I redid my grill block. I still have to clean the tape residue off.

Here is first one for comparison.

 

Wow, that makes a difference? Wonder how lowering does too?

I got 30 last tank. Part of my way back from wva doing 68mph and a few days back and forth to work. Seems speed effects fuel economy more on this car than others.

Anyways, the only other car I know of with this much leg room for the driver, features and handling are from a car 4 times as much with about ten less per gallon.

If you want to try to get better fuel economy, set the dash to instant mpg read out and drive to get highest mpg. When accelerating it should steadly increase, if it dives sharply, let off the gas some.If you start to approach 3-5 thousand rpms and it starts to drop, thats your shift point.

However, if your entry to the next gear it drops like a rock and you back off the gas and it still drops, you shifted too early.

Lots of trial and error to get great fuel economy. Be interesting to know if the throttle plates echo the gas petal position in a linear relationship only or if it takes in effect other sensor readings.

 

I have a ScanGauge II to help me. I monitor the Throttle Position Sensor, the Intake Temperature, the Coolant Temperature and the MPG. I find the MPG on the ScanGauge updates faster. Rather than driving by the MPG gauge I use the TPS. I try to keep my TPS as low as I can to maintain my desired speed.

Springs will probably be my next purchase. Then when spring gets here I am going to get some Motegi Racing Trak Lite 16" rims. They weigh in at 12.1 lbs per wheel.

 

Last week my wife and I traded her '05 Corolla in for an '09 Xb. The first tank of gas yeilded 24.6 mpg.

 

Damn where are all of you driving??

2000 miles on my 09, average of 34 mpg........as long as you keep your foot off the damn pedal you will see a major increase. This is a mix of about 30% city 70% Hwy. I am getting sweet mpg.

 

My wife drives from The Colony to D/FW airport in rush hour traffic. And she's usually running a bit late so she makes up for that lost time by pressing harder with her right foot.

 

ok i have 20 " rims on my car i get 26- 28 hwy and 24 city ..now wheni took them off and put the stocks back on i was getting 28-30 city and 30 - 34 hwy at 80 mph ...cruise control..lol

 

Am I misunderstanding, or are you deliberately cutting off air flow to your radiator?

 

I have got just about 2100 miles now and have an average of 25 mpg. I have an intake and dual exhaust done to it and drive this car daily in city. Driven maybe 20 miles on the highway total since new.

 

Yes, he is blocking off the grill. Thats why the nose of nascars are blocked off with tape with the small opening they have already. Seems the more aerodynamic the car is, the better fuel economy it gets. Since our cars have dual electric fans and a temp meters, its not such a dangerous idea as it looks. Myself, I would block off the lower grill as it looks bigger, but thats me.

Ive been sick and driving some what agressive and I am at half a tank and 124miles covered, I normally get 210 miles at half a tank.

 

The block is there to redirect airflow around the car rather than letting be trapped in the engine bay. Trapped air creates a parachute like effect that causes drag. Blocking off the top grill has a minimum impact on the air flowing to the radiator. If you look into your top grill you will see about 1" of radiator sticking up above the bumper. Most of the upper grill is dead space.

I have a ScanGaugeII that continuously monitors my actual coolant temp. On the highway the coolant is at 188 deg and in the city is 190 when I am moving and will go up to 202 in stop and go traffic, where the fans come on. The cooling system is designed to handle the hottest temps in the southwest ~110+. Chicago rarely gets above 95. I had no issues with the block this summer.

I would not suggest a grill block unless you have a temperature gauge that is more accurate than the one on your dash.

 

Scanguage questions!!

Have you noted the fuel consumption with the xb warmmed up in nutral, drive, park and the above with ac on. Whats the readings?

What about vacuum vs fuel economy? I got a second hand tacoma with super charger and vacuum/boost meter. Seems at highway speeds in od it reads 15psi vacuum, if I turn off od it jumps to 30 psi vacum, but higher rpms.

Thanks

 

LOL, shoulda got a Fit or 1gen XB.

 

Do ya'll notice a difference in the mpg's when doing springs or aftermarket rims and tires??

 

would blocking off the upper grill makes the engine bay get hotter because theres no air going into the engine bay to help cool down a bit?

 

I don't think it does the radiator seems to be pretty well sealed off except where the fans draw air.

 

what if i block off the lower grill also?

 

BOOM!!

 

For winter I was going to partially block the lower grill. I will probably leave a 1 inch high opening across the width of the grill. This will be trial and error to find the balance between air deflection and the minimum required cooling. Another thing I would like to try is using a very fine mesh. I have read that at high speeds the mesh will act like a solid surface blocking the air. Then at lower speeds (city driving) the mesh will allow air to pass. I plan on making my lower grill easily removable in case there is a cooling problem.

If you want more info about the concept of grill blocks check out http://ecomodder.com/forum/aerodynamics.html, the Aerodynamics section at Ecomodder.com. This is where I get my information.

I checked this morning after arriving at work (30 min drive to warm car). All measurements were taken at idle.
AC Off
D = .19 GPH
N = .17 GPH
P = .19 GPH
AC On-------------Cycle On-----------Cycle Off
D =-----------------.28 GPH-----------.19 GPH
N =-----------------.26 GPH-----------.17 GPH
P =-----------------.28 GPH-----------.19 GPH
The AC will cycle on and off.

Disclaimer:
I am not responsible for any damage that might occur to your vehicle by copying the ideas I have discussed in this thread. You are responsible for your own vehicle and any modifications you choose to make to it.

 

As long as you can monitor the temp, I see no problem withblocking the grill. I havent, but was going to use electric tape for the upper grill myself. Then maybe some lengthsof 1 inch rubber tube as that seems like a perfect fit for the lower grill rows.

In the winter its not uncommon for people to block the grill of a truck to keep it warm and many people do this to the prius to make it more aero and warm up faster.

I use to have a 240d mercedes I put a piece of cardboard infront of the grill. Made it warm up faster and still kept its cool. I removed it before using the ac. Beats me regarding fuel economy.

Thanks for the readings. Interesting it burns less fuel in nutral than park. I wonder why that is?

My xa with manual tranny when I had s scan guage read .12 at idle with no ac, .24 with ac warmmed up for both readings.