Mileage Improvement?

[BigDozer66]

Originally posted by N_Jay


Every LB you take off saves some gas (all else being the same).

Also remove carpets and under-carpet padding and sound insulation.

Ever seen the inside of a race car?

While it will help with the mpg's don't be surprised when your feet get hot from no protection.

One only has to look at the difference between 2008 Honda, Toyota and Nissan's and their 1978 or earlier counterparts.

They have come a long way with the interior design.

Couple that with all the emissions and safety features that are now mandated by law or by consumers and the weight will be more.

I prefer the later almost everytime over the former.

BigDozer66

[markraphael]

I guess it's time to lose some weight to increase gas mileage....

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by markraphael
I guess it's time to lose some weight to increase gas mileage....

As a tri-athelete friend of mine used to say;
"I can't afford a five pound lighter bike, so I will just have to loose a few pounds."

[rbmn9529]

Originally posted by N_Jay


You got them all!

Having had several BMWs that I purchased performance chips for, I was wondering if Honda or some aftermarket operation sold chips to "detune" the Pilot? From what I gather, the 2005 represents the apex of horsepower for the 3.5L employed by the pilot. Maybe some changes in the chip could return some mileage in exchange for less horsepower?

[jdeanski]

Originally posted by rbmn9529


Maybe some changes in the chip could return some mileage in exchange for less horsepower?

Gosh, thoughts like that used to be almost un American.

[75blazer]

Originally posted by N_Jay


Every LB you take off saves some gas (all else being the same).

External accessories tend to add weight and aerodynamic drag, so get rid of side steps, roof racks, mug flaps, oversize mirrors, antennas, etc.

Also remove carpets and under-carpet padding and sound insulation.

Ever seen the inside of a race car?

I was thinking about this over the weekend. I took my foot off the accelerator and the truck began to decelerate fairly quickly. I was thinking might the inertia from additional weight help? Obviously the energy required to get the extra weight moving and the increased friction on the rolling stock would negate it, but kept my mind occupied for a few minutes anyway....

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by 75blazer


I was thinking about this over the weekend. I took my foot off the accelerator and the truck began to decelerate fairly quickly. I was thinking might the inertia from additional weight help? Obviously the energy required to get the extra weight moving and the increased friction on the rolling stock would negate it, but kept my mind occupied for a few minutes anyway....

The energy stored in motion IS from acceleration, and is withdrawn during deceleration.

[rbmn9529]

Originally posted by N_Jay


The energy stored in motion IS from acceleration, and is withdrawn during deceleration.

my point about having a chipset detuning the motor also suggests that the shiftpoint speeds are too high. I know what the previous poster is talking about...@45 miles per hour, i shouldn't feel such vivid slowing...caused by the transmission not being in top gear.

[rbmn9529]

Originally posted by jdeanski


Gosh, thoughts like that used to be almost un American.

I know...I know...I had to take a really deep breath before I wrote it!

[marcucci]

Originally posted by markraphael
How about removing the third row seats if you are not gonna need it for an extended period? I bet this would improve gas mileage a bit because those seats are darn heavy. I know this because I removed mine when I installed my sub. My concern is that removing the seats will have an adverse effect on the overall weight balance of the vehicle. Has anyone done this?

I'm not sure of the weight but you are probably not talking more than 75lbs or so which should not affect the handling appreciably.

I would be more concerned with the resulting change in ride height and therefore alignment which would potentially create tire wear issues over time. You could align it out but then you'd have the opposite issue when the seats were back in (and potentially much worse when carrying rear passengers and cargo as well).

With respect to tuning, Honda tunes very conservatively (safe = rich = poor economy) for open-loop (warmup and wide-open-throttle) but pretty aggressively for closed-throttle (i.e. normal driving) conditions. Usually 14.7-15.0 which is safe for a well-designed engine which Hondas generally are. There would be little to gain from tuning even if an option existed... which I am unaware of any.

I am excluding the performance "chips" (i.e. crap) you can buy off of ebay which modify engine coolant temp, manifold pressure, or other sensor signals. There are some higher-end "tunable" boxes you can buy like the Apex'i VAFC that do effectively the same thing. The cheap ebay ones you buy I would stay way the hell away from as they make a baseline shift in a sensor reading that 1) the ECU should tune out of closed-loop operation and 2) will have unknown and potentially dangerous results open-loop. The "tunable" boxes like the VAFC should only be played with by someone who knows what they are doing and should be tuned on a dyno. That said, there is really nothing short of a reflash of the ECU that can make effective changes in closed-loop operation and the gains in open-loop are minimal and the average driver doesn't drive the car like that enough to matter. The primary exception to that would be a race vehicle or something so heavily modified the factory programming is just not an option.