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Pastimes : Car Nut Corner: All About Cars -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jack Russell who wrote (1880)	11/28/2007 1:02:31 PM
From: SI Bob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5691

I did about 20 miles yesterday in the 94 BMW 530i, trying to get the best highway fuel economy I could. 33.6 mpg. Out of something much larger and more comfortable than the Civic. The biggest problem I have with Honda doing it the way they do is that unless they've got some trick valve-control stuff I'm unaware of, when you let off the throttle a lot of your inertia is being wasted turning what's effectively a very large air compressor. Diesels have very little of this effect because there's very little engine-braking happening when you lift. That and I'd like to see a completely different algorithm for when to use the electric motor. Most of that trip, the big battery was fully charged, but the only times the electric motor was being used was when I'd give it quite a bit of throttle, so the gas engine was working hard too. Would rather see the electric motor used more aggressively anytime the battery is more than half-charged. For most of that trip, the fact that the car is a hybrid really didn't enter into things at all. I'd also like to see a lot taller gearing. It's a CVT, so I really don't see any reason that the engine needs to be turning 3k rpm at 80 mph on level ground with extremely light throttle. Speaking of the 530i, I've got a fun project coming up. One of the low beam shells melted and I learned that a whole set of "angel eyes" for it cost just a bit more than a single OEM lens/shell, and a lot less than the complete Hella setup I'd have preferred. Curious to see how hard it is to do the swap and how they'll look on the car. I've really become fond of this car's looks and attitude. When it comes to wrenching on the car, not much has been easy.