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Posts tagged fuel economy
New Rav4 Engines to be Ultra-Low Friction
Mar05
2009
Written by admin
2009
Written by admin
Toyota has been stepping up the fuel efficiency game recently, and not just with flashy hybrid models like the new Toyota Prius. Some of their efforts have been to inch up the mileage across their entire fleet with some advanced fuel efficiency upgrades incorporated into their engine design.
The new Rav4 engine is a perfect example Toyota’s advanced engine technology:
- Dual indepedent variable valve timing (VVT-i)
- Offset crankshaft
- Roller rockers
- Three-stage variable oil pump
- Reduced-tension piston rings
- Auxiliary belt drive
Perhaps the neatest upgrade, however, is the Acoustic Control Induction System (ACIS), which changes the length of the intake runners based on operating conditions to deliver the most torque and fuel economy at any given time.
The new engines from Toyota not only promise better fuel economy, but also more power.
Source: Toyota via our fuel economy forums
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- Mobil Claims New Motor Oil Can Save You Over 0
MpgTips News: February 2009
Feb02
2009
Written by admin
2009
Written by admin
Time to break out the snow chains and the ice-scraper as February brings heavy snowfall to the UK. People in the south of England seem to be getting the worst of the snow. Lucky devils! call me irresponsible, but I love the snow. I’ve had some of my best and worst driving experiences with snow on the ground. The worst being, letting the handbrake off my car in a steep driveway and it immediately sliding sideways into a skip! The best experiences being finding an empty car park and using for a skid pan and just generally driving everywhere sideways! It’s tremendous fun, and I thoroughly recommend it to blow the cobwebs off any car, although it won’t help to improve your fuel economy in the slightest. On a more sombre note, car maker Honda has suspended production at its swindon plant for four months, until it clears it’s growing surplus of brand new cars, which are currently gathering dust as UK banks keep their stranglehold on new car finance , and ultimately the average UK motorist’s ability to get car credit. Workers at Honda’s swindon plant will receive full wages for the first two months and around half their normal wage for the second two months. The news is quite a surprise with Honda being one of the stronger manufacturer’s, it just goes to show that they’re all feeling the pinch at the moment. Looking on the bright side, at least they didn’t actually sack anyone?
The good news is that fuel prices appear to have levelled out for the time being, let’s just turn our heater’s up and see how long the cheap fuel period will last.
Chevrolet Volt Project In Trouble?
Jan22
2009
Written by admin
2009
Written by admin
Chevrolet Volt
The Beans
General Motors has shelved work on the factory earmarked to build the engines for the Chevrolet Volt, but still claims that the plug-in hybrid will appear in showrooms by the end of 2010 as promised. I will believe it when I see it. The decision comes as cash strapped GM struggles to shift the growing mountain of petrol guzzling suv’s and other V8 fuel guzzlers that North American buyers are now refusing to spend their hard earned money on. Meanwhile, GM officials are hoping that Barrack Obama throws them a bone or two in the coming weeks, once he’s settled into his new comfy big house. Mr Obama had hoped to move in quickly but there are rumours of delays as whitehouse staff struggle to remove 8 years worth of Bush family pebbledashing from 35 bathrooms in the big white house. GM and Chrysler have also stated ‘if the current economic downturn continues, they would be flat broke and doing ‘elephant impressions’ on the whitehouse lawn in the not too distant future’. Their cries fell on deaf ears, as the US administration appears to be in no rush to pull them out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. GM says it had no choice but to shelve work on the the factory in Flint, Michigan, where GM were planning to build the 1400cc turbocharged engine designed for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid. The Chevrolet Volt was intended to be the catalyst in GM’s efforts to reinvent itself as a modern company that builds fuel efficient cars. But with the economic crisis or credit crunch as some have labeled it (a recession to the rest of us), there is no money available for that project right now.
A Turbocharged Battery Charger?
The Volt is by far GM’s most important project and a huge leap foward over conventional hybrid technology as it relies entirely on electric propulsion. The petrol engine exists only as a charger the lithium ion battery pack as it approaches depletion. The car is capable of a 40 mile range in pure electric mode and deliver 3 digit fuel economy figures. I can’t help but wonder why they would need a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine to charge a few batteries? There are similar engines already fitted to several conventional small cars here in the UK car market, namely the VW polo 1.4TSI, and VW extract 140 bhp from that 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine and it hits close to 130 mph? and while its reputedly fuel efficient, its hardly the model of high fuel economy, and certainly not what you would expect to see being utilised as a battery charger? But I suppose that with the vast majority of americans driving 5 litre V8′s for the last 60 years, it probably seems like a small engine to them? I’m going to stick my neck out here and throw out a guess that the 10 Horsepower diesel engine in my lawnmower would be perfectly capable of charging a large battery bank in a relatively short period of time. It seems to me that the high powered petrol engine has more to do with pleasing Texan Oil Barons than producing fuel efficient motor cars, but then i’m a naturally suspicious person with an unhealthy dislike of oil companies. GM insiders say that development of the Chevrolet Volt will continue and they hope to see them rolling off the production line before the start of 2011 as previously announced. Now I know what you’re thinking already, “That might prove a little difficult without a factory to build your engines in?” or “I think it goes without saying that if you’re serious about making engines, you need an engine factory?” Well it turns out that General Motors already builds that particular 1.4 litre turbocharged engine in their Austrian engine plant, so they could just send a few over if its really neccesary. That bombshell makes this article rather pointless really, and now i’m wondering why I’ve even bothered to write it.
Conclusion
Bring on the electric cars GM, we were ready for them 80 years ago, that’s how long it’s taken you to catch up! For those of you waiting to buy a chevrolet volt in 2010, 2011 or maybe 2012?, let’s hope that whitehouse staff get to the bottom of the George W Bush pebbledashing problem soon, and Barack Obama gets to move in before Dub’ya makes off with what’s left of America’s valuables. In the meantime, i’m off to build myself a new generation diesel hybrid, now that GM’s told me how to do it.
Petrol Car Tips
Dec10
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
Tips for Manual Petrol Car Drivers
This is the most common car type on UK roads today, although diesel cars with a manual gearbox will probably take the lead in the near future, still with me? It’s worth mentioning that in this type of car, with the exception of steep hills, you should never need to go over 3000rpm. Tearing up the gears, then cruising in 5th gear, is NOT driving for economy! I have tested all the fuel economy myths, the old method of the lowest revs in the highest gear, works quite well, (eg: 1500rpm in 5th gear) but there are other factors that you must be aware of. A method I like to employ, is what I call the Imaginary Rev Limit, where for instance on a flat road, starting from a standstill, you imagine that you can’t exceed 2000rpm but there is a rule you must apply to this method, and it is just simply, never let the engine struggle. If you are sitting at 1500rpm in 5th gear, and the car is chugging, or vibrating badly, then you have two options. Option 1: Increase your speed in 5th gear, until the car runs smoothly again. Option 2: Drop down to 4th gear to lessen the strain on the engine. Whatever option you choose, the engine would no longer be stressed. Option 1, would yield the highest fuel economy on a flat road, or a slight uphill stretch. This method does not take the engine ‘Sweet Spot’ into account, but it will serve you well if you can’t find the sweet spot. There was a time in the past when even I believed the sweet spot was a myth, but it is there, you will find it somewhere between 40-60mph in 5th gear (or 6th if you have a 6 speed box), in difficulty to find it’s similar to the G-Spot in women! If you have a mpg computer in your car, which gives an accurate reading in real time (a lot of them don’t), you should be able to see it, by varying your speed while cruising in your highest available gear. If you have a spare £100, you could buy a scangauge, you can find them on the internet, just google the name, it plugs into the OBD Socket found under the dash in most cars. It is much more than an mpg meter, and is extremely accurate, but probably only justifiable for a serious fuel economy nut like me. To sum up the sweet spot, I think it is accurate to say that it is a product of the torque characteristics of your engine, and is usually found at the peak point in the rev range where torque delivery is at its strongest, which is why it varies from car to car. Read the article ‘Driving Style’ for a snippet of knowledge on how to keep your engine running without using any fuel. What did he just say? Alright it was a little play on words, but the point I would like to get across, is that there are times when your car is using no fuel at all, and you can exploit that knowledge if you know when it’s happening.
Hybrid Cars
Dec10
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
It’s no news flash that petrol doesn’t appear to be getting any cheaper. People everywhere are asking what they can do to save fuel, and often the answer is to change your car to one that’s more fuel efficient. That’s simple, right? But what type of car should you choose? Just maybe, you should try a hybrid car.
Hybrid’s are the talk of the town these days. Current hybrids like the Toyota Prius & the Honda Civic Hybrid are both stylish and available in great colours, they will make your daily commute less expensive and more enjoyable. Once you examine the characteristics of a hybrid, how could you not choose to run to the car dealer right now and buy one? Well, we all wish we could just simply do that, but before you run out and take the plunge, maybe you should learn a bit more about these cars.
A hybrid car is a vehicle that uses an electric motor combined with a conventional internal combustion engine. A combination of a conventional propulsion system and a rechargeable battery bank installed onboard the vehicle work together to give the vehicle better fuel economy than conventional petrol or diesel cars, that’s the generalised theory anyway.
Top Hybrid Cars of 2008 is a video I found that might interest you, take a look.
Hybrid cars work differently to battery electric vehicles because the battery bank used in a hybrid car does not require charging from an external source. Instead, in order to get a charge, kinetic energy is generated by way of regenerative braking. Furthermore, some hybrid cars make use of their own combustion engine to create electricity. The combustion engine does this by spinning an electrical generator or alternator . The spinning does one of two things. It can either recharge the battery or in a more direct way, it can cut out the middleman and give power directly to the electric motor. This motor is what then drives the vehicle.
Therefore, because this fuel-sipping vehicle can generate its own electricity, it is very different from a vehicle that is run strictly on batteries. But, there is no waiting while your car charges up outside in the garage before you go to work. All you have to do is get into the car and drive.
It is true that some people have experimented with electrical vehicles in the past. However, the introduction of the hybrid cars outdid these types of cars when they came on the scene.
Because the hybrid car is so innovative in the way it powers itself and the way it is able to save you money on fuel, it’s currently believed to be the car of the future. At least that’s what many car makers believe, and many consumers agree with them. In the next generation of new cars, a factory fitted ‘bolt-on’ hybrid should become available from many makers, there are many rumours in the industry to suggest that this new wave of bolt-on hybrid options will become a reality. Hybrid cars are expected by some to become the industry standard in the very near future.
So if you want a car that’s enviromentally friendly, saves you money on fuel, and benefits from a lower road tax band, perhaps you should invest in a hybrid. As the car industry is still too far away from a viable hydrogen/water fuel alternative, buying a hybrid electric vehicle is probably the most sensible alternative for those looking to buy a new car today.
Driving Style Tips
Dec10
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
Driving Style Tips for UK Motorists
I cannot stress enough the impact your driving style has on fuel economy. You must adjust your driving style to suit both, the vehicle you are driving, and the environment you are driving in. To get the best out of your car, you must first properly understand the fundamental driving techniques to use, but more importantly, WHY YOU SHOULD USE THEM! One obvious thing to mention at this point, is that although I will include tips for cars with an automatic gearbox, these articles are biased in favour of cars with a manual gearbox. There are many reasons for this, not least the obvious fuel penalty with a conventional autobox. If you can’t live without an automatic, there are CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) based automatics, which offer little, or no fuel penalty over a manual gearbox. Please note at this point, that I won’t be covering petrol cars that are fitted with a turbocharger, as you would probably own it for all the wrong reasons!
I’m going to hazard a guess here, and say that around 90% of petrol cars on UK roads in 2008, have Electronic Fuel Injection or EFI, older cars used carburettors before EFI became the norm. You need to be aware that some of the methods your ‘dad’ told you to use, do not work so well in modern petrol cars. Cars fitted with EFI have something your daddy’s car didn’t have, A FUEL RETURN PIPE! Yes, quite simply put, it’s a pipe that will return unused fuel to the tank. Q: When does that happen then? A: Every time you take your foot OFF the accelerator. This is where most people make a BIG mistake, they start thinking that if they coast along the road in neutral, and keep their foot off the pedal, they won’t be using any fuel, …WRONG!!!!!! Here’s why. You’re driving along and you come to the top of a big hill, and you start thinking to yourself, I’m gonna freewheel down this and save some fuel, so you stick it in neutral and coast down the hill on tickover, WRONG AGAIN!!!!! WHY? Because, when you were coasting down the hill in neutral, your engine was ticking over, so it was using fuel, and not returning it to the tank! Now, at this point, you might be thinking, ‘but I still saved fuel’ and I would say ‘Yes you did ‘grasshopper’, but what you should have done at the top of the hill is this. – At the top of the hill you should have taken your flipper off the go pedal, and left the car in gear, now you should use engine braking to go down the hill, stepping down a gear or two to slow yourself, and a little foot brake if needed, or if it’s a big open road ahead, you could just have left it in 5th or 6th and gather speed. Why use engine braking, I hear you ask?, it just doesn’t make sense? – well it’s quite simple really. When you go down the hill using my method, if the car is still in gear when you take your foot of the accelerator, the engine will not be using any fuel, I mean NONE WHATSOEVER!, it just returns it to the tank. If you let the revs drop below around 1000rpm, tickover will kick in to stop the engine from stalling, and you will be burning fuel. Whereas, if you take your foot off the pedal, but keep the engine revs above the point (approx 1000rpm) where tickover kicks in, your car will not be using any fuel. The point of that example is to get you to use engine braking whenever possible, simply because it cuts off the fuel supply to the engine. When approaching junctions or traffic lights, work your way back down to second gear when possible, to keep the fuel supply cut off for as long as possible, but never shift down into first while the vehicle is in motion, I know 99% of you will know this, it’s just for the 1% who don’t know. Just one more tip for this section, on the subject of cold starts in the morning. When you start your car in the mornings for the first time, some of you will sit there for 5 minutes to warm the engine up. The almost traditional engine warm up, is a blatant waste of fuel, it is totally uneccesary and will play havoc with your mpg figures, driving off immediately after starting your engine in a non turbo petrol car is much more fuel efficient.
Edit: I came across this video made by a Jeremy Clarkson wannabe in the UK, its a bit nerdy but he makes a few useful points. Anyway Clarkson can rest easy and his job is definately safe for a little while longer.
Driving Environment
Dec10
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
The majority of UK motorists, probably spend 30-90 minutes of their daily commute in heavy traffic. Traffic jams & queues seriously hurt fuel economy & ultimately your pocket, so I would encourage you to explore alternative routes to your destination. This may seem obvious to some, but there are a lot of sheep out there who just ‘follow the herd’, they drive the same route every day, get stuck in the same traffic jams etc. If you are one of these people, you may need to go take a Bungee jump/Rollercoaster ride/Sky dive etc . An eye-opening experience of that nature should snap you out of ‘Robot Mode’ and start you thinking for yourself.
Imagine for a moment that you work at home. You get up at 8:15, send the kids off to school, grab a coffee, lounge on the sofa & write fluff on your laptop till lunchtime. You don’t watch Televison news or buy a paper, only robots do that, they are used to misery & depression and think it’s normal. Instead you take a drive out & visit friends or family for a few hours, and get back in time for the kids coming home from school. Then after you help the kids with their homework and have your dinner, you play online poker for the rest of the day, or watch a movie, play your guitar/piano etc, no traffic, no boss, & no stress. Well that’s my average day and I love it! I am not a rich man, but life sure is sweet! Most of you will not have a choice, and you must suffer the daily grind through the jams. Something you should be asking yourself is, if your car is suitable for the environment you spend the most time driving in? If you are planning to buy a used car in the near future, you should be looking for a diesel car. With fuel prices so high these days you need to get the most miles for your money. There are many frugal Petrol hatchbacks I could recommend, but if you rack up high miles, or you need anything larger than a Fiesta, Corsa, Clio etc, a diesel car is the way to go, the benefits are obvious. If you spend half your daily commute stuck in traffic at tick-over, the diesel car will use a lot less fuel, probably less than half of the equivalent petrol vehicle, simply because diesels are much more efficient at tick-over than an equivalent petrol engine. Also let’s not forget to mention the generally better economy for the remainder of your journey, add in stronger reliability, longer engine life, lower depreciation and higher resale value, its just plain silly not to buy one! Some of you may be thinking ‘but Diesel Fuel costs more than Petrol on UK forecourts’ yes it does, and a new diesel car usually costs more to buy in the first place. When you do the maths on petrol v diesel, at 12,000 miles per year, it really only begins to pay off AFTER 3 years, this is also the point in ownership, when a lot of people would change their car for a new one, eliminating the savings. For higher mileage driver’s, it starts to pay off much sooner. I would recommend that if you buy a brand new car, you should keep it for as long as possible, at least 5 years if you can, to really feel a difference in your pocket. With depreciation being the 2ndlargest motoring expense for UK motorists, it makes far greater financial sense to buy a used car. An example of smarter thinking, would be to buy a 3 year old car ,with warranty, at your local car auction (pay trade price), drive it for 1 year, then sell it privately to get all your money back! Zero depreciation? Well maybe for you! We call that one ‘The depreciation game’. As any good used car guide will show you, there can be a huge difference between Trade Price & Private Sale price of any used car, and that is the Wave you get to ride on, for up to a year. Anyway, this article is supposed to be about driving environment and I am way off track.
The reality of your daily commute is more likely: up at 6.30, quick breakfast, you then bolt out the door, into your car, and you spend the next 90 minutes stuck in traffic, flicking mints at the car in front. You eventually arrive at work, just in time to hear a lecture on punctuality. If that sounds like your typical day, then i’m smirking right now, for the simple truth is, if you work for someone else ‘they’ decide how much you earn this month, and unless you inherit a few million, you will always be poor. I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you see that in the real world, there is no such thing as job security, and there are only sheep & wolves in the business world. Don’t be the Sheep.
Basic Car Setup
Dec10
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
Basic Car Setup for Better Fuel Economy
Although every car is different, there are some basic things that apply to all cars, first of all let’s talk about car servicing. When people complain to me about poor fuel economy, the First question I ask is ‘has your car been serviced recently’, and the answer is usually ‘no’. is also one of the most overlooked aspects of car set up, sometimes the blatantly obvious just escapes some people. When I talk about servicing your car, I don’t mean have you checked your oil or water, that is something you should be doing on a weekly basis anyway, I am talking about leaving your car into a garage for a full service. To keep costs down, it is nearly always best to avoid the main dealer, a good independent garage will do the same job for less money, even a simple oil & filter change, new plugs and an air filter, for under £50 at a fast fit type outfit, will go a long way towards improving fuel economy.
Tyre Pressure
Let’s move on to tyre pressure, this subject seems simple enough but is often overlooked. People do strange things when it comes to tyre pressure. Most people know that the correct tyre pressure for your car, is written on the sidewall of the tyre, but they tend to ignore this, and set the pressure to what they think it should be. If your vehicle is fitted with aftermarket Alloys etc, the correct tyre pressures will most likely differ from that stated in your car owners manual, so always check the tyrewall for the correct figures. When it comes to fuel economy, this mistake can cost you dearly, with increased fuel consumption and excessive tyre wear. Often, people have owned many cars over the years, and decide that 30-35PSI in all four tyres is a safe bet. Car tyre pressures can vary from 22-55PSI, the wrong pressure can make a huge difference to the handling of a car, while also having an adverse affect on fuel economy. I strongly advise you to pay attention the correct tyre pressures for your car, and inflate them to 2 or 3 PSI over the recommended pressure. Tyres are tested well beyond the recommended pressures, so it should be perfectly safe to try this method, it also allows for natural fluctuations. Please be aware that in warmer weather, tyre pressure naturally increases a little, likewise in cold weather, tyre pressures naturally decrease a little, please allow for this in your calculations.
SAFETY TIP 1: In icy conditions, higher tyre pressures offer less grip, and can make handling tricky. In normal road conditions, this should not be a problem, and you will benefit greatly from lighter steering, sharper handling, faster acceleration & much improved fuel economy. It is amazing how much of a difference, this one small thing can make to any car.
SAFETY TIP 2: Do not confuse PSI with BAR pressure, On a standard air line at your local Filling station, there are two metered sides to the air gauge. On one side of the gauge, there are higher numbers like 10,20,30,40,50 this is the PSI measurement, on the other side are lower numbers like 1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5 etc, this is the BAR measurement, if you get it wrong, your ears and pocket will suffer!
Unnecessary Weight
Q: What’s the difference between a fat wife, and a skinny one?
Ans: I’m guessing about 1.7 MPG!
I’m not suggesting for a moment that you trade in your overweight wife/girlfriend, for a slim 6ft blonde with sparkling blue eyes & perfect DD’s. – Who am I to rock your big chubby boat? – Not me, I’m just stating the facts, although you would save £75 a year. – (I have tried many times, but slim 6ft blondes with sparkling blue eyes & perfect DD’s don’t cook, clean, wash dishes or iron, they’re ALMOST useless!)
On a more serious note, clear all the unnecessary junk out of your car, like the tool boxes, the fishing tackle, the wellies etc. If you have a roof box fitted, it should be removed when not in use, including the roof rack it sits on. If there is an unused towbar fitted to your vehicle, it’s the weight equivalent of carrying a sack of coal around in the boot, so have it removed and possibly sell it through the classifieds.
Advantages Of Diesel Engines
Dec07
2008
Written by admin
2008
Written by admin
Advantages Of Diesel Engines
If you’ve owned a diesel powered vehicle in the past or if you own one now, you no doubt appreciate the qualities this engine provides you with. More torque, better fuel economy, and easier maintenance are but a few of the attributes of owning diesel powered vehicles.
However, there are some motorists that still complain about the engine’s weak power, especially when accelerating from a full stop. What you may not be aware of is the fact that a diesel engine can be tweaked to give more power without harming the fuel economy.
Diesel engines use air compression to create combustion versus the fuel/air mixture that is required by petrol engines. This attribute means that diesel engines don’t require spark plugs and therefore don’t need to be tuned up.
Diesel fuel has a much higher fuel density than gas, which results in fuel economy increases of 20 – 30% over petrol powered vehicles.
Diesel engines are also cheaper to maintain as they have less parts than that of a petrol powered engine. The life span of a diesel engine is also much longer.
If you’re looking for torque, for pulling a boat or other equipment, then the diesel engine has the supreme advantage. Diesel engines are surely slower, especially when starting from a dead stop, although when you climb hills or go over bridges, the diesel engine is surely up to the task.
