4 Bangin, Fuel Sippin, Full Tank Challenge!

MPG is dropping idk why something is up.

 

Cold

 

I am seeing the drop in mileage (based on Scangage readings) on cold mornings as well.
I am seriously considering a 2nd Gen deckplate mod to provide a warm air intake to help.
I know I had a serious drop over the last few tanks, but I think that was mainly due to winter fuel. The colder weather has to make a difference also, and it is really the only variable I might be able to make an impact on.

Anyone else done a Warm Air Intake for mileage sake?

 

Sam's thoughts about a warm air intake is interesting. I've read a few things on the internet on what folks have done to make their engines 'run warmer'. Oddly enough, here is where a Cold Air Intake might actually work (from a fuel efficient driver's point of view). Most aftermarket CAIs are capturing the warmer air under the hood. The question is whether or not the air under the hood is appreciably warmer than the air outside and can positively affect your MPGs. It would seem to me that for a warm air solution, it might require capturing the beneficial heat off of the engine/exhaust somehow and using it to warm up the air going into the intake manifold. Can it be done effectively??

 

Deckplate would give you warm air from under the hood in the winter and the ability to plug it in the summer. Keep in mind the engine wont be warmed up right away so if you're making short trips it won't matter, not to mention gains, if any, will be minimal.

 

Old GMs ran a tube from the top of the air cleaner right down to the header to capture warm air coming off the manifolds for smooth running.

 

4" deckplate is on order. I just think that if I can suck up some warm air off those sexy LCE headers I should pick up a few percentage on mileage once the truck is warmed up.
I will play it by ear whether I go to the trouble of blocking off the cool air side, but I probably will make some sort of plug.

 

Very interested in how this turns out

 

Serious.

And I know you don't do this with traffic, but when someone is "driving with load"... or talking on their phone, or jockeying for a lane change, or anything else where their speed varies, it causes a "rubber band" effect.

Any motorcyclist who has participated in group rides and been near the tail of the group has experienced this. The same thing happens to a platoon of traffic, and the longer the platoon goes between breaks, the more extreme the condition becomes.

Lead driver slows down.
2nd driver reacts and slows down to avoid collision. Difference? Add the recognition and reaction times.
Multiply recognition and reaction times to each successive vehicle, and within 10-15 vehicles you go from "natural slowing" to "have to hit the brakes" to "have to slam on the brakes".... worse with heavy traffic because safe following distances are impossible to maintain or another driver will fill the gap.

Acceleration is the reverse... and now add performance considerations. A speed increase from 60-70mph by the lead driver will result in a vehicle 10-15 positions back reaching 90mph to maintain their position in the pack if the goal is to remain together. In normal traffic, they will simply accelerate back to the limit or 5 over... but if the lead driver only accelerated to 5 under, you now have large gaps open, then rapidly close as faster vehicles close them.... then the vehicles in the rear again need to brake.

Now, that "rubber band" is going both ways... tail drivers are accelerating, lead driver is once again slowing down, and back and forth, and multiple "subsets" within the main platoon doing the same thing. I deal with this every day on the 210. The entire commute from Pasadena to Irwindale is a series of speed changes from 40mph to a dead stop, and back.


For every gallon saved by the lead driver, 50 are wasted in the platoon behind him. Think globally, not locally. Maintaining a constant speed might cost a bit of extra fuel for the lead driver, but that unselfish act allows those following to save not only fuel, but also allows them to save wear on their brakes and tires, and reduces the release of compounds from the brakes and tires into the environment.

 

This..had a few of them in my younger years. Tube went on the bottom of the metal snorkel part of the cleaner, then used a flexible metal pipe to connect to the header.

 

This was used during warm-up only.
The butterfly closed once the intake was warmed by the engine.

 

Seriously?

I see the stop and go but to me it is caused more by conjestion near on/off ranps that cause relatively minor changes in overall traffic density. I call it the Slinky effect since with an osillating slinky there are tight loops and spread loops that move along. I see everyone excellerating from a stop as fast as possible only to find a fresh new congestion approaching the next exist where they then slam on the brakes never getting anywhere faster than if they calmly accelerated to reasonable speed with shorter spacing knowing the slinky can't get you their faster. If everone drove the average speed of say 40 instead of 65 - 0 - 65 - 0 we'd all be better off.

You usually make sense but here you exaggerate to an extreme. 1 gallon saved wastes 50. Bullshit. The traffic you are describing doesn't even allow for DWL if everyone is already starting and stopping as it is. There is no front DWL driver that is varying between some 55-65-55 that is leaving some rubber band effect miles back in the wake as you describe. That DWL driver is starting and stopping along with everyone else.

You also are describing a group ride that isn't at all what the traffic is doing. Allow me to exaggerate that 50% of the drivers only desire is to get past the person in front of them, not follow anyone, except to tailgate them in an attempt to intimidate to change lanes.

Studies have tried to conclude that both aggressive and timid drivers can cause congestion but since aggressive tailgaters are way way way more numerous than the DWL driver I don't see how DWL drivers can be the major cause of your hideous daily commute. Taking every DWL driver off the road you drive wouldn't change anything, and that assumes there are actually people DWL, hardly a common practice.

 

The 1:50 was of course bullshit... but honestly, how much fuel is being saved on a 15 mile commute by DWL... and if that DWL is impacting 150 vehicles behind... hmm....

As for one driver causing issues, I see that all the time. Maybe not DWL, but just as bad, someone rolling 10 under the limit, or 10 under the flow of traffic. Their lane is empty for 1/4 mile in front of them, and people behind them trying to change lanes impacts the flow in the adjacent lanes. Throw in a slight hill and a couple of trucks and you end up with a very well defined rolling roadblock where all lanes are moving freely ahead of that driver, and backed up for several miles behind them in 4 lanes.

Micro vs macro.
The same dynamics exist with a large platoon of traffic, it's just not as apparent since the drivers in the rear are not attempting to hold "formation"

I don't disagree.
Traffic problems are in large part because of the mixture of aggressive and timid drivers. DWL throws in a completely new dynamic, of one who is essentially a timid driver with acceleration, but who can appear to be aggressive with respect to braking.
No, DWL is not the cause of the horrible commute, but adding DWL drivers to the already bad mix will compound existing problems.


Out on the open road? Have at it. Hypermiling techniques obviously work.
When other vehicles are around, all I can ask is that common sense and courtesy be used. Same as for any driver... just be aware of how your driving impacts others.
As I've mentioned, I see no reason to believe that you don't do this.

 

Just got back from a vacation last night.
Got both my best and worst tanks ever on that trip.
Best tank was from Carlsbad to Albuquerque... 26.8
Worst tank was from Junction TX to Carlsbad NM at 22.1, followed by a 22.8 from Winslow to Kingman.
The 22.1 run was speed... plain and simple, with a moderate elevation increase and holding speed at 75-80.
The 22.8 was holding speed around 65, but we were bucking a strong headwind and temps dropped into the high 30s (assuming by the IAT being at 44).
The 22.9 at the beginning of the trip was due to a very bad drive home from work Friday... IIRC, the Ultragauge was showing around 20 when we actually hit the road Saturday morning.

Details are on my Fuelly link

 

I'll throw this guys theories and observations into the discussion.

I use DWB driving without brakes way more than I use DWL and many of his observations match mine.

Basic idea, if there is a congestion (wave, rubber band, slinky) ahead and I slow gradually down to less than the rushing mass ahead of me and create an open gap those behind me also gradually slow and if timed well we all avoid a complete stop since the stopped cluster dissipates before we get there.

If instead I just rush up to the stop like everyone else we all stop.

http://trafficwaves.org/trafexp.html

 

Similar here, if possible. I'll tap the brakes to let drivers behind know that traffic is slowing, but I'll do my best to avoid rapid decel.

Of course, not always possible. These techniques work great with light to moderate traffic.

 

Now I remember that..ah the memories.

My 1984 Olds Delta 88 with a 307 V8 got 6 miles to the gallon. I had a slipping tranny and a leak in the gas tank, but those 2 fixes yielded 7-8 mpg. I then realized to my horror that some moron had sealed off some of the emissions stuff and burned a whole section of wiring in doing so. He was also nice enough to remove the bulb from the CEL and the fuse from the computer. Spent about 5 hours rewiring that thing although getting 16mpg was worth it.

 

The author is saying that leaving a gap is best at heavy traffic to bust up the stopped wave.

The other interesting aspect this guy talks about that I'm not sure about is the the merge from say 2 lanes to one. Or the merge to a single exit that is backed up and hard to merge into.

I have seen construction signs recently that say "continue to use both lanes all the way to the merge". He doesn't say that but he does talk about the mental battle where the driver that doesn't merge and goes all the way to the last moment to merge is considered the dick yet if we all just filled both lanes equally and alternate at the merge it would be better than the battle to not let the cheating dick in? I tend to think the cooperative use of both lanes is better as the signs recommend.

I don't find myself in the really bad Denver congestion much which has long drawn out stop and go but the stoppages are way to big to hope to avert with some slow speeds and gaps. Aggressive pulse and glide with FAS is the only way.

 

Until the aggressive driver in the next lane grabs the gap.

Interestingly, as much as LA drivers are assholes, this tends to be how merging usually ends up when it comes down to the point of no return. There's the occasional dick that tries to squeeze in with the car ahead and break the "every other".

 

The author would say let the aggressive in and lose a second and keep the flow. The denser the congestion the less the aggression from my experience with drivers already stopped not usually darting from lane to lane.

Here in passive aggressive Boulder it's nobel to merge early and not let others in. It is also nobel to give pedestrians way more than the right of way to the detriment of smooth traffic. I'm always shaking my head and waving motorists along while crossing a 6 lane street with motorist yielding to me long before I could possibly be endangered?