Corbic

I'm thinking of picking up a EG to save on some fuel cash and have a winter beater. My goal is maximize fuel economy by stripping the PS and A/C as well as other interior pars and run skinny tires. I was also thinking of swapping in some high-compression pistons and tuning for E85, however I noticed that in the FAQ a Mini-me swap nets close to 11:1 Compression.

I was unable to find any info on Mini-Me fuel economy, is it a big gas sucker or would my plan potentially net some sort of gain?

NotAJDMFanBoy

For E85, you have to dump like 30% more fuel than with gas. If the price for E85 is low enough, sure, it could be worth it.
Higher compression motors are more efficient. The flame front propagates faster than in a lower compression motor. Where people start losing fuel economy is putting big cams and such on, making the engine breath a lot better.

Also, the compression you end up depends on multiple things. What head, what motor you're starting with, which pistons, and the head gasket. If you do run E85, you can run whatever compression you want since it's like 105 octane.

SeanK325

try and find a Civc VX or HX. All the work is already done for you. If you must, might as well buy a car with all the power options. Removing the PS and A/C won't save you enough gas to be worth it. The summer heat is not worth an extra few miles in your tank.

Corbic

Is for me, I live in Northern Indiana and I'm a Georgia Boy. Worst it gets here is like 90ish once or twice a year. It was 58 yesterday.

I'm really set on the E85 bit, its not that big a deal, most of my friends run it and my '79 Camaro will run it when I finish my LS swap. At worst you tend to lose 1-2mpg but save a solid $1 per gallon. As for car, I'm just open to the cheapest/cleanest I can find, I'll take a roller as well. I'm figuring my savings will be $1k-1.5k a year + the the benefit of a winter beater.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

I'm curious. How much fuel do you go through in a year that you think you'll be saving $1,500? I fill up once a week, maybe a little longer than that, and even with gas prices topping the $4 mark for premium I couldn't hope to match that.

Corbic

Close to 20k miles a year.

My 350Z averages 19mpg, my S13/SR gets 24mpg.

If I could average 35mpg in a D15 or 28mpg in a D16, at a +$1 less per gallon (E85) it would add up. My work commute is about 800 miles a month, + in winter I would 100% the Civic. You have to remember, part of this is also for the sake of keeping the salt way from my babies.