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Old 10-26-2017, 12:08 PM
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The whole problem could just be your car. Every miata is going to behave marginally different from every other miata on the road.
my undertray is off, my bumper hasnt been cut, i have stock tires/wheels, i drive like a madman and i got 28-30mpg driving half city half highway on my stock ecu.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:21 PM
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Don't cut your bumper. It doesn't do anything. I'm not sure why that myth is still being perpetuated.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:29 PM
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Mine isn't cut, but it is zip tied. The previous owner had a gigantic wing which deleted the bumper support. I need to get another one so i can properly mount the rear bumper.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:34 PM
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Front tires that far out from behind the bumper isn't helping anything, that's a good bit of extra drag.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:37 PM
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Probably not helping. It does look a little wider than normal because of the fender is pushed in quite far. It is the same poke in the front as it is in the back more or less. I personally wouldn't have gone this route but it was done by the owner before me. I did a respray myself (it's a 10 footer) to make it a little more appealing. It still needs buffed and polished.

Originally Posted by cabowabo
Front tires that far out from behind the bumper isn't helping anything, that's a good bit of extra drag.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:43 PM
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This thread is pretty much over with now. I am going to just leave it how it is for now and when i get around to it I will play with the arm on the float or just adjust the physical gauge and be done with it. Thanks for all the help from everyone.
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Old 10-26-2017, 12:59 PM
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If you are getting 24 miles per gallon adding 8 tenths to your capacity will increase your range by only 19 miles.

Rolling resistance of wider tires and of stickier tires is a lot higher than narrow, hard tires. The zero offset wheels and flares absolutely kill your drag coefficient and frontal area and all considered probably cost you four miles per gallon at highway speed. 4 miles per gallon difference at 11 gallons is 44 miles of additional travel. Additionally, if your alignment is not at nearly zero toe front and rear you are killing an extra mile or two per gallon, depending upon what the actual condition is. Proper tire inflation can be worth one mile per gallon.

Putting the top and windows up can probably net you a mile per gallon on the highway. Concealer404 put a wing on his car and got ridiculously awful fuel economy on the highway. Track cars don't go nearly as fast on the long straightaways if they don't have a hardtop. Aerodynamic drag makes a lot more difference than you might think.

Since you are very limited by the stock ECU, there are only a few things you can do there. You can advance your base timing slightly above the standard spec. 15 or 18 degrees instead of 10 might net you some gains.
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Old 12-04-2017, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
If you are getting 24 miles per gallon adding 8 tenths to your capacity will increase your range by only 19 miles.

Rolling resistance of wider tires and of stickier tires is a lot higher than narrow, hard tires. The zero offset wheels and flares absolutely kill your drag coefficient and frontal area and all considered probably cost you four miles per gallon at highway speed. 4 miles per gallon difference at 11 gallons is 44 miles of additional travel. Additionally, if your alignment is not at nearly zero toe front and rear you are killing an extra mile or two per gallon, depending upon what the actual condition is. Proper tire inflation can be worth one mile per gallon.

Putting the top and windows up can probably net you a mile per gallon on the highway. Concealer404 put a wing on his car and got ridiculously awful fuel economy on the highway. Track cars don't go nearly as fast on the long straightaways if they don't have a hardtop. Aerodynamic drag makes a lot more difference than you might think.

Since you are very limited by the stock ECU, there are only a few things you can do there. You can advance your base timing slightly above the standard spec. 15 or 18 degrees instead of 10 might net you some gains.

Thanks for all this. I have a megasquirt coming in today actually. I may end up switching over to e85 in the near future so my mpg is going to get worse. I am thinking about just getting a fuel cell to put in the trunk or i may just have to live with filling up more frequently. If the previous owner didn't cut the fenders I would have already bought new wheels and tires so they stick out.
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Old 12-04-2017, 01:10 PM
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You want to fill up less often.
You told us you're only putting in 8.5 gallons into your 12+ gallon tank when you fill up.

This solution is super complicated, so stay with me, but... how about you just drive it further before filling it up? Ignore the gauge, use your trip meter and go an extra 24mpg * (12.5-8.5) gallons = 96 miles before you put gas in the tank. If your drive is 45 minutes at 60mph that's an extra day between fill-ups. And it cost you nothing.
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Old 12-04-2017, 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Uncle Humjaba
You want to fill up less often.
You told us you're only putting in 8.5 gallons into your 12+ gallon tank when you fill up.

This solution is super complicated, so stay with me, but... how about you just drive it further before filling it up? Ignore the gauge, use your trip meter and go an extra 24mpg * (12.5-8.5) gallons = 96 miles before you put gas in the tank. If your drive is 45 minutes at 60mph that's an extra day between fill-ups. And it cost you nothing.
I already got all the answers i needed. Thanks for the input.
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Old 12-04-2017, 01:31 PM
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This is the most perplexing thread on miataturbo.
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Old 12-05-2017, 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by thumpetto007
This is the most perplexing thread on miataturbo.
I don’t know about that. There is a lot of competition presently. However, others have more entertainment value.
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