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Hi guys, newbie here.

Been lurking for sometime reading the site but just now signed up.


Quick question, do grill blocks make that much of a difference?

I just took the top grill off of my honda accord, its a recetangle peice of plastic that is straight through, would taping some cardboard to the inside of that to seal it up really help that much?


Also, I've got 44 max psi tires on my accord, I'm up to 58 PSI and have already experienced one flat from picking up a nail(as I've heard its more common to pick up stuff with them overinflated). A tad afraid of going higher, but I've got 65 psi stuck in my mind, thoughts? Don't want to blow the tires up lol

one more thing, so far I'm using pulse and glide in the city, forced auto stop at stop lights, and attempting DWL. Does DWL just mean that when I go up a hill to keep my RPM at a predetermined RPM ? Such as there is a hill in front my house, say Im going 25mph, and I pick 2100rpms to keep my foot stead at that, and I climb up the hill no matter what even if my SPEED drops but keeping rpms at 2100rpm? I think thats what it means, just trying to be sure.

Great site guys

I enjoy all the information shared here.

is my sig showing up now?


EDIT: WOO HOO i figured it out

You have the correct understanding of DWL. I monitor TPS on my SGii instead of RPM but it is the same concept. I stopped @ 60 psi in my tires, but you can go higher if you want. There are some on here running higher than 65 psi. I am sure they will chime in. 60 psi seemed to me, to be a good place for FE so that is where I am. I am still working out a grill block approach for my car, so I don't have much to offer there. I am seeing a decrease in my am commute due to cooler temps already, and will need to do something to combat that.

BTY - Welcome to Cleanmpg.

Stan

Grill blocks help in three ways. They reduce the cooling drag of your car at highway speeds. They allow your engine to more quickly reach operating temperature from a cold start which is particularly helpful in the winter. Also when it is cold and you are doing a lot of FAS, it allows your engine to maintain its normal operating temperature.

I've just installed an active grill on my car so I can open or close the grill inlet to tailor the amount of cooling to the amount actually required by the car, which can change during the course of a trip depending on the outside air temps and the engine load. I also relocated the grill opening so the opening is now located below the stagnation point at the nose of the car for reduced drag.

I do not think of DWL as constant RPM. In a given gear ratio, constant RPM pretty much leads to constant speed.

DWL means constant load on the engine. RPM needs to drop along with speed as you climb with steady throttle. Recover speed on the downsides.

If that Accord is an automatic, you might even ease up on the throttle going up small hills to avoid a downshift.

Make sure to read "Beating the EPA" in the articles section.