. I like the Champion's myself. Split Fire is a waste of money

[Reaper1]

Have you guys ever LIVED in Europe? I have. The air quality there is no better or worse than it is here on the east coast(speaking for western Europe). They DO have ULSD in Europe...that's how they could release the new diesel Benzes there before they could here! (as for eastern europe where the iron curtain was, then I agree, that it is VERY dirty, smoggy, and polluted there. That has more to due with lack of technology and funds for propper maintainence though along with poor fuel quality. I'm sure it's gotten better since the time I visited..early '90's)

There is absolutly NOTHING wrong with propperly tuned diesels. They are MORE efficient than gasoline engines, the new ones are quiet, smooth, AND clean. They are getting lighter. They make GOBS of power. The only reason they have a bad wrap in the states is becuase they are associated with dirty, ill tuned trucks that are slow, ugly, and before the switch to the better diesel...polluted more. The current upswing in the diesel performance sector should be proof that they are ANYTHING but slow! Audi friggin OWNED with their cars in road racing, and they were quieter and more efficient than anything else on the track!

As for the GM attempt at converting their 350 to diesel, that thing SUCKED!! It was notorious for splitting cylinder walls. It was a mechanical failier becuase that engine was not designed to BE a diesel. I have a feeling that if the same thing was attempted with out engines we'd see even worse things happen, especially with the aluminum head. Sleeving it I don't think would be a good solution due to the thermal loads involved. A wet sleeve would probably hurt block integrity too much. I also don't tink the block or the crank would handle the loads a diesel would impart on them. Remember that a diesel runs basically on detonation...it compresses the mixture until it gets hot enough to self ignite. That's a VERY fast and high rise in pressure and heat...WAY more than a good gasoline burn. It would beat the bearings to death! There is more, but that's jsut the start. Simply put, I don't think it's a good idea converting gasoline engines to diesel...

[UnaClocker]

Isn't the hugely reliable VW diesel engine also just another gas engine converted for diesel use? At least in the early years? And that definitely had an aluminum head.