If you mpg is great why mess with a good thing. At 70mph it may not be as smooth as a Camry but then the Camery is not as smooth as the Lexus.

 

Corolla 09 Auto LE

I just bought this car, and I have been using it mainly for my commute to work (90% Highway). The gas mileage is great, but the car is nowhere near the smoothness of a camry at 70MPH (my normal cruising speed).

I was wondering what weight reduction measures people have thought up? I think that the car would be a better drive with a better power to weight ratio, and prefer weight reductions to engine modifications such as free flowing filters or aluminum pulleys. Here's what I am thinking about doing, please feel free to add opinions or insight.

1. switch to full synthetic Mobil 1 0w20 after 5,000mi
2. remove all floormats, except the driver's side
3. remove trunk liner, and trunk floor carpet
4. remove back seats
5. replace spare tire with a can of "fix-a-flat" (This is kind of risky)
6. Switch to 15" alloy wheels to reduce rotational inertia (helps acceleration)
7. remove passenger seat (This could get very impractical, very fast)

I am hoping to be able to decrease the engine RPMs/workload as much as possible at highway speeds. Has anyone tried out any of these methods? I'm all for practicality and functionality.

What dumb asz...take the seats out?? You should of just bought a junker

 

"You should of just bought a junker"

...that's a valid point actually, I have see many do this on the hypermiler forums to a mid 90's car along with body mods, but never to new car. To me taking all the seats out is quite impractical, unless you plan on only being the only occupant.

I think you would have more substantial gains from adopting a more efficient driving style ie: DWL, DWB, traffic light timing, 55mph, tire pressure etc. than stripping the interior out.

At least it will still look good on the outside, despite being a skeleton on the inside.

 

if you are getting rid of the rear passenger center head rest let me know

 

go buy a smart car, removing the seats is pointless. Corolla is a little family car

 

yeah if you are really after "less gas consumption" the smart car is the best way to go.

 

my neighbor has a smart car. he quit driving it at interstate speeds because at 70 mph, he was dipping below 40 mpg. i see a bunch of corolla driviers getting near or at 40+mpg at 65-70 mpg. i dont see the value on the highway, but i could maybe in city/suburban only driving. but even in city/suburban driving, i easily got 36-40 mpg in my yaris, which was pure luxury compared to a smart car.

 

I am trying to keep the same gas mileage, while upping the speed. I'm not really into hypermiling or major body modifications. The seats and carpetting could all be reinstalled when needed, and I have other vehicles for family purposes.


The lotus elise is just the corolla engine in a reduced weigh/aerodynamic form. I figured there could be gains from doing this to a corolla. I feel like the corolla is a nice car for 1 person, but with 2+ it's really sluggish.

 

I am trying to keep the same gas mileage, while upping the speed. I'm not really into hypermiling or major body modifications. The seats and carpetting could all be reinstalled when needed, and I have other vehicles for family purposes.


The lotus elise is just the corolla engine in a reduced weigh/aerodynamic form. I figured there could be gains from doing this to a corolla. I feel like the corolla is a nice car for 1 person, but with 2+ it's really sluggish.

no, its not...the car has enough power for 2+ people

 

Corolla 09 Auto LE

I just bought this car, and I have been using it mainly for my commute to work (90% Highway). The gas mileage is great, but the car is nowhere near the smoothness of a camry at 70MPH (my normal cruising speed).

I was wondering what weight reduction measures people have thought up? I think that the car would be a better drive with a better power to weight ratio, and prefer weight reductions to engine modifications such as free flowing filters or aluminum pulleys. Here's what I am thinking about doing, please feel free to add opinions or insight.

1. switch to full synthetic Mobil 1 0w20 after 5,000mi
2. remove all floormats, except the driver's side
3. remove trunk liner, and trunk floor carpet
4. remove back seats
5. replace spare tire with a can of "fix-a-flat" (This is kind of risky)
6. Switch to 15" alloy wheels to reduce rotational inertia (helps acceleration)
7. remove passenger seat (This could get very impractical, very fast)

I am hoping to be able to decrease the engine RPMs/workload as much as possible at highway speeds. Has anyone tried out any of these methods? I'm all for practicality and functionality.

This by far the stupidest post I have ever read on this forum! Also to point out that by removing seats you are removing safety equiptment (side airbags), you are also messing with the structural design of the car. If you really wanted to save a few bucks you should have bought a Yaris. The differance in price and better fuel mileage would save you more than taking a few pounds off the car.

 

hey! dont make fun of him! This thread inspired me to figure out weight reduction methods for the car as well. So far I have taken the battery out...my only issue is the car wont start.

 

practical weight reduction and modifications????????????

This is definitely not practical.

I can just see me know.

"OK Honey, lets go to the movies tonight. Just give me an hour or so to re-install your seat."

What a joke.

 

Wow if you need 1 hour to install a seat then you have more problems than the OP. Should take less than 5 minutes to install a passenger seat.

The OP is right. This car is slower than a snail. Is this an enthusiast website or is it a granny website?:headbang:

 

Even if the ideas were sound and practical, I'll be honest, I think that the car is too light already.
I get blown all over the freeway in a light wind and the new power steering just makes it worse.

 

Would you could do is take the motor out and put it in a go cart and put the street legal stuff on it to make lstreet legal...LOL

 

Terrible idea. Pointless. All of those ideas you mentioned wouldn't lighten the car enough for you to even feel a difference in driveability, not to mention you would be impairing the practicality and convenience features of your car. The 2009 Corolla, all things considered, is a surprisingly smooth & comfortable ride- even at highway speeds. What more did you expect from an entry level economy car?

 

If you are looking at driving at higher speeds while maintaining the same MPG, its sounds like you would want to modify your gearing ratio.

Though I doubt that there will ever be a simple way of doing this to a corolla, but I really don't know a lot about its transmision. You would also be sacraficing what acceleration you currently have.

 

Just FYI, weight reduction will have no impact on Engine RPMs at any given speeds, that's a gear ratio issue.

Even if your car is 500lbs lighter, if you were cruising at 3k RPM @ 60mph before the reduction, you will still cruise at the same RPM at the same speed, you'd just get to that speed faster.

A weight reduction strategy would be to run at half tank gas or less at any given time. A full tank weighs at least 50kg.

 

i dont think car and trunk mats will make a big difference...isn't that taking a bit far?

 

Removing the floor mats should reduce the weight of the car by a few hundred pounds, making it much faster! :lol:

 

oh yea how could i forget?! no wonder i can't lift my mats and take them for cleaning...jeez

 

o i think its not worth taking all those out... if you plan to have other ppl in your car.. but if you dont plan to have anyone... anyone at all then its all good!

 

Suggest to go on a crash diet to rid the extra weight. .
Fit higher profile front tires to raise the drive gear ratio. LOL

 

Suggest to go on a crash diet to rid the extra weight. .

Hey, I was thinking about the same thing! If everyone get rid of 20 or so pounds before getting into the car, that will be about 80 pounds or more weight reductions for four people. So maybe asking everyone to go to the bathroom first before taking your trips may not be such a bad idea after all, beside not having to look for bath rooms on the way, it is also a fuel saver question. :naughty::clap:

Just my 2 cents!

N.E.O.

 

I save gas by only driving downhill, and not stopping at lights.

 

This thread is a joke right??:ugh3:

 

How about adding 5 psi to the tires and slow down to 65 mph. That should get you 2 mpg.

 

Corolla 09 Auto LE

I just bought this car, and I have been using it mainly for my commute to work (90% Highway). The gas mileage is great, but the car is nowhere near the smoothness of a camry at 70MPH (my normal cruising speed).

I was wondering what weight reduction measures people have thought up? I think that the car would be a better drive with a better power to weight ratio, and prefer weight reductions to engine modifications such as free flowing filters or aluminum pulleys. Here's what I am thinking about doing, please feel free to add opinions or insight.

1. switch to full synthetic Mobil 1 0w20 after 5,000mi
2. remove all floormats, except the driver's side
3. remove trunk liner, and trunk floor carpet
4. remove back seats
5. replace spare tire with a can of "fix-a-flat" (This is kind of risky)
6. Switch to 15" alloy wheels to reduce rotational inertia (helps acceleration)
7. remove passenger seat (This could get very impractical, very fast)

I am hoping to be able to decrease the engine RPMs/workload as much as possible at highway speeds. Has anyone tried out any of these methods? I'm all for practicality and functionality.

Sorry, just to add, tim from fifth gear did a study on increasing mileage and found that all the stuff you've suggested did not help increase mpg, but it actually lowered it!!! Also, Jeremy in top gear raced a prius in a bmw m3 at full speed around the course and the BMW won in fuel efficiency (with its mighty 4.3 litre engine). The lesson is that mpg is more in how you drive than in what you drive.

 

I'm not understanding. Do you want a fast car or a car with good gas milage? They don't come in pairs, you have to choose. I didn't buy the Corolla because I thought it was fast, I bought it because I wanted to save gas.

 

There's no reason they can't be reasonably fast and still get over 30mpg.

 

Or if you have super flight and strength powers, just strap your self to to chassis and use YOURSELF to propel the car.. you wont even need to start the car! imagine the savings! and 0-60 of 0.5 seconds! SWEEEET!