Volkswagen Polo Sips Its Way To 60 MPG – In Your Face Hybrids!

The Polo may be a step down from the already lowly Rabbit; but it is a giant step forward in terms of Gasoline powered Efficiency. It has 4-doors, a reasonable price tag, and last but not least: a sweet little engine. Europeans have always known what we Americans have been missing: Turbo-diesel power is the way to go! Not only can you get the best MPG from a diesel car, the fuel burns more cleanly, and adding a turbo increases power by using wasted exhaust gasses.

The little engine that could is a 1.4L, 3-cylinder, direct injected, turbo-diesel. This bad boy pumps out a staggering 79-hp. But when combined with a LRR tires, special aerodynamics, and a manual transmission; the Polo can easily obtain the 60 MPG advertised, eat that hybrids. And the little 12-gallon tank will take you well over 700 miles. Sounds good to me!

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=116314
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4262351.html
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Better MPG thru AERODYNAMICS….all the COOL kids are doing it!!!!

Everyone with a pick-up truck knows that the way to get better gas mileage is to drop the tail gate while driving…right? Well not really…..it turns out that the biggest improvement you can do for your pick-up is to get a tonneau bed cover. But trucks were built to haul stuff, and MPG is not high on the list of a truck owner. So what about the regular commuter?

Here’s an important lesson in physics: the faster you go the more wind resistance your car will encounter. When driving around town at low speed; drag does not play a significant role in gas mileage. But once you reach freeway speeds, the wind resistance has a major effect on your cars performance. “At 70 mph, you've got four times the force working against your vehicle that you have at 35 mph.” (edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106954/article.html) It takes much more energy for a car to overcome drag at 75 mph that at 35 mph. Therefore the faster you go the worse your MPG will be.

As gas gets more expensive, auto makers are reducing a cars drag coefficient (cd) by leaps and bounds, and they are spending billions in the process. In the past any car with a cd lower than .30 was considered sports car territory, but now Toyota has a couple of models out there that break this barrier. (edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106954/article.html) This is done in a couple of ways. Managing the way air flows around a car is a big deal. The more streamlined the better. Wind Tunnel testing has become an important feature in the development of a car. Under car body panels help move any air out from under the car that would usually become trapped. And things like rounded edges, smaller mirrors, and redesigned front grills and spoilers also help.

There are a couple of things we as commuters can do to increase our MPG by decreasing our cars drag coefficient. Roof racks, ugly wings, and huge body kits; really hinder the movement of air around your car….so get rid of those things. Closing your windows and sunroof at higher speeds will also have a positive effect on your MPG. Some people out there go as far as totally blocking out the front air dam, grill, and fog lights.

Some changes to your auto can really hurt the way your car slides through the air. Raising your truck will have a drastically negative effect on cd. So will putting on big wheels and tires that stick out. Bug guards also slow the airflow over your automobile.

I know the Lakers are in the Finals and as a fan you want to fly that flag on your car…..but remember, most extra things added to the exterior of your auto decrease you fuel economy. Remember less drag means better MPG.

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What Do Roof Racks, Ugly Body Kits, and Dragster Style Aluminum Wings….all have in common with your WIFE????

I’ll tell you what they have in common…..at the end of this blog of course!

It is a good idea to remove pieces that effect aerodynamic performance. Or in laymen’s terms: Get the huge roof rack off your car! Items such as bug deflectors, running boards, extended mirrors, and roof racks all affect the aerodynamics of your car and decrease gas mileage.

Ok a Ford F-150 is not as aerodynamic as a Ferrari we know….but Ford put Millions and Millions into Research and Development; and you can be guaranteed that the body design they came up with has the best drag coefficient possible for a truck. But when you attach a bug deflector here, a roll bar there, a huge roof rack up there…..these parts all add up and it does affect your MPG.

All those little Honda Civics running around with ugly unpainted body kits and huge dragster style aluminum wings….are killing the great gas mileage those little cars were born to get! And Please I Beg You!!!!……just save up your money for an extra week so you can paint these items before they go onto your car…..nothing looks uglier than a green car with white bumpers, side skirts, and a wing! As for the dragster wings that can add 2000 lbs. of down force at 300 mph…..please….your Honda wanda will never need that…it’s like bringing a shotgun to a knife fight….can you say OVERKILL!!!!

Heck it is even better for you to use your Air Conditioning at highway speeds rather than opening your sunroof and rolling down your windows. Reason being that open windows cause enormous amounts of aerodynamic drag, thus reducing fuel efficiency! (wanderings.net/notebook/Main/SurprisingWaysGetBetterGasMileage)

So remember that if you are going on vacation...…..then a roof rack is ok. Or if you plan to go off-roading then please add a roll bar and be safe. So what do these things have in common with your wife? You’re POCKETBOOK! Because adding these items will cost you mucho dinero in the long run.

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Getting Better Gas Mileage…..3 Decades Ago!!!!

Some of you remember the oil crisis of the early 70’s; more than 34 years ago. Well I was not around then, but the idea has remained. Car and Driver Magazine published an article way back in 74 (Project Car: Crisis-Fighter Pinto) in which they attempted to take a Ford Pinto and eco-mod it out. Yes it was ugly and yes it was slow…but the good folks at Card and Driver managed to get 25% better MPG out of this car for only a couple of bucks.

The first couple of changes have to do with the cars aerodynamics. The most beneficial, was creating an air dam beneath the front bumper in order to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the car. The topside of cars are nice and smooth allowing air to slip right by. But the underside of a car contains exhaust manifolds and suspension pieces among other things which trap air and thus slow you down. The second change having to do with aerodynamics; partially blocking out the grill. Well you may think that that could cause the car to overheat. But gas mileage was improved and the car’s cooling was not adversely affected. The next couple of changes include adding a rear spoiler and covering the headlights with plexiglass.

Next the team focused on the engine. Reducing parasitic load on the engine will not only free up some extra horsepower, but it also added to the fuel savings. This was done by making changes to the belt-driven cooling fan system. Present day cars run an electric fan and thus we do not have to worry about this. But you can remove the belt that runs the A/C and power steering (on some cars) to reduce parasitic engine load.

Finally the C & D group switched tires from a bias-ply tire (hell if I know what that is) to a steel belted tire. Of course all tires these days are steel belted; but there are LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) tires which net better gas mileage for your car.

So with a relative few mods, the Pinto netted an increase of 25% on its MPG. You would think that over 34 years later we would be free from these sorts of exercises. But no matter how much time passes, one thing remains the same: “Those who do not learn from history, are condemned to repeat it!”

http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/2008/03/12/11-on-mods-plus-new-tires-car-and-driver-improves-mpg-by-25/

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