Geo Upgrades

After testing with increased tire pressure (greater fuel economy, significant loss of breaking distance) Alignment (OMG! this thing get's hard to drive!) and removing the Daytime Running Light diode (increase on MPG by ~0.5mpg on highway only) I am going to start looking at other ways of upgrading. I will be buying real Honda Insight Hybrid low rolling resistance tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE92) to replace the worn mismatch of tires I currently have. The only real test of fuel savings will be in the real use of these tires. I am also trying to figure out how to get a vaccuum meter installed to help with discovering the "sweet spot" of the highest fuel efficency. If your car's vaccuum is at it's highest "sucking" then you are getting your best fuel economy. Many of the economy gagues available are butt ugly and certianly not calibrated for a high efficency car like the geo. The Mobil 1 synthetic oil is working like a charm but it's low viscosity is causing a bit of tappet noise when cold. This goes away when the engine heats up even a tiny bit... I usually can no longer hear it after driving a city block. After really researching the different oils the 5W30 is the choice to pick. Do not get suckered into the 0W30 fallacy that many are falling into.. remember at operating tempreature the oil is at around 30SAE weight so that 0W30 will do nothing but make your wallet really light. I have noticed that sludge and varnish build up have completely stopped. the oil is coming out looking clean but darker at the 5000 mile mark. Time to upgrade the transmission to a full synthetic gear lube (manual transmission) and see if that makes any difference.

finally I will be working out how to install a caddilac rearview mirror in the geo to get the auto-dim, compass and some decent entry lighting. Hey it's nice to get some new features once in a while...

All Highway mileage has dropped to 42Mpg probably due to the snow, driving in the dark all the time with lights on as well as lower speeds and stop and go traffic because of scared drivers that act like they have not seen snow before.