4 Bangin, Fuel Sippin, Full Tank Challenge!

bought a 98 civic dx last week. this car will take over the commute duties so the tacoma can finally have a rest.

 

Corollas that year get better in a 5 speed. Hell if you want MPG. 4 speed tercel. We have one as a lot car. It's beat but so fun

 

Good. Look forward to seeing how things are working out.

So I was thinking about this a bit before turning in last night. So the moisture piece was on my mind as well. I was thinking about a solution that scavenged air, ran it along side the exhaust, by the cat, and then to the intake. Maybe then, after warm-up, the air running through the intake pipe would heat up and dry out enough to make a noticable improvement on the FE. If the intake pipe was welded to the exhaust pipe, perhaps the conductive heating over that length would maximize the potential to heat up the air to a significant degree (pardon the pun).

 

www.metrompg.com/posts/wai-test.htm Link to a Warm Air Intake (WAI)

 

So far it looks like the Warm Air Intake mod is giving me 20-30deg higher Intake Air Temps according to my scangage. Not enough data to really know the effects on the mileage, but my short-term impression is that it is up a little.
It takes a few minutes after the engine is warmed up to see the IAT start to rise, but I have been doing a lot of highway miles so it is warmed up for extended periods of time.
Updates to come...

 

So far it looks like the Warm Air Intake mod is giving me 20-30deg higher Intake Air Temps according to my scangage. Not enough data to really know the effects on the mileage, but my short-term impression is that it is up a little.
It takes a few minutes after the engine is warmed up to see the IAT start to rise, but I have been doing a lot of highway miles so it is warmed up for extended periods of time.
Updates to come...

 

ScanGauge II Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges

or

ScanGaugeE Compact Multifunction Trip Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges

 

-My travels to work have drasticlly changed. Went from 10 minute city commute to 30 minute highway drive. Haven't had a chance to run a full tank yet. Using CC a lot more now as well.

-Am I seeing DFCO? Been enthralled with watching the tach lately. Don't know if it's DFCO or not, but that tach will drop like a rock from about 1900 RPM to 1500 RPM when I accelerate a little and then let off. Accelerate. Let up. Gradual drop, gradual drop, 1900 RPM, sinks like a rock to 1500. Anyone else notice this?

Damn sam, 20-30 degrees? Very interested in your results. My IAT is rising about 2 degrees every UG update while idling.

 

Not sure Chris, but I do try to pulse and glide with my Tacoma in spots on my commute. The trouble for me is that there are very few real flat spots, so the swings in RPMs may be due to a few specific conditions found on my commute. But it is interesting how I can sometimes keep the TC locked up as I back off the gas into the lower 40 MPH range. The RPMs can swing 500-750 RPMs lower as a result but can sometimes hear the backpressure build and pop a bit (I have some kind of aftermarket muffler).

MPGs at this point of the year/season are down to around 22 MPGs. Averaging about 20.5 mpgs on the ride in and 24 mpgs on the ride home (from the middle of the state to the shore). All back roads with plenty of runs and rises...hills and bumps. Been doing more reading about WAI and their construction. Seems many folks out there are getting real improvement.

 

580.7 miles on 19.480 gallons for 29.8 mpg.

Weather has been pretty mild so far, plus a few trips to Denver helped.

 

I just made an account over on ecomodder

 

impressive!

 

So last weekend, I built a warm air intake. I bought a 90 degree elbow at Advance Auto normally for a a do-it-yourself cold air intake. I also bought a 3" flexible exhuast pipe that I bent into an arc. To start, I disconnected the airfilter box and removed the pop rivit that held the connecting tube between the filter box and the CAI intake outlet. With the tube removed, I elected to connect the elbow to the opening of the filter box. To accomodate the elbow, I had to remove the bolts holding the CAI on the inner fender to slide it back to give some room. Simple duct tape to connect the flexible exhuast to the elbow (this was a test setup). The open end of the flexible pipe was pointed towards the exhuast manifold, but was some 8-10 inches from making any contact. Intake temp indicated a 16-20 degree increase with an external temp of around 32 degrees.

This weekend, I bought a flexible duct with a 3" ID/OD coupling. I removed the steel flexible pipe to get the added length so I can get closer to the exhuast manifold. The temps are in the same range Sam is getting: 20-30 degree increase, but the air temp today at test was 48 degrees. So I'll know more once it get colder and I've gone through a couple of tanks. But as with Sam, I believe that I'm getting a small bump in MPGs.

 

In a attempt to revive Quaker's thread for its original purpose I will post my recent lousy mileage figures. Since my GF passed away in Sept. most of my driving has been very short trips of 3.5 miles back and forth to work.

Fillup on 12/23/2012 322.3 miles - 14.35 gallons = 22.45 MPG

Fillup on 1/02/2013 388.6 miles -17.30 gallons = 22.46 MPG

 

22.5MPG is far from lousy. It may not be what you were expecting (hoping) and it may not be near the numbers your best tank gave, but it's still quite decent for a mid-size pickup truck. Tacomas are no longer the compact trucks they were in previous generations.

Yes the cold starts and short trips are MPG killers. Summertime I get 25MPG pretty regularly but the past few months I've hovered around 22... my driving habits have not changed, but it's been cold every morning for quite a while now. Hate that cold knock.

 

Both of those tanks had a appreciable amount of Hi speed interstate miles. If I reset my Ultragauge for trip MPG while just bouncing around town, it has shown I get about 19 MPG for my trips back and forth to work.

Yes lousy was in comparison to what I use to get when 75% of my trips were on urban interstates at 65 MPG indicated, and 25 miles in length. Also I keep forgetting that we are on winter blend now.

 

Cold weather and 150lbs in the back and my last tank was 18mpg

 

4x Kills gas mileage a lot more with the added weight, transfer case, and extra moving parts.

 

This corolla I'm driving around right now....can't stand how small the tank is on this thing. 13 fucking gallon tank. Truck holds almost double that. I'm at the gas station like every 2 days. Been driving the piss out of it though.

Sorry bout' your loss Dan. Sucks.

 

Thanks for your kind thoughts Chris.