Fuel economy tuning...

Beanfro

Newbie
Points
21
Car
Ford Focus 1999 1.6
Hello ladies and germs, I signed up a while back to learn more about turbo-charging a petrol engined car, to which I discovered that on my particular car was largely a pointless persuit (my car is beneath my avatar).

However, I digress, the reasons I'm posting this thread is to ask for some advice about car parts etc. and rather than ask what will give me moar powah, I was hoping to learn about which parts will improve fuel economy and acceleration.

It is also worth noting that as old as my car is now, I plan on keeping it for well over seven more years so I was wondering if the parts will reduce or increase wear on the engine :)

I don't have a price limit on this little project as such but I've compiled a shortlist of the potential parts I'd like to buy and the more effective a part is the higer on the list it will be, if one part works best with another part then you can point that out to me as well.

I'm very realistic about the gains, I'm not expecting huge gains in either fuel economy and acceleration but something reasonable like an extra 5 miles to the gallon for example would be brilliant as over a year thats a lot of money to be saved.

I recently replaced my steering rack, I did LOTs of research prior to doing it and so whilst I'm not completely wet behind the ears theres still loads more to learn and so I don't intend to be clueless about car modding for very long as I'll be doing some of my own research on the side, in the meantime though, I look forward to contributing this forum in the future.
 
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Make sure it's running properly with a good service for a start.

Secondly, losing weight from the car will put less strain on the engine and as a result use less fuel. If you have an AA membership and a can of tyre weld you can dump the spare wheel and tool kit for starters. Lightweight alloys with a simular rolling radius would reduce unsprung weight. Just two of many examples. This would improve performance somewhat too.

You could aso have the car remapped for economy and look into aerodynamic aids. Lowring the car for example would reduce the effective frontal area. You could also look into a pan to create better airflow under the car.
 
Further to my original post, I've been trying to working out the difference between...

FSE Ford Focus 1.4/1.6 Zetec 12/1999> Power Boost Valve
(VK-384-ECO3-H) and...

FSE Ford Focus 1600s 2000> Power Boost Valve
(VK-384-KA38-H)


The gear is all in the shop, of course ;)

Also, has anyone tried out one of the Ecoteck Gold valve dealies? How have they changed your car's fuel economy / acceleration etc.?
 
Make sure it's running properly with a good service for a start.

Secondly, losing weight from the car will put less strain on the engine and as a result use less fuel. If you have an AA membership and a can of tyre weld you can dump the spare wheel and tool kit for starters. Lightweight alloys with a simular rolling radius would reduce unsprung weight. Just two of many examples. This would improve performance somewhat too.

You could aso have the car remapped for economy and look into aerodynamic aids. Lowring the car for example would reduce the effective frontal area. You could also look into a pan to create better airflow under the car.


Hmm, yeah, I already have a set of alloys (came with the car), I was thinking about the ECU remapping as well, but to start with, I'm looking at the parts option first.

As for lowering the ride height, theres LOADS of sleeping coppers in my area, so I can't go mad with that, lol
 
power boost valves are just the fuel regulators .
stay away from the ecotec valves there a waste unless you like the sucking noise. no difference to economy at all.

MA means lightweight alloys ie 8kg against 18kg for the likes of 17s. weight on the wheels is a biggy as the mass is rotating it effectively weighs more.

good service as said get it running correctly.

run with less fuel in the tank - less weight.
remove the cold feed from the airbox and let some warm air in. les 02 so less fuel
 
The car is due for a service in June, but I was under the impression that more cold air into the engine was a good thing, seems like I'm going to have to make a trade off, as I'm after a touch more response from the engine.
 
cold air does make the engine more efficiant.

but think about how your can performs mpg wise in winter if its economy your looking at.

to give you an idea my commute to work i get around 25mpg. during the harsh winter when it was down at -13 i was only getting around 18mpg.
car was alot more responsive but drank worse than a fish
 
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