Texas member shooting for ideas....... Options

[slickum01]

Hey guys, used the forum a year or so ago for some technical help and came back because I'm on a new goal......max MPG out of my 01 GLS.... I bought my car for $500 w/ 144,000 3 years ago and other than a few parts battles here and there I cant bring myself to get rid of it and get something else so the new goal is to squeeze as many miles out of each tank I can....with starting this goal I was averaging 28-31mpg (90% highway), and I have raised it some....I travel 66 miles a day for work...

Little background, I was a product of the late model fox body mustangs and have worked on cars for a few years so I have all the tools and experience to do the work... the problem I'm finding is being behind the curve playing with a 13 yr old car is hard to find stuff so I want to tap into the knowledge bank you guys have on the late 2.0.....

Current work;
Its hot in Texas so the first steps I took were removing all the unnecessary plastics under the hood that help hold heat on the engine and of course the coolant line bypass on the throttle body. I removed the intake manifold and cleaned out a pound of gunk and then placed a separator on the pcv to pull the oil out of the vacuum line(found in the DIY zone). Changes the valve cover gasket and cleaned her up. I added CAI, changed plugs, added ngk wires and put a new coil pack on the car. I changed the timing belt and put a new AC compressor, last one was causing the car to struggle. Last tank of gas I averaged 35mpg.

The bad;
Im at 166k so she is getting old; I have a shutter that only occurs between 68-75 mph haven't checked just yet but think it may be wheel bearings or struts, has a hard time idling with a/c on (changed idle air cntrl valve no change), and now is cursed with the dreaded dead cat code P0422...

Thoughts (please input)
Im ordering a header off ebay I found one for the 97-01 Tiburon, going to install the fouler technique on the second O2 to stay away from the cel, Inspectors never raise the hood to look here so long as the light is not on. I'm thinking about buying a cat back set for the 97 Tiburon and adjusting it to bolt up on my car, I want to use a regular muffler though I don't want it noticed(bumble bee) just efficient. Tiburon parts are my thought just because they are cheaper, my understanding is anything 97-01 should be usable on my car. Are there any bolt up resonator assy's that are mandrel bent 2.25 that I can buy?

I bought used underdrive pulleys for the pwr steering and water for $20 on ebay and want to buy the following crank pulley listed for a Tiburon, question is does/will it fit my 01'?
CRANK PULLEY ON EBAY CLICK

? One of the best modifications on any car is aftermarket ignition.... I assume Accel, jasper, msd, crane, no one I can find ever made a generic coil or ignition box that can be installed on the Beta 2.0?

Throttle body, mine has seen its better days. is anyone out there still taking cores or rebuilding to the 58mm specs?

Thanks Guys.....more to come

Chad

Any input would be great

[roydjt]

The underdrive pulleys seem to yield good results. Since you spend most of your time cruising in a straight line, that shouldn't cause any real problems.

For the shudder, you should definitely get your tires road force balanced on a Hunter GSP9700 balancer. Any slight imperfection will cause a shimmy at that speed. I've been down that road myself. A warped rotor can also cause it, but odds are it's a tire that's slightly out of balance. On the front wheels. Find one at this link.

Don't bother with a resonator. Just get a decent muffler for the right pipe size and you'll like the sound. I had a DynoMax Super Turbo and at idle it was hardly noticeable. The resonator is only another restriction on the exhaust. Since you're getting a header, I don't know why you would want a resonator.

For the ignition, the factory Elantra setup has proven to be more than adequate even for those who go with some boost or nitrous. Aftermarket coils aren't going to gain you anything unless you're running crazy boost.

I don't know what to tell you about the throttle body, but unless you're running at WOT a lot, there's nothing to gain. Air in, air out. The MAF/MAP sensor will tell your engine how much fuel to add. That mod only helps on the drag strip. You're not running like that if you're trying to maximize MPG.

-Roy

P.S. Since you've learned some tips and tricks from our forum and DIY pages, you might consider dropping a few sheckels into the donation hat. We're for the members, of the members, by the members. Every sheckel counts.

[a_v]

Hello and welcome!

I'm not sure how much better you can get; 35MPG is fantastic. Love to hear how it goes!

[Bobzilla]

Auto or manual? If it's a manual, stay BELOW 77mph. Once you cross 3200rpms the ecu goes into WOT throttle maps and you dump fuel. I found with my 02 that 72-74 netted me about as good as I could get at modern highway speeds. 36-38mpg was average on vacation and long trips.

intake and exhaust are good for the Beta. Don't bother removing the cat. The gains you get will be in top end power and not beneficial to your true goal. LEave the main cat/mani in place, hollow the second cat and put a decent muffler on. Leave the center resonator pipe to help with resonance at highway speeds. Any good chambered muffler in a 2.25" size will do a decent job of keeping it reasonable and help with flow. The outlet on the stock muffler chokes down to ~1-7/8" from the almost 2-1/8" inlet. That's where most of the restriction is on these cars.

The key is to make torque. The Beta does this well in the right spot (midrange) to aid in better fuel economy. So with that in mind, run a 2.75" 2 piece CAI, leave the mani-cat in place and put a better muffler on. This will get you in the right direction.

[trololololo]

what they said .


also lower vehicle or make an air dam... side skirts and diffuser?

low rolling resistance tires... light weight wheels...
full weight reduction... carbon fiber parts...

[slickum01]

roydjt'

The underdrive pulleys----> is the 97 Tiburon pulley I posted the same fit/function?...

For the shudder, you should definitely ---> Im thinking about getting rid of the steel wheels and hub caps going to alumn wheels, like the idea on the balancing, might wait until I swap

For the ignition,----> in the domestics the more spark better burn, wondering if anyone has hooked up any ignition boxes to the factory coils, can it be wired that way running two coils

-Roy ___ Thanks for the help!!!

Bobzilla
Auto or manual?

It is an auto, surprised how much they neck down the exhaust, headed that way next.... thx

This post has been edited by slickum01: Jul 30 2014, 09:29 PM

[roydjt]

I think that's the right pulley, but I don't have any firsthand experience there. Keep us posted with your progress!

-Roy

[TJVJR]

Wow 35mpg is good .I only get close to that on long highway trips. No mods to my 01 Tibby ( auto ) so that may help .Thanks Bob for the info , very nice to know .