Tuesday, September 23, 2008
40 mpg, 4wd, Toyota Minivan, only in Japan!!!!!!
This is too bad. I have a 2008 Sienna and I get 29.5 mpg on the highway at 70 mph. Which is very good for a minivan. But I would love to get this one instead!!!
Eco Driving
The state of California has created a very nice website with lots of information on how to save fuel by changing people's habits.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Hydro 4000 Follow-up
Remember my post about the Hydro 4000 which breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen gas?
WPTV a local tv station tried to test the company's claims after a previous test was not conclusive caused by a mechanical problem.
Anyway, the Hydro 4000 was tested on a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe.
The fuel comsumption increased from 11.9 mpg to 13.0 mpg with the Hydro 4000. A 10% increase.
The Hydro costs 1200$, do the math and decide if it's worth it for you!
Complete story
WPTV a local tv station tried to test the company's claims after a previous test was not conclusive caused by a mechanical problem.
Anyway, the Hydro 4000 was tested on a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe.
Without Hydro 4000:
This time around, the F.A.U. engineers and mechanics at Billet drained all of the fuel out of our test vehicle, giving it an empty tank.
The team then filled the tank back up with one and a half gallons of gas.
The vehicle was put on the dynomometer, and the truck ran at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
For the first part of our test, the Tahoe ran 17.7 miles, which meant it averaged 11-point eight miles to the gallon.
With Hydro 4000
They again drained all the fuel out, put in one and a half gallons of gas and ran the truck at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
This time, with the Hydro 4000 running, the vehicle ran 19.5 miles before stalling. That meant we were now getting 13 miles to the gallon, which was a ten percent increase in miles to the gallon over our initial test.
The fuel comsumption increased from 11.9 mpg to 13.0 mpg with the Hydro 4000. A 10% increase.
The Hydro costs 1200$, do the math and decide if it's worth it for you!
Complete story
Friday, July 4, 2008
Engineer Gets 110 MPG Out Of '87 Mustang
From this site
This guy has achieved 38% efficiency with his mustang versus 8 to 10% efficiency for regular engines.
He entered the Progressive Automotive XPrize, which tells me that we will know if this is true or not and we should also know how he does it. So this has the potential of benefiting us all.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Change your driving habits and save on fuel
Motorweek did an interesting test. They took 2 identical Chrysler 300C with the big 5.7l Hemi engine and cylinder cut-off technology. They are rated at 18 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. They had those cars driven by two drivers with very different driving style. One was driving very aggressively, over the speed limit, stopping and accelerating, braking hard, accelerating hard, etc.. The other one drove like his mother was in the car.
As you expect their fuel mileage differed:
1) Driving 30 miles on rural country roads
Aggressive driving: 17.6 mpg
Conservative driving: 18.4 mpg
Difference : 4% savings
2) Highway driving
Aggressive driving: 17.0 mpg
Conservative driving: 24.4 mpg
Difference : 43% savings!!!
This is very impressive. It just demonstrates that driving faster a highway speed consumes a lot more fuel than driving slower.
3) Stop and go city driving
Aggressive driving: 17.1 mpg
Conservative driving: 19.5 mpg
Difference : 14% savings
The video is available here at fueleconomy.gov where you can also find the rate fuel consumption for every car sold in the US.
Conclusion: If you want to save on fuel, hold your horses!
As you expect their fuel mileage differed:
1) Driving 30 miles on rural country roads
Aggressive driving: 17.6 mpg
Conservative driving: 18.4 mpg
Difference : 4% savings
2) Highway driving
Aggressive driving: 17.0 mpg
Conservative driving: 24.4 mpg
Difference : 43% savings!!!
This is very impressive. It just demonstrates that driving faster a highway speed consumes a lot more fuel than driving slower.
3) Stop and go city driving
Aggressive driving: 17.1 mpg
Conservative driving: 19.5 mpg
Difference : 14% savings
The video is available here at fueleconomy.gov where you can also find the rate fuel consumption for every car sold in the US.
Conclusion: If you want to save on fuel, hold your horses!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Water for Gas or HHO
Today I discovered this company: Green Machine Solutions
They created a device that produces HHO gas, aka as Brown Gas, from distilled water. Once this device is installed in your car, it improves your fuel economy by up to 60%. The way it works is that you basically put water in a jar containing electrodes connected to your car's battery. When running, the electrodes convert water to an hydrogen and oxygen gas (HHO). The HHO gas is then sent through you car's air intake and is burned at the same time a gas. Since HHO contains hydrogen, your car requires less fuel to run hence the fuel economy.
There is a tv news station (wptv) that is testing their claim. They will have the final test done by July 9th. I will be posting their results. Stay tuned!
Some of my skeptic friends tell me that if something like that really worked that automakers would have made cars with a similar device included. I deeply believe that big corporations don't have all the answers and that regular joes or smaller companies beat big corporations at innovation all the time. Just look at this article about this teen who made a plastic grocery bag decompose in 3 months instead of the thousands of years it takes in nature.
If you find that an Hydro-4000 is expensive, you can also go the DIY route with Water4Gas.
My fingers are crossed.
They created a device that produces HHO gas, aka as Brown Gas, from distilled water. Once this device is installed in your car, it improves your fuel economy by up to 60%. The way it works is that you basically put water in a jar containing electrodes connected to your car's battery. When running, the electrodes convert water to an hydrogen and oxygen gas (HHO). The HHO gas is then sent through you car's air intake and is burned at the same time a gas. Since HHO contains hydrogen, your car requires less fuel to run hence the fuel economy.
There is a tv news station (wptv) that is testing their claim. They will have the final test done by July 9th. I will be posting their results. Stay tuned!
Some of my skeptic friends tell me that if something like that really worked that automakers would have made cars with a similar device included. I deeply believe that big corporations don't have all the answers and that regular joes or smaller companies beat big corporations at innovation all the time. Just look at this article about this teen who made a plastic grocery bag decompose in 3 months instead of the thousands of years it takes in nature.
If you find that an Hydro-4000 is expensive, you can also go the DIY route with Water4Gas.
My fingers are crossed.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Want to improve your fuel economy - slow down!
I am sure it is not news for anybody but the slower you go on the highway the less gas you will consume, but it is always nice to see an actual chart.
Here it is from this website:
If you drive 60mph instead of 80, and you drive a BMW 535i, your fuel economy improves by 25%.
Here it is from this website:
If you drive 60mph instead of 80, and you drive a BMW 535i, your fuel economy improves by 25%. 
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