1998 Seat Arosa - Project EcoModder - 77/100MPG

[VIP]

A change in personal circumstances has meant my 6 mile commute to work is now a 75 mile one, and due to my current, utterly non-retro daily having a 10k limit on the PCP, I needed to find an alternative that was uber-cheap to run.

Enter stage left, this 1.7SDI Seat Arosa. I chose the SDI over the TDi as they book similar MPG (in fact the SDI claims slightly more), plus the SDI lump will take biodiesel where the TDi wont.

I thought I'd have a little fun with this and go the ecomodder route with it, whilst still having a car that looks reasonably groovy, so I've set myself a goal of breaking the 100MPG barrier.

The Lupo 3L was produced to return - as the name suggests - fuel economy of 3l/100km, or 94MPG for those of us imperialists, so its not a great stretch to assume with a few tried and tested ecomodder aero tricks and driving styles that the SDI could achieve 100MPG.

There's a guy in Norway who has managed through very significant modifications to his 3L Lupo to make it a 2L version, or 141MPG!

It does involve a roof shop to reduce drag though, something I wont be investigating.



Here is the dear little Arosa as purchased.

The first tankful has given me an average economy of 72MPG, with everything standard.

[niwid]

Lows, moondiscs, and skinny tyres?? Sounds fun, I've always fancied doing something similar. Nice to see something like this on here too, it'll make an interesting read. I look forward to seeing how you get on.

[metroman]

I'll be watching this with great interest. 72MPG certainly isn't a bad starting point, I get about 20

Bit of inspiration:

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Very interested in this!! Please make a in-depth thread about this, I think it's too interessting not to. I'm sure I can learn a few things, since I have never ever looked into making a car more economical. I don't think I can break the 100MPG barrier with my 3l car ( ) - but if I can improve a bit here & there - I will. But as stated, by now I'm pretty much clueless. So I'm very intrigued by this!! Consider yourself bookmarked

[homeforsummer]

Interesting project, bookmarked. Intrigued to see where you get with this - I've just bought myself a Mk1 Honda Insight and my initial target for that is 80 mpg, but an Arosa with ecomods is a very different way of going about the economy thing! Biodiesel option is also a good choice. Think the simplicity of the SDI would tempt me to it too, away from the TDIs.

[Rich]

Also bookmarked. Will be interesting to see where you go with this Dan. I was wondering why you needed another daily but that's now explained

[welshpug]

my initial thought was to bolt a turbo to it, low boost just to help it along

[DWDarkWheels]

Sounds interesting for sure. Very interested to see what real-world tricks you come up with.

Our 1.25 Fiesta has an mpg read-out, which gets you seeing it as a challenge I now frequently free-wheel and plan braking well ahead. Draughting lorries works too, but only when you're really a bit too close

[barrytrotter]

Skinny tyres high pressure

[smurf]

Batman style turbine out the back with a propane tank?
Could be interesting

[hiswitsend]

Really interested to see how you go with this and bookmarked. What is the significance of being outside a firework retailer!

[mercman]

Mar 10, 2014 18:32:55 GMT DWDarkWheels said:

Our 1.25 Fiesta has an mpg read-out, which gets you seeing it as a challenge :)quote]

My missus drives a Hyundai i30 1.6 TD which we use on our jollys to see family in N.Wales. When I'm driving the M6 and M73, I'm obsessed with that damned mpg readout!!! Mind you, it's more effective than a speed limiter cos I don't think I've been over 65mph on the Mway driving the i30! :-)

[jrevillug]

Mar 10, 2014 18:28:10 GMT welshpug said:

my initial thought was to bolt a turbo to it, low boost just to help it along

^ A few psi of boost with the stock pump won't give any more power, but the pressurised intake will reduce pumping losses on the intake stroke.

Are you planning a boat tail/kammback, undertrays, skirts and wheelarch covers?

I've wanted to do something like the aerocivic for a while.
ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/aerocivic-how-drop-your-cd-0-31-0-a-290.html

[stealthstylz]

Kerosene/bio mix at ~75p/l, boom, instant equivalent 150mpg.

[joem83]

Cool project. 72mpg is decent, I got 19mpg out of my last tank in the Golf.

Can you ditch most of the (sparse) interior?
Lightweight buckets would help bring the weight down a bit.

[rysz]

Mar 10, 2014 21:23:43 GMT joem83 said:

Cool project. 72mpg is decent, I got 19mpg out of my last tank in the Golf.

Can you ditch most of the (sparse) interior?
Lightweight buckets would help bring the weight down a bit.

If you are in it for 75 miles a day, especially on a commute, some creature comforts are going to be needed. I would imagine that it would only need front seats though?

Rysz.

[waveman1500]

Mar 10, 2014 21:23:43 GMT joem83 said:

Can you ditch most of the (sparse) interior?
Lightweight buckets would help bring the weight down a bit.

It's really not worth doing so, as Rysz says the OP is going to need the interior! Rear seats absorb and block a considerable amount of road noise from the rear wheels, so I would keep that as well.

VIP, is it 75 miles each way, or all together?
Either way, it sounds like an interesting project and a good starting point.

[georgeb]

Despite having a vehicle which is the complete antithesis of this I, like many others it seems, am hooked on the idea and consequently this thread is officially bookmarked.

Hmm, Range Rover with an undertray, skirts and disc wheels? Maybe not!

[VIP]

Mar 10, 2014 21:06:31 GMT jrevillug said:

Mar 10, 2014 18:28:10 GMT welshpug said:

my initial thought was to bolt a turbo to it, low boost just to help it along

^ A few psi of boost with the stock pump won't give any more power, but the pressurised intake will reduce pumping losses on the intake stroke.

Are you planning a boat tail/kammback, undertrays, skirts and wheelarch covers?

I've wanted to do something like the aerocivic for a while.
ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/aerocivic-how-drop-your-cd-0-31-0-a-290.html

James,

I'll be starting with the more 'reserved' aero mods first, so lowering, grille blocks, air dams, wheel discs, wing mirror removal, and see where that gets me. As the target gets closer and closer, I guess I'll have to resort to the more 'extreme' aero end, so kammback etc, but I really don't want to compromise the lines of the car too much. I still want it to look like a cool modded daily car rather that a science experiment, so I'll only be doing 'just enough' to reach my target.

For example, I 'could' put super skinny and tall 135/80R15 tyres on, but I'm probably going to compromise with 165/50R16 because I think they'll visually look better on a lowered car.

[VIP]

Mar 11, 2014 7:48:07 GMT georgeb said:

Despite having a vehicle which is the complete antithesis of this I, like many others it seems, am hooked on the idea and consequently this thread is officially bookmarked.

Hmm, Range Rover with an undertray, skirts and disc wheels? Maybe not!

There's a guy on ecomodder with a Ford F-150 getting around 50MPG using aeromod and driving tricks!